1880-1910 context

Sexual morality

A society outwardly governed by strict Christian morality, yet inwardly grappling with sexual, social, and psychological repression.

science&religion

Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) shattered traditional religious certainties, fostering existential doubt, psychological complexity, and fear of degeneration.

women

Late-Victorian patriarchy enshrined domesticity and submission in women; the New Woman emerged to challenge these ideals.

empire

Britian owned 1/5 of the world at this period - 1922 was the peak

The British empire was significant within the transatlantic slave trade. Stripped many colonies of their land,wealth and homes

• kicked aboriginal people out

• native americans massacred

• India had lost 45 trillion before colonisation it owned 24% of the worlds GDP

Jack the Ripper

• During late 1800's, Jack the Ripper became a symbol of fear and mystery in Victorian London. He was linked to whitechapel murders, where several poor women were killed in brutal ways.

• Jack the ripper inspired detective fiction, gothic horror and distrust in police.

resulting in people focusing on "the fallen woman" convention that described a woman who had "lost her innocence" and fallen from the grace of God - this was used to refer to the sex workers Jack the Ripper murdered.

fin-de-siecle

"end of the century" - rapid social, cultural and intellectual changes

Oscar Wilde’s trial

Conviction for "gross indecency" highlighted societal tensions around sexuality and morality

1895

how did the growing middle class impact literature

A rise in the popularity of novels as the middle class grew in size and wealth and more public libraries were opened

married womens act

Allowed women to own and control property independently, signalling shifts in gender roles and women's autonomy

1882

• What was the significance of the Married Women's Property Act in 1882 to authors and literature?

The Act empowered female authors to write from a more authentic, independent perspective. They were no longer legally and financially tied to their husbands, which may have influenced the topics they explored and the way they presented their stories.

• Why was the "Death of God" by Nietzche significant?

• German philosopher, declared “God is dead” in works like The Gay Science (1882).

• It means the decline of traditional Christian belief and moral certainty in Europe due to scientific progress and secularisation.

• Signals the collapse of absolute truths and the rise of nihilism — the idea that life lacks inherent meaning or purpose.

• This created moral and existential crises for individuals and society, questioning old values and authority.

Eugenics

A campaign that sought to improve the quality of humankind through carefully controlled selective breeding. Later associated with Nazism.

the new woman

• Emerging figure in late Victorian/Edwardian society representing female independence and challenge to traditional gender roles.

• Educated, often working or politically active, rejecting the “Angel in the House” ideal.

• Linked to the women’s suffrage movement and debates about marriage, sexuality, and morality.

• Provoked anxiety and fascination in literature — often depicted as threatening traditional family structures or embodying modern anxieties about gender.

Boer war

Lasting from 1899 to 1902, Dutch colonists and the British competed for control of territory in South Africa.

Aliens act

First law to define some groups of migrants as "undesirable". Act was passed because of fears of degeneration, bad health, and bad housing conditions in London

mainly against jewish immigrants fleeing pogroms

1905

degneration theory

• Popularised by Max Nordau (1895) — idea that modern society was in moral and physical decline due to urbanisation, over-civilisation,

• Used to explain crime, addiction, madness, and sexual "deviance."

• Literary characters may reflect fears of moral collapse, genetic decay, or being "tainted" by modernity.

• Common in Gothic, fin-de-siècle, and urban realist fiction.

hysteria

Originating from the Greek word for uterus, historically referred to a uniquely female mental disease characterised by anxiety, insomnia, irritability and sexual audacity. There was a commonly held belief that a woman's womb could move around her body.

The rest cure

Prescribed to women who are agitated or depresses - given medication and not allowed to work or see people

nymphomania

Uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire in a woman

sexual fascination

• Despite repression, there was obsession with sexuality:

  • Rise of pornography, often circulated privately.

  • Surge in medical and pseudo-scientific writing about sexuality (e.g. hysteria, nymphomania).

  • Victorian literature often coded or symbolised desire (through dreams, illness, settings, etc.).

  • Fiction explored transgressive themes: adultery, seduction, madness, sexual frustration.

🧠 Freud later argued that repression intensified desire — this is visible in many Victorian texts.

women shamed

• Women who engaged in sex outside marriage were socially ruined.

• Yet literature often centred on these women, showing sympathy, punishment, or fascination (e.g. Tess of the d’Urbervilles).

• The “New Woman” challenged this by asserting sexual independence — seen as dangerous or unnatural by some.

📚 Female sexuality was both feared and fetishised — portrayed as fragile, excessive, or corrupting.

edwardian

• Edward VII came to the throne in 1901 — ushered in the Edwardian era.

• Rise of the Labour movement and trade unions demanding workers' rights.

• Growing calls for reform, including education, housing, and welfare.

🧠 Literary impact:

• Novels and prose increasingly critiqued privilege, explored poverty, or featured working-class characters.

• Social realism grew — gritty portrayals of injustice and inequality.

suffrage

• Suffragette activism intensified, especially under the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU, founded 1903).

• Women increasingly demanded legal rights, education, and freedom from domestic roles.

• Fear and fascination surrounded the "New Woman" — educated, unmarried, sexually independent.

🧠 Literary impact:

• Prose from this period may reflect female frustration, confinement, or rebellion.

• Themes of marital oppression, identity, and sexuality often emerge subtly.

Cecil Rhodes quote

Africa is still lying ready for us,it is our duty to take it

“More of the anglo-saxon race, more of the best,the most human,most honorable race the world possesses”

Karl Marx quote

“Accumulation of wealth at one pole is at the same time accumulation of misery,agony of toil,slavery… at the opposite pole”