The Victorian Age
1832-1900

Great Exhibition of 1851-Prince Albert-housed in the Crystal
Palace (made of glass and iron) exhibited from machines to
steamboat engines –prosperity, technological evolution
The Victorian Age

• Scientific and technical innovations of the Industrial
Revolution
• European colonization of much of Africa, the Middle
East, and the Far East changed most of Europe
• London becomes most important city in Europe
• Population of London expands from two million to six
million
The Victorian Age

The Growth of the British Empire
• England grew to become an empire that included
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong,
Singapore, South Africa, Kenya, and India “The sun
never sets on the British Empire.”
• Imported raw materials such as cotton and silk and
exported finished goods to countries around the world
• By the mid-1800s, England was the primary
manufacturer of goods and the wealthiest country in
the world

• She had the longest reign in British history. Became queen at the age of 18.
After her husband died in 1861, she sank into a deep depression and wore
black every day for the rest of her life
• Her reign lasted over 63 years, the longest of any British monarch until
now. Like Elizabeth I, she gave her name to this
period of British history and literature.
• The telegraph, telephone, photography (Victoria
was the first royal to have her portrait “taken”
rather than “painted”) the advent of the automobile
and electric lighting changed not only the way
people lived, but their view of the world in which
they lived.
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Reign: 1837-1901

—Women were to marry
and provide homes. A
working class woman,
if married, could be a
servant and if
unmarried, a teacher or
governess.

However…
― The Victorian concept of smog, called “the storm cloud of the
19th century.” John Ruskin describes “. . .the sky is covered
with greasy cloud; now raincloud, but a dry black veil, which
not ring or sunshine can pierce; …It looks partly as if it were
made of poisonous smoke.”
― Social classes did not mix, appearance was very important
― Population doubled creating a demand for housing, food and
clothing, increased urban poverty

English Literature
• Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights
• Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte

English Literature
• Charles Dickens: Many of his novels were published in serial
form. His comic and sentimental descriptions of the lives of
people in diverse occupations and social classes
made Dickens the most popular Victorian novelist.
• A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, David Copperfield
• In his novels, Charles Dickens attacked the glitter as well as
the poverty and cruel conditions of those like the orphan
Oliver Twist.

Do you think we can relate modern issues to the
Victorian era?
Can you find some similarities
and differences?

Why do you think so many Victorian novels
have been made into modern films or TV series?
(e.g. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Oliver
Twist)