Victorian Age

Age of Expansion

1. The most profound developments taking place during the time were steam power, railways, iron
ships, looms, printing presses and farmer combines, telegraph intercontinental cable,
photography, anesthetics, and many others. England was the first country to become
industrialized so its transformation was a painful one. It experiences a host of social and
economic problems due to rapid industrialization. Some authors relished in the “spectacle” with
wholly delight. Overall, the response to industrialization was varied. Some viewed human
happiness was being run down by commerce and industry.

Early Period

2. The period was considered the “Time of Troubles” because it encountered a severe depression,
widespread unemployment, led to rioting and fears of revolution. Families lived in overcrowded
unsanitary housing and children often worked 16 hour days in mines. The reactions of some of
the writers to these changes were subtle but in many titles and through various novels such as
Sybil and The Two Nations – discontent is underlying.

Mid – Victorian Period

3. Asa Briggs reference to this age as “The Age of Improvement” is appropriate because Free Trade
was discovered to be enriching rather than impoverishing and agriculture flourished along with
trade and industry. As well as a flourish with industry, acts in the Parliament restricted child
labor and limited hours of employment and the conditions of working classes were gradually
improved.
4. Utlitarians were the followers of Jeremy Bentham and the philosophical conservatives, the
followers of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Their aim was to test all institutions in the light of human
reason to determine whether institutions were useful. They effectively tested some inst. Such
as Civil Service in Victorian Eng., but not The Church of England. They believed that religion was
merely an out moded superstition.
The opponents of Benthamites were anti- Utilitarian, believed that Benthams view was narrow.
They believed people had always needed faith as much as food. They were two types: led by
Carlylse who abanded Christianity to substitute religious belief, others led by John Henry
Newman led trad. Religious life.
5. Darwins’s writings were taken as a confliction to the creation as told in the Bible.

Late Period

6.