victorian era

When was Charles Dickens born?

February 7th 1812 in Portsmouth, England.

What did Charles not get picked for?

His parents didn’t choose him to be the child that they would send to university while they struggled financially.

Why did Dickens’s dad go to prison?

due to failure to pay off a debt

What childhood experience influenced the themes of Dickens’s novels?

His experience working in the polish factory.

Where did Charles originally work?

A shoe polish factory

Name 3 main themes Charles wrote about

Poverty, Social Class, Political Injustice

When was Great Expectations published?

1860

What process did Dickens use to publish his writings?

Serialized Publication

What weekly journal did Dickens create?

All the Year Round

How many copies did Dickens sell in Philadelphia within 35 minutes?

3000 copies

What year did Dickens die?

1870 at 58 years old

What time period did Queen Victoria rule Great Britain?

1837-1901

Who succeeded her?

Her son Albert Edward

Name 2 contributions she made to British society? 

Reformation of the Poor Law (assisting poor people). 

Repeal of the Corn Laws (leading to cheaper food prices).

What did people think of Queen Victoria? 

Although admired as a great leader, she was also seen as selfish and stubborn.

What were 2 significant events during her reign?

The end of slavery and the establishment of constitutions in Australia and Canada.

What were 3 events that happened before her reign?(Only need three of these).

Political turmoil  

Duke of Wellington's victory over Napoleon 

The Reform Bill was created, which doubled the amount of eligible men to vote.

Industrial revolution 

Working-class political movement 

The Napoleonic Wars

First Railways

What is one example of how Queen Victoria is remembered today?

Statues

Policies that gave people more freedoms

Streets

Buildings 

Landmarks

What were the three major social classes in the Victorian Era?

Upper class, middle class, lower class

What was the upper classes role in economy

• owned land

• Inherited wealth

• earned income from investments

What was the middle classes role in economy?

• professionals

• business owners

• worked in less physically demanding jobs

What was the working classes role in economy?

• manual labor, industrial work, domestic service

• relied on wages to survive

What were the upper classes societal expectation?

• maintain social status, participate in high society, manage estates

What were the middle classes societal expectation?

• valued hard work, education, ambition to rise in status

What were the working classes societal expectation?

work hard, provide for family, little. chance for upward mobility

what are the prerequisites for the upper class?

born into an aristocracy or wealthy family, inherited wealth or made money through investments

what are the prerequisites for the middle class?

earned money through labot, education or skilled work; family background less important than occupation

what are the prerequisites for the working class?

born into. lower-income families, work from a young age, few educational oppurtunities

what are the societal rituals for the upper class?

• Multi course dinners

• Afternoon calls

• Exchange of calling cards 

• Grand meals 

• hunting parties

• Visits from relatives or guests

• Essential to social life

what are the societal rituals for the middle class?

• “Things on a smaller scale”

• Hosted modest dinners

• Had visiting hours

• Used calling cards

• Daily life was family centered

• Reinforced values of morality and stability 

what are the societal rituals for the working class?

• Few formal rituals

• Sunday was the main day for events 

  • Family meals/walks

• Visiting relatives

• Community gatherings

• Showing refinement mattered less

• Emphasized good manners

Name two ways that the Industrialization impacted the class systems:

1. The expansion of jobs for the middle class which resulted in them becoming richer and could move up in the social hierarchy.

2. It made the middle class value hard work, education and financial planning.

what are the behaviors and expectations for men?

• Were supposed to be gentlemen, polite, honorable, and self-controlled

• To be a gentleman, an individual had to be “courteous, considerate, and socially at ease”, as well as avoiding being selfish, and acting in accordance with moral standards.

what are the behaviors and expectations for women?

• Ladies had most of the same expectations but it was a little more stricter

• Their lives were “entirely centered on the home”

  • They kept their families morals up

  • Set a Christian example 

Definitions of the “Gentleman” overtime:

1. based on birth into noble families

2. any boy who went to public school, so t he education system. was shaped to help with this

3. finally, it became based on one’s conduct and character

What are some descriptions of a model gentleman?

Someone who was: kind, considerate, courteous, calm, trustful, treated everyone fairly and equally. 

what was the education system designed for?

The whole educational process ultimately was designed to shape their beliefs and manners so that each student would become the embodiment of the term gentleman.

what did public schools create?

Public schools created gentlemen that would enter the Parliament, become military officers, rule the empire, and to become businessmen.

What’s the difference between “Social climbers” and “Gentlemen”?

Social climbers are people who used social connections to raise their status in society and would only think of themselves. While true gentlemen only wanted to behave gentlemanly, other statuses were not important, and worked for the benefit of society.

What does Charles Dickens write about in his writing and how does it affect the term?

In Dickens’s work he critiques the Industrial Revolution, poverty, degradation, institutions, traditional assumptions, emotional problems in society, and social inequalities. Which reinforces the idea that everyone could become a gentleman.

In Dickens’s novel, “Great Expectations”, Dickens asks the readers throughout the book ‘what is a gentleman?’ and ‘what makes a true gentleman?’. With his main character, an orphan boy called Pip, he writes about his journey into gentlemenhood to demonstrate his thoughts on “gentlemen”.