Victorians

Close thy Byron, open thy Goethe, Carlyle said in 1834—abandon the introspection of the Romantics and turn towards higher moral purpose of Goethe

We have been living, as it were, the life of three hundred years in thirty—Dr. Thomas Arnold

What comes in early to mid 19th: Steam Rail Mercadum Roads John Crapper toilets Bathtubs in houses (late)

London: 1837—2 million people 1901: 6 million people End of cottage industries

In 1897, the grandson could not recognize his grandfather

Industrialism: 1800-1850—50% increase in population, 50% shift in population from country to cities Factory Act 1833 Reform Bill of 1832 People’s Charter 1838

1850-1870 *immigrants, colonization *1856 Darwin’s “Origins of Species” *800 million pounds invested abroad in 1870 (300 million in 1850) *25% of earth’s surface British *Victoria Empress of India in 1876 *Canada *English Broadsheets (fast reads for the day, sold on streets) *Roads, wire, rail, ships ships ships colonial armies, Colonialism *1850 Wordsworth’s death, Tennyson to Laureateship, Crystal Palace built *Missionary enterprises Africa, China, Middle East, South America **Low, Broad, High Church (1830s Oxford movement) *Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832—moral arithmetic, but no power to feel buit *1857 Sepoy Rebellion

Stable, moral, domestic, settled, “old” Victorians BUT Hungry 40s 1848 Marx’s Communist Manifesto

1870s to turn of century: Bismarck’s Germany 1871—Iron and Blood Massacre of General Gordon at Karthoum in 1885 1880s, Home Rule in Ireland Decadence of 1890s—Prince Edward wild man 1848 First Women’s College in London Coventry Patmore’s The Angel in the House (1854-62) women’s purity, selflessness, role in home…think of Doll’s House…..The Oxen…..Marx…..Colonial insurrection

Novels—this new world 1870s—broad readership—people receiving 4 years of education Bell and Lancaster System Reading public wants more and more and more