I.Fattori

THE VICTORIAN AGE

The reign of Queen Victoria

The Victorian Age takes his name from Queen Victoria that ascended the throne of Great Britain in 1837 when she was only 18. It is considered the age of stability and it is considered the largest rein in English history. This particular situation facilitated the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, where she took an active part in politics and soon became the unifying symbol of Britain and the Empire. Victorian's reign was characterized by the social turmoil derived from the spread of industrialization and technological progress. Secondly claims o Irish Roman Catholics broke peace in 1854 by the Crimean War. Some consequences were that several reforms were introduced by the Liberal Government without much resistance from the Conservative opposition. Moreover it was characterized by both social and administrative progress and by a further transformation of the country into a democratic nation. When Victoria died in 1901, Britain was involved in the Boer War.

The British Empire

Towards the end of the century, the British Empire covered a quarter of the earth's land surface and a third or its population. Lot of countries were included in this empire but in particular India was the colony which offered the largest scope for investment and the one in which middle and upper-middle class British people spent a great part of their working lives.

Industrialization, Urbanization and Social Unrest

The Victorian Age shows the period in Britain history when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. The country had gradually transformed from an agricultural country into in industrial land. An example of this transformation was that the migration of rural people to the industrial areas in search of job increased. In 1838 by the Chartists who presented to Parliament a document called the People's Charter advocating a radical reform in terms of higher wages and improved working conditions. In fact you could record a significant grow in population thanks to scientific discoveries which had improved medical conditions.

Economic Theories and Reforms

Socialism  in Britain was evolutionary rather than revolutionary and advocated gradual reforms. It preferred discussion, conferences and pamphleteering to political action. The economic theory of "free trade" dominated the first part of the century. In 1847 and 1867 the Factory Acts regulated child labour in factories, in 1842 the Mines Act forbade the employment of children under ten and women underground; in 1870 the Education Act provided a system of state primary schools and universities were opened to men of all creeds; Trade Unions were legalized in 1871. The third Reform Bill extended the franchise to agricultural labourers and miners and was followed by the establishment of elected Country Council.

Social Changers

The nation when Queen Victoria came to the throne could be divided into three main classes: the aristocracy, the middle class, and the working class. The middle class became the backbone of the country because they could invest their capital into industries that's creating a new problem inside the social organization, the born of a new class, this creating a new class. The industries that mainly contribute in the economic aspect of society were the wool and cotton industries, that is texile industries, which implies the existence of factory region where you could see the development of manufactory town and improvement in the role system that could be made.

The Cultural Context

The major literary genre of the period was the novel which became the main form of entertainment of the middle classes and at the same time the vehicle through which they created their own cultural identity.