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Victorian Context (1837-1900) - Coggle Diagram
Victorian Context
(1837-1900)
values
respectability - reputation was highly important, people were expected to appear morally upright, disciplined and religious
morality + propriety - public behaviour especially around sex and family life was tightly regulated
social hierarchy - class divisions were very visible and widely accepted as natural
articles often use formal, moralising or judgemental langauge, eg modal verbs and declaratives suggesting authority
gender roles
victorian ideology separated life into seperate spheres:
men = public sphere (work, politics, business, authority)
women = private sphere (home, childcare, emotional labour)
women were often framed as delicate, pure, submitting, nurturing
-a common steryotpe was the "angel in the house", meaning the ideal woman was self-sacrificing, domestic and devoted
women who stepped outside the traditional role were potrayed negatively as hysterical, unfeminine, dangerous
laws: women has very limited legal rights:
-property often belonged to husbands
-divorce was difficult and scandalous
-women lacked political representation
married women could not own property until 1882
politics and power
victorian politics was dominated by elite men, expansion of voting rights was gradual and uneven, there was concern over maintaining order and stability, and common themes of empire and nationalism
women could not vote in parliamentary elections
political discourse often sounds paternalistic, authoritative, didactic, upper/middle class men were decision makers
class
victorian britain was intensely class conscious
upper class/aristocracy - wealth, land, influence, steryotypes = refined, cultured, authoritative
middle class - professionals, merchents, obsessed with respectability and self-improvement
steryotypes = respectable, industrious, rational
working class - labourers, factory workers, servants, steryotypes = rough, immoral, uneducated, undisciplined and dangerous
industrialisation
victorian britain was shaped by the industrial revolution
effects = urbanisation (moving to cities), factory labour, overcrowding, pollution and slums, new wealth but huge inequality
religion
christianity was hugely influential, social norms were often justified through religion: obedience, chastity, duty
breaking norms were framed as morally sinful
empire and race
victorian britain was at the height of the British Empire
led to: imperial pride, nationalism, beliefs in british superiority
many texts relfect colonial attitudes, non europeans represented as "other", exotic, inferiour, or in need of civilising