“Strange Victorians: Mystery, Madness, and the Monstrous” explores how the boundaries around that which we consider strange, other, and abnormal are established, policed, and sometimes breached. Of course, any examination of the strange also invites us to interrogate what we consider “normal,” particularly in a period during which so many cultural norms were established. In general, through its examination of a series of popular, best-selling novels and a selection of supplemental texts, this course examines historical, philosophical, and cultural trends that shaped the era’s literature and were shaped by it. Moreover, it will consider what parallels and through lines we can draw between the Victorian era and the twenty-first century and contemplate the value of continuing to study Victorian authors and texts today.
Image: Diaries, Ghost, et al. “Memento Mori: The Macabre Victorian Art of Death Photography.” The Occult Museum, 16 May 2017, https://www.theoccultmuseum.com/memento-mori-macabre-victorian-art-death...
Overview
Memento mori, the ancient philosophy of reflecting on death, was represented in Victorian funerary practices through limiting social activity, donning customary mourning clothes, hosting lavish funerals, and...
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History:
Congestion was a primary inconvenience for Londoners in the Victorian era. There was, of course, the heavy smog that filled the air due to industrial development, that was ever-oppressive. In addition to the air congestion, street congestion was another effect of the population increase of metropolitan London in the 19th century.
There were systems of railroads that connected the land outside of London to its borders, but no railway systems that served the inner-city areas. Due to this, commutes into the city from the surrounding suburbs were to be taken on foot, by cart, carriage, and the horse-drawn omnibus system. To reduce the street congestion, a remedy suggested by many Victorians was an underground railway system within the city...
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To fully understand the Matchgirl Strike, we must look at the history of the match-making trade. A strike-anywhere match with a white phosphorous-coated head, known as the lucifer match, gained popularity in the 1830s. The rise of usage came from the relatively cheap cost to manufacture and the convenience of being to strike the match anywhere.
Until the mid-1960s, the working conditions in the match factories were generally unfavorable, lacking adequate ventilation and with the high percentage of child laborers, many illnesses in the workforce became prevalent. “By far the worst ailment associated with the trade was the dreadful ‘phossy jaw’, and illness involving terrible pain, swelling of the gums, the loss of teeth, decay and...
moreThe Married Women's Property Act of 1870 introduced great changes in the law of England. What this did was allow married women to hold property and liabilities independently without their husbands. It is important to note that this was only relevant to women married after 1870. The existence of a woman was essentially suspended when not with a man. This act made it possible for a woman to exist and have more power over herself. Among some scholars, there are conflicting opinions as to whether this act benefitted women, or left them exactly where they were before. This event occurred after the Matrimonial Causes Act, when citizens became able to divorce, although men only had to prove adultery, and women had to prove adultery, violence, and a lot of other factors to be granted the divorce.
Current Views: Married Women's Property Act of 1870
Some of the most current views on this act are conflicting yet interesting to readers. Susan Moller Okin, an... more
Before the Married Women’s Property Act of 1870, women were basically dehumanized when they entered into a marriage. “The accepted social subordination of a woman and a wife was further substantiated by the law. Basically, upon marriage, a woman became a legal non-person (Norbert, 1). Prior to 1870, debates regarding divorce, married women’s property, and child custody revolved around different ideas of what constituted “the good marriage” (Ablow, 1). The Married Women’s Property Act changed the way marriage was thought about in England. Progressives and conservatives disagreed about what made a marriage “good.” Conservatives claimed that coverture guaranteed sympathetic communion between spouses, while progressives claimed that legal equality was important for husbands and wives to fully enter into one another’s feelings (Ablow, 1). The act ultimately sided more with the progressives.
The Act set the stage for considering married women legally independent and responsible...
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The Crimean War began in 1853 when Czar Nicholas I of Russia began his attempt to expand his territory into the Middle East and part of the Mediterranean, this would diminish the Ottoman Empire. There was a “conflict over the holy places of Palestine” (Bayly 160), which was an “important trigger” (Bayly 160) for the war. When Russia began its expansion of the holy lands for Christains, Britain and France were offended as well as worried about their trading routes, which led to them entering the war. While the war takes place mostly on the Crimean Peninsula, the war was about Palestine. Particularly the expansion of Russia. Britain and France feared a vast Russian empire and what it would do to Europe.
This war was...
moreThe Victorian period was one of great change for Britain. Comprised of the years of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), it featured the rapid industrialization and urbanization of Britain, and the radical expansion of the British empire. Although these changes improved the quality of life for some Victorians, many more were forced to work under inhumane conditions, live in unsanitary and insalubrious environments, or suffered the violent oppressions of colonial rule. While we may think of the Victorian period as a distant, different era, this class argues that Victorians faced some of the same issues we deal with today, including systemic racism, sexism and gender-based oppression, opioid addiction, ecological disasters, and public health crises, to name but a few.
“Strange Victorians: Mystery, Madness, and the Monstrous” explores how the boundaries around that which we consider strange, other, and abnormal are established, policed, and sometimes breached. Of course, any... more
The Victorian period was one of great change for Britain. Comprised of the years of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), it featured the rapid industrialization and urbanization of Britain, and the radical expansion of the British empire. Although these changes improved the quality of life for some Victorians, many more were forced to work under inhumane conditions, live in unsanitary and insalubrious environments, or suffered the violent oppressions of colonial rule. While we may think of the Victorian period as a distant, different era, this class argues that Victorians faced some of the same issues we deal with today, including systemic racism, sexism and gender-based oppression, opioid addiction, ecological disasters, and public health crises, to name but a few.
“Strange Victorians: Mystery, Madness, and the Monstrous” explores how the boundaries around that which we consider strange, other, and abnormal are established, policed, and sometimes breached. Of course, any...
moreThe Victorian period was one of great change for Britain. Comprised of the years of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), it featured the rapid industrialization and urbanization of Britain, and the radical expansion of the British empire. Although these changes improved the quality of life for some Victorians, many more were forced to work under inhumane conditions, live in unsanitary and insalubrious environments, or suffered the violent oppressions of colonial rule. While we may think of the Victorian period as a distant, different era, this class argues that Victorians faced some of the same issues we deal with today, including systemic racism, sexism and gender-based oppression, opioid addiction, ecological disasters, and public health crises, to name but a few.
“Strange Victorians: Mystery, Madness, and the Monstrous” explores how the boundaries around that which we consider strange, other, and abnormal are established, policed, and sometimes breached. Of course, any...
more
Image: Diaries, Ghost, et al. “Memento Mori: The Macabre Victorian Art of Death Photography.” The Occult Museum, 16 May 2017, https://www.theoccultmuseum.com/memento-mori-macabre-victorian-art-death...
Overview
Memento mori, the ancient philosophy of reflecting on death, was represented in Victorian funerary practices through limiting social activity, donning customary mourning clothes, hosting lavish funerals, and...
more
To fully understand the Matchgirl Strike, we must look at the history of the match-making trade. A strike-anywhere match with a white phosphorous-coated head, known as the lucifer match, gained popularity in the 1830s. The rise of usage came from the relatively cheap cost to manufacture and the convenience of being to strike the match anywhere.
Until the mid-1960s, the working conditions in the match factories were generally unfavorable, lacking adequate ventilation and with the high percentage of child laborers, many illnesses in the workforce became prevalent. “By far the worst ailment associated with the trade was the dreadful ‘phossy jaw’, and illness involving terrible pain, swelling of the gums, the loss of teeth, decay and...
more