UVU Victorian Literature and Politics for the Present (Fall 2020) Dashboard
Description
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, opioid addiction, ecological disasters, and public health crises, to name but a few.
“Victorian Literature and Politics for the Present” revisits texts both familiar and new - canonical and not - through the lens of current events. Addressing a range of genres, this course examines historical and philosophical trends that shaped the era’s literature and were shaped by it. Specifically, it will explore how the Victorians addressed, and sometimes avoided, issues of racial oppression, class conflict, public welfare, and imperial plunder. Moreover, it will consider what parallels and throughlines 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.
Galleries, Timelines, and Maps
Individual Entries
Gosforth Colliery was another coalmine that exploited child laborers. They were forced to work inhumane hours and were beaten if they fell asleep.
A coal mine that operated during the Victorian era and often used children to labor in their mines.
Elland England was a location of coal mines. Coal mines were unsafe and often employed children to perform the dangerous work.
In 1838 at the Huskar Colliery, a stream flooded into a ventilation opening and killed 26 children. Most people did not know about these labor commissions and this horrific tragedy drew much-needed attention to the cause. Queen Victoria read about it in the London newspapers and pushed the prime minister to investigate the working conditions of British factories and mines.
During the industrial revolution, Bolton, England had many textile mills. These mills employed 1,500 children at a time. The children were often injured and killed because of the lack of laws to protect them.
The city Hyde, was known in England for having many textile mills. In Hyde, the textile mills 1,300 children at a time. The children in those mills worked around dangerous machinery for long hours, and for low pay. Because of calls for reformation, the Factory Acts were passed which were important steps in fixing the issues of child labor in England.