The Victorian Era (1833-1901)

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

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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

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