Politics in�Victo"an England
B"tain• Cons%tu%onal Monarchy • House of Windsor – Queen Victoria (1837-‐1901)
• Era of material progress, literary growth, and poli%cal stability
B"t$h Parliament * This era saw the realignment of poli%cal par%es in the House of Commons: – Tory Party Conserva%ve Party under Benjamin Disraeli
– Whig Party Liberal Party under William Gladstone
William Glad&one Prime Minister 4 %mes between 1868-‐1894
o Educa5on Act of 1870 – state-‐supported public educa5on
o Ballot Act of 1872 – Secret ballot o Legalized labor unions o Promoted civil service exam
o Eliminated sale of commissions in the army
o Worker’s compensa5on
'e I"( Question• Biggest problem = Ireland • Irish na%onalists sought Home Rule (not granted un%l 1921)
• Home Rule = control of local gov’t
'e Problems• Bri%sh – Irish = subhuman • Irish Catholics – Tenant farmers – Refused to pay high rent to landlords
• Irish Protestants – Landlords – OWen lived in England (“absentee” Landlords)
• Middleman System
I"( Potato Famine• 1845-‐1852 • Impact: – 1 million Irish dead – 1 million Irish fled
• Blight struck all of Europe – Why did it impact Ireland so?
• Video Clip: Moments in Time: Famine to Freedom: The Great Irish Journey
I"( Potato Famine• Why did it impact Ireland so? – Completely dependent on potato
– Avg. Irish person consumed 14 lbs of potatoes/day!
Glad&one & 'e I"( Question
• Two major legisla%ve pieces: – 1869 – Disestablishment Act: Irish Catholics – no more taxes to Anglican church
– 1870 – Irish Land Act: absentee Protestant landowners can’t evict Irish Catholic tenants w/o compensa%on
• Supported Home Rule for Ireland
Benjamin D$raeli Prime Minister 1874-‐1880
• Reform Act of 1867: Expanded electorate
• Public Health Act of 1875: Regulated public sanita5on
• Many laws to protect working class & support unions
– 1874 Factory Act
• Ar5sans Dwelling Act of 1875: Regulated housing condi5ons for poor
Lab*r Pa+y• Est. 1900 • Worked closely w/ Liberals • Result:
– Liberals in power from 1906-‐1916 – Set up massive social welfare programs
• Sickness, accident, old-‐age, and unemployment insurances were all adopted
• Progressive tax established (wealthy pay a higher % rate of tax – Conserva%ves pushed for more laissez-‐faire gov’t
Victo"an Society
Role Model
• Queen Victoria was seen as, “the very model of marital stability and domes%c virtue…”
• She represented “a kind of femininity which was centered on the family, motherhood, and respectability.”
Quotes from BBC Victorian Britain
Victo"a & Albe+
Life in Victo"an England
• Victorian Buzzwords o Family
o Propriety o Modesty o Morality
o Ra%onality o E%queke o Virtue
Expectations• True ladies & gents – High moral standing – Spent %me in respectable, produc%ve manner
– Ac%vi%es good for both the soul and for the country
How to Be a Gent for Dummies
• Books on how to be a proper Bri%sh ci%zen abounded to assist the middle class on the road to morality
• The book, Happy Homes and the Hearts that Make Them (1882) suggests, “The true gentleman is one who has been fashioned a?er the highest models…his qualiBes depend not on fashion or manners but on moral worth -‐ not on personal possessions but upon personal qualiBes.”
Manners• A gentleman should not bow from a window to a lady on the street, though he may
bow slightly from the street upon being recognized by a lady in a window. Such recogni%on should, however, generally be avoided, as gossip is likely to akach undue importance to it when seen by others.
• A man always escorts a woman everywhere, to where she needs to go. Unmarried couples who are not "publicly engaged" together do not wander off together.
• Anyone with bright red hair and a florid complexion should marry someone with jet-‐black hair. The very corpulent should marry the thin and spare, and the body, wiry, cold-‐blooded should marry the round-‐featured, warmhearted, emo%onal type.
Manners• Ladies first. A gentleman should perform chivalrous acts such as offering the lady a
hand to go up her carriage. Ladies are never seen opening their own doors in the presence of a man, or carrying anything heavy.
• When crossing the pavement, a lady should raise her dress with the right hand, a likle about the ankle. To raise the dress with both hands is vulgar and can only be excused when mud is very deep.
• To greet someone by saying "Hello, old fellow" indicates ill-‐breeding. If you are approached in this vulgar manner, it is beker to give a civil reply and address the person respecqully, in which case he is quite likely to be ashamed of his own conduct.
Oscar Wilde
• Irish Author/Playwright • Aesthe%c movement:
– “L’art pour l’art” – art should exist solely for its own sake, independent of social and moral concerns
– Only purpose = to look preky
• An%thesis of Victorian Ideals
Aes,etes in a Victo"an World
• Victorian Buzzwords o Family o Virtuous o Modesty o Morality
o Ra%onality o E%queke
• Aesthe%cism Buzzwords o Decadence o Symbolism
o Decora%on o Materialism
o Extravagance o Caprice
Wilde’s Words of W$dom
In all unimportant maFers, style, not sincerity is the essenBal. In all important maFers, style, not sincerity is the essenBal.
Wilde’s Words of W$dom
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless.
Wilde’s Words of W$dom
I wonder who it was that defined man a raBonal animal. It was the most premature definiBon ever given. Man is many things, but he is not raBonal.
Wilde’s Words of W$dom
The only way to get rid of a temptaBon is to yield to it. Resist it and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself…
Y* Li-le Bug.r…
• Wilde’s Woes – Court -‐ wri%ngs used against him – Guilty: “Gross Indecency” – Jail %me…
Goodbye, Oscar
• Died -‐ Nov. 30,1900 • Meningi%s • Paris Hotel • Final Words…
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