The Victorian Era: Author spotlight

John Ruskin, 1819- 1900

Most interesting in Ruskin's reflection of the Victorian marriage is the result of a "balanced" relationship: a "home."  Ruskin suggests, "this is the true nature of home- it is the pace of peace," as instigated by the ideal wife, "the shelter from... all terror," dependent upon the idea husband.  Ruskin celebrates the worth of the concept of "home": "so far as the anxieties of the outer life penetrate it... it ceases to be a home," and "it is a sacred place... a temple watched over by House-hold Gods."

The Victorian Era: Entertainment

The theater  was a thriving business, enjoyed by the  upper and middle classes, and in less formal situations, the lower class.  With the rate of urbanization, crowds flocked to the cities, and entertainment was a necessary objection: public houses became popular, the prostitution business rocketed, and the theater became the hottest spot for socializing.

Program for Wilde's production of "An Ideal Husband"

The Victorian Era: Victorian Vogue

Hurrah for women's fashion throughout the Victorian era!  Beauty was attributed much more to the natural curve of the human body in this era-  highlighting a slim waist and a rounder bottom was the female priority: it was feminine, sensual and defined their status in society.  Fabrics were imported from foreign lands- this was a luxury at the hand of trade with colonies.  Fashion was enjoyable: for the upper class.

Mens fashion- it's all about the neck scarf, let's face it.  The mens trouser became looser than that of the romantic period: waist coats had fewer buttons and were more fitted, and the shape of the tail coat was altered.  Colours varied, depending on class.  For the lower classes: the factory workers and such, fashion was not important.  Clothes would get dirty in the workhouse and should be light, as the work was hard and manual.

The Victorian Era: Favourite Art

William Morris

Morris was the first artist that I studied as a young first grader in primary school.  I remember that we were to copy one of his prints as closely as we could, and colour it just as carefully.  I spent forever, tracing, erasing and colouring the pattern.  All the while I remember marveling at the care it took to create something so beautiful: I never looked at wallpaper the same way.  Morris, a poet as well as an artist, was precise and accurate in his work.  I think that since that class in primary school, I have always associated Victorians with Morris' work.  His use of colour: generally darker colours, and his emphasis on rich pattern and floral design embody the nature of the upperclass Victorian, in my eyes.

Ophelia- John Everett Millais, 1851-52

What an incredible piece of art!  There are two things I love about this particular piece.  firstly, it does what the Victorians did best: it tells a story.  Naturally, it asks us to recall Ophelia's story: one of madness and suicide.  Though I think more often, I contemplate Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott when viewing this painting.  Either way, what is interesting to me is that the story itself is dramatized beautifully: it is romanticized!  Horror and ugliness (of the act of suicide itself) is instead replaced with the floral depictions of a seemingly honorable death.  What exactly does this say about Victorians?  Were they in denial?  Or just very poetic?

James A. M. Whistler- Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket, 1875 

I chose to feature this painting because it is just so different to things we see typically of the Victorian era in art: at least during the beginning of the era.  Art seemed to be a business: depicting a consequential person within society, recreating a scene as acurately and beautifully as possible, and sketching for political purposes.  In this painting, however, I feel like the artist is attempting to depict emotion in the painting rather than an event.  The vibrant and excessive use of colour is the artist's primary tool in captivating his audience.  There is something magical about the painting:something unusual, but all the while realistic enough to tell a story.

The Victorian Era: People of Consequence

Cecil Rhodes

An extraordinary entrepreneur, highly involved in colonialism and the drive to establish business in Africa in particular.  He was responsible for "Rhodes Across Africa"- the concept of creating a railway system that made it from Egypt to South Africa.  He claimed much land in the name of the Queen, and much in his own name: Rhodesia and the Rhode Islands are examples.  He was also actively involved in the diamond business in South Africa, and for a tim dominated the diamond market for decades.

Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Book.  Enough Said.

Florence Nightingale

Nightingale was a breakthrough in terms of the status of influential women in history.  Rather than focusing on the usual female roles: the teacher, the governess, the wife and housekeeper; Nightingale became a beacon of inspiration in the eyes of women throughout the country.  She was a healer; one who served diligently and was respected a great deal for it.

Queen Victoria

God Bless the Queen!  Victoria, famous for her words, "We are not amused!" was certainly a hard one to please!  She was strict- almost gave Queen Elizabeth I a run for her money!  She was incredibly influential: aware and involved in the running of her country.  Involved in politics and an active participant in society.  She was devoted to her family: her husband Albert and her children.  The couple reigned as equals, at least in her sight: it was clear she valued the bonds of family.  When Albert died, Vicky went into a depression, and reigned alone as a somber widow.  She is perhaps most influential in the way that she led by example: she was a strong female leader, oriented toward encouraging education, which she pushed on women, and in her family.  I might suggest that her influence stuck mainly in the upper classes: she tended to turn a blind eye to a lot of problems involving urbanization and poverty.

Charles Darwin

Scientist and philosopher who changed the face of intellectual thought and reasoning.  His ideas were widely threatening, especially when considering the strong religious connotation of Victorian society.  Darwin argued that all species of life evolved from a common ancestor through what he called natural selection.  Huge controversy surrounded the theory: and still does today.  Darwin is a prime example of individual thought: thought that could be strongly supported considering advances in technology.

Charles Dickens

His works remain to be British Literary classics, inflicting in his literature a sense of moral understanding and philosophy that supports the existence and supremacy of God.  Dickens was a family man: dedicated to teach those around him in a manner that celebrated human relationships and the goodness in them.

The Victorian Era: In the British News

Queen Victoria's Jubilee, 1887 (and 1897)

Thomas Edison invents the Light Bulb- which meant, firstly, that many street light lighter people were out of a job.  Sad.

1825 George Stevenson builds the first railway track in England

The Berlin Conference of 1884-5

Major powers in Europe gathered together in Berlin, under the invitation of the Kaiser.  The primary objective of the conference was literally to divide up Africa.  One thing that gets me about this was the sheer idiocy of such leaders.  There are so many problems with colonialism, it is unreal.  But here are a few basic essentials that, I think, are not blatant enough to the common reader:

Firstly, European powers all fought for a piece of land on the coast:  this was, naturally, an essential part of colonialism, as foreign powers needed coast land for trade and travel purposes.  The problem with this is that it split up the land along the coast into thing strips of land that separated a single tribe that settled coastal land.  The tribe was torn apart into new "countries" wherein different languages, religions and ways of life were implemented.  

Secondly, in longer terms, the consequences of this were these:  European powers moved into an already established culture, tore it apart and enforced new customs, and when they had used the resources they could (oftentimes at the hand of great abuse and exploit), they left the land, abandoned the peoples in it, and left them with no system to fend with themselves.  Africa is still recovering!

Thirdly, the conference stood to basically enable King Leopold of Belgium private access and ownership of the Congo, or Congo Free State, as he called it.  Leopold's reign in the Congo was notorious and abusive.  Native peoples were enslaved and made to meet quotas of rubber collection: failure to meet a quota most often meant that the slave would lose a hand or family member as a cost.  The horrors of the Congo were retold in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

The Victorian Period: On Everybody's Minds

Poverty- As a product of the Industrial revolution, urbanization led to an increased number of peoples popullating main cities in England. The immediate consequence was overcrowding, and poverty as a cost. A multiple families shared single apartments, being packed into small spaces because of low wages. It was a delicate economic state: jobs were never guaranteed; were easily lost and unreliable. Of course this is just the working class we are thinking about. upper classes enjoyed relatively spacious accomodation in the cities: usually townhouses.

Child Labor- Because of the struggling nature of economic survival in the city, children were expected to work to contribute to a family's income. In the country, mills were often packed with orphan children. very few laws were implemented to protect children in the workplace, though eventually laws were made to encourage education, under Victoria's rule, and to shorten working hours.

Nationalism - a great sense of national pride began to tear through Europe, encouraging strong pride in one's country and roots. You might say it urged colonialism in Africa, and became an apparent issue in the Berlin conference of 1884. As each small European country enforced a sense of national pride (largely through schools and the workplace), tensions rose, alliances were made and antagonism was supressed. It is easy to see how this contributed to both world wars in the twentieth century. My friends and I were discussing the amount of nationalistic songs that the USA has (a lot!), and one of them made the comment that other countries just don't have that many songs- they aren't as nationalistic these days. I think this is because the US can afford to be so nationalistic. It is a huge land area, somewhat unsurrounded be nations of equal size. In Europe, countries can sometimes border several other countries of equal size: competition and aggravation is more likely. In short, I think european countries have learned that they cannot be so nationalistic these days, considering huge historical torment and consequence.

The Battle of the Sexes: defining the ideal wife (and the ideal husband)- The "Angel in the house" theory, outlined in many pieces of literature, defined the relationship between man and woman.  The woman was expected to be as we presume the stereotype of the female ought to be: a caregiver, passive and innocent, the organizer as opposed to the provider, which is how the male is seen to be.  He must be hardened and stern, active and unemotional.  Imagine if travel time were possible.  Can you just see the social torment potential?  So many conflicting ideas!!

The Romantic Period: Author Spotlight

The Body of Abel found by Adam and Eve, by William Blake.

WILLIAM BLAKE 1757-1827

Blake has fascinated me in the past in his various religious pieces of art. In them i have been impressed with his passion for the stories of the Old Testament. He was relatively unheard of throughout his life, but today is recognized as a prominent figure of the Romantic Period: his poetry and art is religious, insightful and reflective. Blake considered his worth as a human being, and the experience and contributions we make to society. The fact that he centered worth on God, and something greater than himself, strikes me as a very humble, mature conclusion.

The Human Abstract

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody poor,
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

And mutual fear brings Peace,
Till the selfish loves increase;
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.

He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.

Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head,
And the caterpillar and fly
Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat,
And the raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.

The gods of the earth and sea
Sought through nature to find this tree,
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the human Brain.

I think that there is something great to be said of artists who atrtribute greatness and beauty to something larger than themselves. Today it is not a common thing to find with success a sense of gratitude to God. Mankind has grown more and more self involved. It is not a frequent thing for one to consider trials, for example, as an opportunity to serve one another and be compassionate. I wonder how different the world would be, stripped of pride, and actually interested in the wellbeing of its follow man.

The Romantic Period: Favourite Music

Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky. My mother used to play classic music in the house when we were little- she would teach us all of the composers and the songs. We grew to love the crescendos of Vivaldi's four seasons- I have to crank the volume to this day in Winter. My favourite was Swan Lake. When I started school, we would have school assembly. Every day the teacher would play a piece and ask if anyone knew what it was. One week he played this and I raised my hand and told him- he was shocked that I knew.

I wanted to be a ballerina. I used to dance around the house to this piece. Tchaikovsky creates raw emotion in his use of crescendos and diminuendos. It is a powerful, sad piece that invites so many emotions.

The man himself, Tchaikovsky.

The Romantic Period: Romantic Vogue

The French- OTT, naturally. As we know, fashion in France is of the upmost importance. Marie Antoinette made sure to see to that. The Aristocratic woman, for sure, had to keep in touch with the very latest fashions:it was every bit as important as running her home. I am reminded of the Scarlet Pimpernel: How important the cravat was. Ha! Of course, we are not too concerned with the french. But it is worthwhile to mention that french fashion, at least on an aristocratic level, made its way to Britain, and was seen somewhat as a standard. However flamboyant it was: we were influenced.

However, we Brits couldn't quite live with ourselves if we were seen to be copying french trends. The Romantic period was the beginnings of a staunch hatred between the two nations. And so, in the hoyty toyty manner with which we Brits seems to always hold, we took their flamboyancy and modified it. Modest was celebrated, and the Aristocracy emphasized fine fabrics in simple form. Perhaps the main area in which which we got creative was with the hat. Even as time went on and outfits became simpler in style, the hat was always a statement of ones worth in society.


Typical in Womens fashion, we notice the empire waist, cropped coat, pastel colour and gloves. Fabrics were of the upmost importance: the middle class kept silks for very special occasions.

The Romantic Period: Favourite Art

Francisco Goya. The Shootings of May Third. 1808. Goya has always been a favourite painter. Although he painted many potraits for the aristocracy, his other pieces follow a very different technique and style, unique for his time. Being quite politically intune, Goya focused many of his works on events that happened around him, and painted in a very realistic manner. His use of colour is especially unique amidst other professional artists in the Romantic Period. He is not afraid to use bold and intense colour, which accentuates the drama of the scene he is painting. His pieces are captivating and truthful. In this particular painting, I am impressed by Guya's ability to get his audience's empathy immediately: the victim in the painting seems to emmit light: innocence. The red of the blood stands out- the gore taints the painting. the figures in the background portray such emotion that the audience instantly detests the shooters: the oppressors. This is quite typical of social thinking in the Romantic Period.

The Romatic Period: A Few People of Consequence

William Pitt And Napoleon. Pitt, the British Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801 (and then again from 1804-06) was a tight leader, suppressing freedom of speech in Britain. Napoleon was equally as notorious in his hunger for power. Both were pretty stuck up and power-hungry. What sort of leader is a good leader? I think of King Benjamin, of the Book of Mormon: a leader who did everything he could for his people, served with compassion and set an example of love and charity. His people, consequently, loved him and times were peaceful. Politics in the Romantic Period were a headache! What was lacking? Compassion for the poorer classes!

Jane Austen. Praise Jane for her incredible talent for caputing what her female audience wanted to read about. She was, essentially, an entertainer. Though of course we consider her to be a classic legend, I wonder how she was concieved in her time. Anne Hathaway and those 20th Century Fox peeps have tried to show us (Becoming Jane- an okay movie-watch it is you don't mind Hathaway's strained accent), but I still wonder whether or not she was just the equivalent of our Stephanie Meyer. Regardless, females continue to thank her for Mr. Darcy- who, up until Edward Cullen, was the ideal man.
Literary appreciation: her ability to accurately portray class distinction, the implications of such in the eyes of both the upper and lower classes, romantically suggesting the integration of the classes and creating in Mrs. Bennett a character who will always make me laugh.

Lord Byron. A man I should have liked to have observed at a party. He was extravagent, dramatic and a flirt. The Greeks still consider him a national hero. Byron invented his own hero in literature- probably after the image of himself- a character "mad bad and dangerous to know," according to fellow writer Lady Caroline Lamb. What I like about Byron (more so than his writing, I think), was his decision to involve himselves in the lives of other writers. He was BFF with Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Claire Clairmont- they even vacationed together. I wonder to think what they discussed over dinner.

Marie Antoinette (french). Marie, will will learn later in Romantic Period Vogue, remains to be considered a pioneer in Romantic fashion. We appreciate her effort in keeping up appearances under the spotlight of the media, and of course living such an incredible life that Hollywood just HAD to recreate it. It didn't do so well. Poor Kirsten Dunst.

The Romantic Period: In the British News

Peterloo Massacre, Manchester, Manchester, England, on 16 August 1819. Cavalry charge a HUGE crowd of protesters who were demanding a parliamentary reform. Power to the people! Until the Cavalry come...

King George III is declared incurably insane in 1811. Well, it happens to the best of us. Long live the King!

The Romantic Period: On Everybody's Minds

What occupied the thoughts of those Brits during the Romantic years? Primarily the French. The French Revolution (beginning with the assembly of the States General in July 1793) tore through the minds of most Europeans and sparked ideas of independence, individual worth and freedom. Trust the french to start such chaos! Cue repressive measures in England. It's funny to think what powerful people will do to remain in power. We are concerned with class here: an aristocracy worried that the common people will overrule their comfy lifestyle. Eventually, free expression and common concern overrules even something as thriving and powerful as the African Slave Trade.

Suddenly everybody has a say- or believes they have a right to it. Poets explore the nobility and worth in such expressions: in Wordsworth's We Are Seven, even a child has something worthwhile to contribute to the adult way of thinking: tangible logic is given the shaft as room is made for insightful intuition.

Slavery is abolished in the Empire in 1807. I find it interesting to see how much we congratulate ourselves for that one. The forgive and forget policy we seem to have adopted and embrace is somewhat ridiculous. I lived in Ghana for three years, and one of the things that struck me about being so involved in society there is the fear that those people have of "the white man". The general consensus seems to be not to trust the expatriate: when the self is concerned, freedom is very valued. On many occasions I was unexpectadely (and unprovokingly) attacked with statements of equality. I felt like they didn't believe that I believed we were indeed equal. There is a lasting effect of the slave trade in Ghana: blame is not something that is forgotten even today, no matter how much freedom became valued in the Romantic Period.