Industrialization [Chapter 6, Page 293] was the technological shift from agrarian living towards industrial living which began in 1760. Industrialization was boosted through the development and usage of machinery in factories. This shift transformed the method small buissiness production to mass produced products. Some of the major innovations due to this technological advancement were the steam engine, petroleum, electricity, the internal-combustion engine, and the spinning jenny. Great steps in transportation and communication were made in this era as well such as “the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica).

This development of this industrialization manifested its effects in the socioeconomic order. In Orlando’s humble beginnings during the Elizabethan era, women were seen as feeble and dependent on men as well as expected to remain home giving birth and being obedient of their male authority figures. The progress of industrialization allowed women to enter the working field through factories. These places of work were reputably “dismal and highly dangerous” (White) with poor treatment from their bosses. Orphan children were also infamously sent to work in these factories and “forced to crawl through narrow spaces between fast-moving machinery” (White).

This new method of expansions economically also proved to enhance methods of sales and it is clear in the later pages of the novel where the shopman is pressing and encouraging Orlando to make a purchase of napkins, dusters, towels or Irish linen (302-303). The contrast between what Orlando experienced in the 18^th century as a woman and what he saw of the woman experience during the Elizabethan era is not explicitly analyzed in the text but would be interesting to look into. (276)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Industrial Revolution.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1998, https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution.

White, Matthew. “British Library.” The British Library  - The British Library, British Library, 2009, https://www.bl.uk/georgian-britain/articles/the-industrial-revolution#:~....