History: An Introduction to Victorian Britain

Part of my little Victorian literature collection

I started this month on Instagram participating in what is lovingly called #victober. This tag celebrates the diverse and rich history, literature and society of the Victorian era during the month of October. I started the month by reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, then followed that with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (the latter is not technically a Victorian novel, but it is certainly imbued with many facets of Victorian ideals, values and social norms.)

It has been a while since I have done a History post, and thought I would love to revisit Victorian Britain in a bit more detail here on the blog. I hope to explain here some of the history of this time that has influenced those books, artists and poets that we know and love from this time. There is a lot to love about this time, but there is also a lot that might shock or sadden our modern sensibilities. There is no use in sugar-coating history though, as it is all aspects of our histories that have made us who and where are as a society today, not simply the good parts. Romanticising a history does not help move forward to the future, for we should look back to learn the lesson. Although many favourite Victorian novels may not touch on sensitive issues, but rather give a perspective of privilege and countrified living (I think here of Jane Austen's Emma, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice), there are others that offer a different perspective to Victorian life (think Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield). 

 The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was probably the key catalyst that brought about so many changed to Victorian Britain. It must be kept in mind that the revolution, as its name would suggest, was not a singular event but rather a long and difficult process that had many social side effect. Primarily, it caused a massive internal migration of people leaving work on the farm or in the country and moving to the city for more secure in factories and other industrial processes. In his book, The English: A Social History 1066-1945 Christopher Hibbert claims that by 1851 the towns, 

"for the first time, contained more people than the country and, by 1881, over twice as many. The population of Greater London, which had been scarcely more than a million in 1801 had risen to...almost 4 million in 1871." (Hibbert, 1987 p568)

Industrialisation brought to the forefront work in coalminers, brick factories and other processing plants. Work was often brutally tough, women and children were often at the mercy of their employers and the men that they worked with, and health was generally overall poor. 

"In almost every occupation workers lived in fear of losing their jobs and, since there were more people looking for work than vacancies to fill, they clung to employment so anxiously that their masters were able to make demands upon them which today would seem utterly intolerable." (Hibbert, 1987 p592).

Just think of the workhouse conditions outlined in the opening scenes of Oliver Twist. 

Cities that now had to deal with increasing population as well as other effects of industrialisation would naturally have social issues. Many of the issues that will be discussed in this post can be considered a by-product of the Industrial Revolution. 

Working the Land

The enormous division in wealth that was characteristic of this time was seen in both the towns and in the country. The wealthy gentrified landowners were by far in a different league to small landholders and agricultural workers. 

    "Many women farm labourers worked in gangs by which was meant, in the words of an official report, 'a number of persons, men, women, girls, lads and boys, employed by and under the control of one person who lets them out to different farmers in turn for certain kinds of work.' " (Hibbert, 1987 p 559)

The conditions that many of these "gang" workers faced were horrific and several reforms were brought into effect to improve their way of life, to little effect. Gangmasters would often withhold pay, take a cut of the pay for themselves, abuse women and children workers and worse. Working hours were long and rates of pay were very low. There were, admittedly, some workers who lived fairly happy and well-fed lives, 

"Most, however, recalled less happy times, rising at dawn to work until sunset for their paltry wages, eating bread and potatoes with an occasional piece of bacon and an apple dumpling, often going to bed hungry." (Hibbert, 1987 p563)

As potatoes formed such a staple to the diet of people who worked in the country, when there was a bad crop, inevitably hunger rates rose. This was seen in devastating detail during the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s. High levels of starvation, malnutrition and death led once more to mass migration. Hundreds of thousands of Irish migrated to England and America to start a better way of life. Once in England though, they found themselves either facing similar agricultural problems in the country, or vying for jobs in industrial towns such as London, Manchester and Liverpool. 

I won't go into a lot of detail here about life and labour conditions in towns and the country, as this is only an introduction, but if you would like to know more, I suggest you start with the Social History page at Victorian Web.

Crime and Police Reform

Crime and punishment were not new issues in Victoria's times. We know that Britain suffered from a shortage of prisons prior to the 1800s, hence the use of colonies (the USA and Australia in particular) as places of punishment. Along with the threat of deportation was the misguided hope of public executions as a deterrent. Yet, neither of these were able to stop the rise in crime. With poverty, hunger and unemployment on the rise, coupled with the mass migration of people into industrial towns and cities, you can imagine that Victorian England saw an increase in crime. Authorities had little in the way of resources to help them deal with the rise in crime and general disorder. 

    "Peel realised, as few other reformers had done, that reform of the criminal law was dependent upon police reform and it was towards the reorganisation of the police that he cautiously but surely moved." (Hibbert, 1987 p663)

 Under the guidance and authority of Robert Peel, (Home Secretary and later Prime Minister) The Metropolitan Police was established in 1829. Prior to that, law and order was kept in checked by troops, the Bow Street runners or paid spies. The Metropolitan Police's aim was to create a law and order force that was under the control of a single authority (in this case, the Home Secretary), despite the cost that such a reform would bring. 

"Less than three months after its establishment, Wellington wrote to Peel to congratulate him upon 'the entire success of the London police.' " (Hibbert, 1987 p664).

When I think of classic literature based around Victorian law and order, I automatically think of Sherlock Holmes. The sensationalising of crime, due to the public's love of reported crime in daily newspaper, set about a new genre in literature. The detective force, still new and somewhat distrusted, after being established in 1842, also helped Conan Doyle's intelligent super sleuth take off. I talk more about this in my post, The Rise of Detective Fiction if you are interested.

“Do you know, Watson,” said he, “that it is one of the curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed there.”

“Good heavens!” I cried. “Who would associate crime with these dear old homesteads?”

“They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”

                                                    The Adventure of the Copper Beeches - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Holmes was right. With an established Metropolitan Police force, and later a Detective Force, many criminals fled London and headed out into the countryside to commit their crimes. Prisons once again became horrific places of abuse, tyranny and "unutterable dreariness." A Prison Act of 1877 was passed to improve prison conditions, but as it still endorsed 'hard bodily labour, the use of chains and irons, and flogging amongst other conditions, it wasn't much of an improvement. 

If you would like to know more on this topic, Aaron Mahnke shares some behind the scenes research for his historical podcast, Unobscured - Jack the Ripper. These episodes dive so much deeper into the topic than I could ever do. 

Colonialism and Imperialism

This will be the final topic in my introduction to Victorian Britain and its influence on classic literature as this post is getting quite long! 

"The growth of the British Empire was due in large part to the ongoing competition for resources and markets which existed over a period of centuries between England and her Continental rivals, Spain, France, and Holland...Until the early nineteenth century, the primary purpose of Imperialist policies was to facilitate the acquisition of as much foreign territory as possible, both as a source of raw materials and in order to provide real or potential markets for British manufactures." (D.Cody, Victorian Web).

There are a number of books that touch gently on the influence of British colonialism, notably The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, where the main characters are little girls who have been raised in far off India. This place is described in magical, almost enchanting terms, a life of abundance, luxury and peace. Rudyard Kipling's Kim offers a more realistic portrayal of India and its role in the British Empire. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness offers a controversial look at the experience of imperialism in Africa. Whether or not you like this difficult read, it certainly does not attempt to portray British invasion in the region in a romantic light. 

Books that don't necessarily confront the issue of colonialism can also offer a glimpse into the Victorian mindset regarding such a theme. Jane Eyre and the character of Bertha Mason and Sherlock Holmes' The Yellow Face are two books that show rather contrasting opinions of the "other" that is often typified in Victorian literature. 

If you have stayed with me to the end, thank you! I hope that this little bit of historical background has helped set the scene for some of our best-loved classic novels. To me, the two go hand-in-hand. I love to know the historical setting behind books, who they were written for and what they were trying to achieve. Were they trying to expose horrific conditions like in Dickens' case? Were they to appeal to the wealthy landowners as a form of diversion such as Austen's classics? Or were they hoping to draw attention to issues of inequality like the Bronte's? Understanding this can help us understand their appeal today. It also helps put our own lives and sufferings into perspective. Can we truly empathise with the lives these Victorians lived? Classics like this help open our eyes to the reality of life in the not so distant past. They entertain, but they also inform. 

If you would like to read more about the Victorian era, you can see my other posts on the topic here. Please leave any comments on this topic down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts or ideas.

Kirsty x