Victorian age and literature

Appunti su Victorian age and Victorian literaure (4 pagine formato doc)

Appunto di alebolla
With the factory system industries were particularly concentrated around the great coalfields  and were organized on capitalistic lines.
Unfortunately, the system was accompanied by negative consequences, such as the concentration of people in towns, in unhealthy houses with little water supply and sanitation, which occasionally led to cholera.
The middle class most benefited from the new situation, so it increased in power and took over the reins of the government. On the other hand, however, there was a part of society which still lived in miserable conditions.
Victoria’s reign can be roughly divided into three periods:
Early Victorianism (1837-1850) – influenced by the ideals of American and French revolutions, Britain carried out a gradual democratization of government and society
Mid-Victorianism (1850 – 1870) – its climax was the International Exhibition of 1851.
Through its industrial and naval power, its natural resources, financial stability, reforms and moral code, Britain attained pre-eminence in Late Victorianism (1870 – 1901) – Britain’s supremacy began to be threatened by new aggressive nationalisms and new political, economic and social forces.

Socio-economic Background

The Victorian Age was a complex period, marked by political, social and religious unrest, which brought about remarkable changes.
England was being transformed from a rural country to an industrial one. The Second Industrial Revolution soon led to a rapid growth of wealth and prosperity and to a great sense of self-satisfaction. The major event which illustrated the progress of the country was the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations held in 1851.