1. The Victorian Period: Paradox and Progress

2. Peace and Economic Growth
Industrial Revolution expanded, creating new towns, new goods, new wealth, and new jobs for many
Political reforms gave working and middle class citizens more political power

3. The Idea of Progress
Middle-class Victorian attitude – progress largely means material improvement that can be seen and touched, counted and measured

4. The Hungry Forties Came to throne during a depression
Poor working conditions -- mangled kids
The potato famine -- caused many Irish to emigrate to England, increasing population
Pollution and filth -- Thames River

5. The Movement for Reform
Improvements in diet – price of food dropped
The Reform Bills – gave the right to vote to almost all adult males; limited child labor; reduced hours in the working day; state-supported schools were established, rising the literacy rate

6. Decorum and Prudery
Publishers deleted or altered words and episodes that could embarrass ladies
Sex, birth, and death were softened
People were arrested for distributing information about STDs

7. Authoritarian Values
Uneasy about giving strong authority to a central government
Women were subject to male authority
Women who didn’t marry had few jobs available – servants (working class); governesses or teachers (middle class)

8. Intellectual Progress & Science
Worked out the history of the earth in rocks and fossils
Evolution of species theories
Believed the world offered a challenging set of problems that could be understood by human intelligence and solved by science, government, and other human institutions

9. Questions and Doubts
Can material comfort fully satisfy human needs and wishes?
Cost of exploiting the earth and human beings to achieve comfort
Codes of decorum and authority
Understanding of the universe

10. Trust/Skepticism in the Transcendental
Younger writers found it difficult to believe in an infinite power and order that made sense of material and human existence
Some believed there was no certainty; others that existence was not governed by a kind intelligence that cared for its creatures