Daily Life in Victorian England: The Middle Class and its Values

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2+ (B), Martin Luther University (Institute for Anglistics/ American Studies), course: The Condition of England-Question, language: English, abstract: The Victorian age in England is generally defined by the reign of Queen Victoriafrom 1837 to 1901. Since the queen´s rulership was for such a long time, it is notpossible to discuss the whole period as one homogen part. There were so manychanges during the different phases of Victorias´s reign that the 64 years of herrulership may be seperated into 3 different periods: the first period which lastetuntil 1851 is a period of growth; England´s manufacturing and trading forces grewmore and more. In 1851 the Great Exhibition in London started the second and forthis paper most important period. Now England was the leading industrial countryin the world; the period of supremacy had begun.The late Victorian period coversthe last quarter of the century. During this phase England lost its supremacy andthe society had a more critical look on the earlier periods.1The Victorian values which were developed by the middle class were mostinfluential during the second third of Victoria´s reign. During this time the middleclass grew significantly and became very important (for example through theReform Bills which enlarged the voting population as well as through theirgrowing wealth). Because of their new role in society middle-class opinions,behavior and values were adopted by the other classes above and below.2Therefore, it can be said that from its beginning onwards the mid-Victorian erawas and is of a special influence on the British society in past and present: "Theopening of the Great Exhibition was also the opening of the Golden Age ofVictorianism,...".3 This "Golden Age" even has been recognized at the end of the20th century when the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stated: "VictorianValues were the values when our country became great."4 Therefore, this termpaper will discuss the famous "Victorian Values" which were developed in oneclass and later characterized a whole society.How did the people of the middle class live in the middle of the 19thcentury? How did they practise their morals and values? What were their moralsand ideals? [...]1 David Thomson, England in the Nineteenth Century: 1815-1914 (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books 1991)221-224.2 Gottfried Niedhart, Geschichte Englands im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, 3 Bände (München: Verlag C.H. Beck1987) 39-49.3 Thomson, England 19th Century, 100.4 Asa Briggs, A Social History of England, 2nd edition (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994) 249.