VICTORIAN SOCIETY: PURITARISM

The religion linked to Puritanism

Puritanism was a movement that appeared in England in the Victorian Era. It was linked to
anglicism also because Queen Victoria was the head of the Anglican church. The Queen, but,
divided the religion groups mainly to three: Catholicism, Anglicism and Disidence.

Queen Victoria protected the English and the Scottish churches and also the Catholics.
However, the religious controversy in the Victorian era was very popular in the literature of
that time.

Puritans saw that the lower classes had more freedom than the upper ones because they were
seen as merely existing to serve higher classes and were ignored by the society. Also puritans
had a great impact on the decisions Queen Victoria took about religious themes and in some
times she approved some laws to them

Women in the Victorian society

Women couldn’t vote and also, they didn’t have any political power. They had to take care of
the home and the kids. In addition, if their parents were ill they were the ones to take care of
them.

They could do few things for they own like do charity work for the poor people. In contrast, in
upper social groups like nobles they were considered as angels. In higher classes women didn’t
do any home chore. They received commercial and classical education.

Meanwhile women had to act always in the husband will. Also they have to wear specific
clothes like typical hats or skirts.

Therefore, women had horrible working conditions and that led to a lot of women into
prostitution. A fun fact is that women had the same rights as children at that time.
Prohibitions in the Victorian Era

Queen Victoria made illegal many things for no apparent reason. Firstly, people who had cards,
dices or any kind of game were punished severely. In addition, Young single men, so they could
live in a community, needed the permission of the town they were in and adultery ended up
with a death sentence. Furthermore, fancy clothing, smoking in public and living with an Indian
was banned. Finally, celebrating Christmas would cost you 5 shillings.

In the Victorian Era crime rates were extremely high. Killing was the most punished act and
Queen Victoria was very strict on this. However, in the society criminals started to be treated
differently in England than before. They started to be seen as a social class and that they had a
mental illness.

Influence of Puritanism on other countries

Some pretty strong beliefs say that the Puritans had an impact on American culture. They
believed that moral standards and ensuring religious worship was the government’s job and
that education was an essential need that every person, male or female, must have so that
they could read the bible on their own, however, somethings didn’t go so well when the
puritan culture arrived to USA which made some people argue with the ones in charge and
were exiled from there.

On the other hand, all the impact that Puritanism had on America was because of the growth
of the British Empire. Because of England success their laws, culture and values of the
Puritanism of that time arrived to America.

Not only American culture was influenced, although it’s literature was influenced. The major
exponent of English Puritanism was Anne Bradsteed and she influenced a lot of American
authors like John Smith and William Bradford. She wrote also about her religious beliefs and
had a big impact on the American society