named after queen victoria: reigned 64 years

• became queen at 18

• moral, self assured

• extremely popular

• very hot when she was young

• married her cousin albert (sweet home alabama)

  • he was from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (im not sure either)

• Albert was german

• people didnt want victoria to marry him, but she loved him so she didnt care

• she put him in charge of things in hopes that it would make him popular

• he died of typhoid in 1861

• she mourned him for over a year, became a recluse

• caused monarchy to lose power

• government picked up some of her power

• society became more moral and proper to match the queen’s personality

• fashion changed to match this as well

• dueling was illegal

• men stopped wearing color, wore long pants and jackets

• restrained, rigid clothing

• 11th Commandment: thou shalt not get caught - used as idiom during this time for people who broke the rules in secret, similar to dont ask dont tell but not really about gay people

  • affairs had to be hidden, etc

• people became sentimental (ex. creation of valentines day)

• fascination with death

• took pictures of body in coffin at funerals

• macrame people’s hair to remember someone you love

• whigs = liberal, tories = conservative

• very prosperous time for britain

  • made lots of money off India and other colonies

  • for some reason this is framed as a good thing

  • yay imperialism and exploitation!

• Prime Minister who wanted reform: William Gladstone

  • lots of social injustice

  • wanted irish liberation/independence

• next prime minister: benjamin disraeli

  • conservative, imperalist

  • voting reform (but only for men)

  • by 1885, all men could vote

• White Man’s Burden, imperialism was very prevalent

• Crimean War:

  • Britain, France, and Turkey tried to stop expansion in Afghanistan

  • Suez Canal → India to England

• morality became linked so social reform

• Darwin, Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest

Literature:

• 2 groups:

  • Realist: wrote about life and its ugliness

    • writing for societal change

  • Pre-Raphaelites: ignore the ugliness of life

    • focus on the beauty

• Aesthetic movement - philosophical

  • real life is ugly, so turn away from it and value art

  • “art for the sake of art”

    • Oscar Wilde: “we’re all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”

  • lots of periodicals, less poetry, novels were predominant

    • novels often published in periodicals

      • published chapter by chapter, helped sell magazines