I. Historical Overview
Queen Victoria and The Early Period 1837-1848
Shift of power went from Paris to London; England industrial nation
Progress had been gained at cost of child and women labor (actually all forms of labor)
Growth but with class division (rich and poor)
Extension of vote--dismantling of rigorous class system
Tariffs abolished--Free Trade

Mid-Victorian Period 1848-1870
Religion: Utilitarianism--maximize pleasure and minimize pain
Technology and economics: Annual export of goods tripled, Expansion of empire
Sciences: Origin of Species (man has evolved from primates; also idea of natural selection)

Late Victorian Period 1870-1901
Serenity and Security
England's struggle with its colonies (1857 Indian Mutiny and Jamaica rebellion)
Change of attitudes--Butler attacks the big whigs of Victorian thought, makes fun of evolutionary ideas and Victorian pretenses

The Nineties 1890's
Changing values--Prince Edward (playboy figure)
Mood became more melancholy (fin de siecle awareness)
Beginning of Modernist movement, again an attack on Victorian ideology (for example Oscar Wilde)

II. Elements of the Victorian Period
Role of Women
Laws passed to ensure rights of women (Custody Act, Divorce Act, Married Women's property act)
Education--1848 first college for women; later 10 universities for women to attend
Employment--more working class job opportunities and acts to ensure safer working conditions. Rise of prostitution

Literacy, Publication, and Reading
Compulsory education up to age 10
Technological efficiency (printing presses which were developed in medieval period were made more efficient)
Growth of more kinds of texts--cartoons, magazines, novels, newspapers etc.

Novel
Serial form--came in three volumes and each volume was comprised of installments which
appeared in magazines
Protagonists try to define their place in society
Insurgence of women writers who had the means to write novels

Poetry
Influenced by Romantics; but lacked same confidence
Revision of earlier texts
Emphasis on sound (alliteration and assonance)
Use of distance between speaker, author and audience (Browning)
Dramatic monologue (one speaker as opposed to Dialogue--two speakers)
Multiplicity of meaning

Prose
Shared intellectual life
Topics ranged from religious to political issues
Persuasion important
Use of reason
Use of emotion to appeal to audience