Chapter 18 - The Second Half of the Victorian Era - G.M. Trevelyan

 

G.M Trevelyan - SHE - Chapter XVII

[alert-success] THE SECOND HALF OF THE VICTORIAN ERA

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[alert-primary] THE LATE VICTORIAN AGE [/alert-primary]

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    There were different levels of power in Victorian society. Even though race, religion, region, and job were all important parts of identity and status, gender and class were the most important parts of Victorian society. The Victorian view of gender was based on the idea of "separate spheres." This said that men and women were different and made for different things. The public sphere was for men, while the private sphere was for women.   

Society in the 1980s: 

    "Society was getting mixed," and rich men like Sir Gorgius Midas in Du Mariner's. Punch pictures were popular in London drawing rooms for 20 years before the Queen died. In the older, stricter sense of the word, "society" was still a small world in Palmerston's time. Some Whig and Tory peeresses carefully controlled who could join. But in the 1980s, "society" had a broader meaning. It might have included all the well-dressed men and women who crossed paths in Hyde Park parades or talked during the many courses of a London dinner party. Still, John Buchan says that at least in the capital, these people kept some aristocratic traits and customs until the end of the century. They were different from the wealthy people in Yorkshire and Lancashire, who still dressed for "high teas" instead of dinners. 

    In the 1870s and 1880s, large families were still common in the professional and business worlds as well as the working class. The population grew quickly because so many of the babies born were now being kept alive. In 1886, England had 13.3 more births than deaths, while Germany had 10.8 and France had 1. 4. 

Victorian Women 

    Women in the middle and late 1800s were different from women today. With the new Education Act, all kinds of women could go to school. Schools and colleges were set up just for them. Women went out into public without fear. Many women got involved in public life because of how hard Florence Nightingale worked to help people. Women from the middle class got jobs as governesses, nurses, and teachers. The political reforms also paved the way for women to get more freedom. 

    Working women of all classes were financially independent and were given the right to vote at the beginning of the 20th century. The way women thought about things changed. 

Religion and morals 

    Most Britons in the 19th century were Christians. The religious landscape was dominated by the Anglican Churches of England, Wales, and Ireland. Presbyterian was the name for the Church of Scotland. Britain had people of different religions, such as Roman Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and other Protestants who were not Anglicans. "Agnostics" of the same time were able to successfully attack the older, more clear-cut religions that meant so much to these men. 

George Eliot's books were subjective in how they dealt with themes and mirrored the early stages of the fight between science and religion. Even though she didn't believe that the Bible was true, she didn't reject the idea of God. She had doubts about dogmatic Christianity, and she looked at life with the strictness and simplicity of a puritan. 

    People in the late Victorian era were said to be too self-satisfied. Carlyle, Ruskin, and Matthew Arnold were the most important critics of this time. Carlyle was interested in spiritual values and didn't care about material progress. He didn't think much of the achievements in science and industry. The famous poet and critic of the time, Matthew Arnold, said that the upper and middle classes of England were "barbarians and philistines." He didn't believe that the Evangelical church could save England's soul. Up until the end of the century, people often read the Bible and had family prayers. 

Conclusion 

    In Victorian society, men were expected to be involved in politics and paid work, while women were expected to take care of the home and raise children. People used to think that women were more religious and moral by nature than men. In the 19th century, people from the middle class were seen as moral leaders. 

    Along with their faith, Victorians made and valued scientific progress. Scientists of the 1970s were not happy with materialism, just as they didn't believe that all parts of the Bible were literally true. During the sixty-four years that Queen Victoria was in charge, religion never got back its hold on society.

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