Tasha-Louise

Victorian Era November 22, 2009

What life was like during the Victorian era; homes, jobs, leisure and media.

The Victorian Era, named after Queen Victoria ran from 1837-1901. By 1901 Britain was a great industrial country, the centre of a huge empire, and one of the richest and most powerful nations in the world.

From the Industrial Revolution it had become easier and more affordable for working-class and upper/middle class people to travel around the county by Steam Engine. The new railways also meant that letters and parcels could be sent quickly around the country. Newspapers had existed since the early 1700s but it was not until 1855 that the first morning paper ‘The Daily Telegraph’ was published. They were transported with magazines to towns and cities across the country by Steam Engine; allowing the nation to follow the same version of the news. Newspapers also regularly featured extracts of a novel; they appeared as short stories in the weekly newspaper and often ended on cliff-hangers. Dickens was an example of this; he used to feature his novels in the newspaper.

Dickens’ works help modern society gain an insight into what Victorian life was like; Dickens often spoke of social reform and criticized the rich. The poor were often marginalized against by society, meaning life was extremely unpleasant for those without money. This was evident through the theory of social Darwinism mentioned in his novels; also known as the survival of the fittest. In this context social Darwinism suggests that only the richest will survive and the poor will be left fighting.

Concerning entertainment, the upper class would spend evenings singing songs by the piano, visiting art galleries, restaurants, theatres or a circus. These all required money to be spent with the extra money people had now that they lived in the towns and cities. Activities such as roller skating, cycling and tennis slowly began the activities of the middle class. Alcohol was considered as ‘the curse of the working class’ by the upper classes as this; along with some sports were few of the recreational activities the working class could afford to do. Holidays were available to all classes as they could take excursion busses for a reasonable price.

Within the home most upper-class families employed servants. Even a small home had a maid-of-all-work who slept in the attic. A rich family might be outnumbered by its servants. Rich families had a fire in each room in their house, which required coal. This meant the maid had a hard life as she had to carry around bags of coal to keep the fires burning.

The 1840s saw the launch of photography allowing people to capture images of people/objects instead of painting them. Portraits were the earliest form of photography; self-portraits would be hung in the castles of aristocracy. Like portraits, cameras were expensive and therefore not affordable to the working class. With photography came images in magazines, the origin for the obsession with appearance we have today; worrying what other people think about us. The Victorian Era also saw the early production of films and cinemas.

Urbanization saw thousands of people crammed into small and poor living conditions; people didn’t know the people they were living with as well as they did when they lived in rural communities. This meant that there were a lot of petty crimes such as pick-pocketing, due to urban anonymity. The first serious serial killer was made known during this period attacking young women earning income as prostitutes. Jack the Ripper began his attacks in 1888 and they were publicised by the media across and around Whitechapel, London.

1970/1980s November 22, 2009

Historical Research

Did any key technological or media developments take place in the period? Explain.

During this period VCRs were developed, allowing people to watch and record films and TV programmes. Therefore meaning people did not visit the cinema as much as they did before; nearly destroying the film industry. Cassette tapes in general also had a negative effect on the industry as people enjoyed the ability to watch films in the comfort of their own home.

Personal music, walkmans and audio cassettes had a similar effect on the music industry during this period. People could record radio shows and listen to them at their leisure instead of going to music stores.

Did any big thinkers profoundly change opinion during this period?

Decimalisation

What did people do for a living? Different classes?

In the 70’s it was most likely that the female would stay at home and keep the house presentable and do various household tasks and prepare the meals. Whereas males would spend everyday working long hours in an office, to bring money home for the family. Due to technological developments in computers there were jobs attached; such as computer analysts and computer engineers.

How did people become more educated?

Significantly fewer people went to university than today. People used local libraries and encyclopaedias to become more educated as there was no internet. Also parents could send their children to grammar schools to improve their education and their chance of success after school.

What did their homes look like?

In comparison to homes today, homes were a lot more colourful and flamboyant during the 70’s. Furniture is relatively the same to the furniture we have today (i.e chairs, tables, cabinets etc) Also household appliances were bigger; therefore they took up more room, making a house appear to be more cluttered than today. However there were fewer appliances.

What was their daily routine like?

Daily routines were less media orientated. For example, it was not common that families would sit around watching the television how we do today. Also teenagers would not spend all evening in their bedrooms playing computer games. People would spend their time doing more practical things such as building models or reading.

What leisure activities were available to them?

People often had dinner parties to amuse themselves during leisure time, and would entertain themselves by playing games around the table and drinking. Teenagers would go to youth clubs and socialise with their peers and play games such as 5-a-side football and would create tournaments.

What mediating influences affected their lives-ruling values/beliefs etc?