Victorian compromise
Appunto inviato da ciaoooooo21
Appunto in inglese: "Victorian Compromise" e situazione storica (1 pagine formato txt)
The Victorians were great moralisers, probably because they faced numerous problems on such a scale that they felt obliged to advocate certain values which offered solutions or escapes. As a rule the values they promoted refletcted not the world as they saw it, the harsh social reality around them, but the world as they would have liked it to be.
Probably the most persistently advocated notion throughout he 19th century was the need to work hard. In an age which believed in progress, it seemed natural to believe that material progresse would emerge from hard wordk and to insist on the sense of duty rather than on personal inclination.
Sunday schools and later the compulsory elementary schools placed great emphasis on punctuality and application. Diligence, good time-keeping and good behaviour were rewarded, normally by the gift of books. These values were of equal application to all strata of society, through they were refined and given their essential Victoria form by the upper or middle classes.
The idea of respectability distinguished the middle from the lower class. Respectability was a mixture of both morality and hypocrisy, severity and conformity to social standards. It implied the possession of good manners, the ownership of a comfortable house with servants and a carriage, regular attendance at church, and charitable actirity.