How far do the experiences of young Pip reflect the life of minors in the 19th century Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is narrated by its young hero, orphan Philip Pirrip, known as Pip, living with his older sister and her husband, blacksmith Joe Gargery, in the Kent marshes. Young Pip lived a life similar to other orphans yet confronted a vast range of improbable incidents, such as helping a fugitive convict. Pip’s background, opportunities offered to him, and familial life make his experience uncharacteristic compared to others in a similar position. From the first page of the novel, Pip enlightens the reader “I never saw my father or my mother ... and infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried.”. This is a very precise portrayal of 19th century Britain as the deficiency of nutritious food, hygiene and sanitation resulted in a low life expectancy and a high infant mortality rate. It was well documented that in industrial towns the average age of death was twenty-six years, which means that as a child grew older, it was expected for them to lose one or more siblings as well as one or both parents, just like Pip. Many women died due to the fact that childbirth was attributable to infectious agents transmitted by unwashed hands. As Mrs Pirrip gave birth to seven children it is very likely that her appearance was as how Pip imagined – “freckled and sickly,”. Many children died young, struggling with harsh living conditions, and were poorly nourished and prone to infectious and deficiency diseases. Even though Pip describes himself as “undersized…and not strong.” he appears to be reasonably healthy, unlike most orphans. However, Mr Wopsle’s great-aunt is introduced as a living grandmother, which was highly unlikely in Victorian Britain due to poor hygiene and especially the dooming consequence of having a child, as she did. Dickens includes a very old character when describing Pip’s education to exaggerate the quality, or rather the inadequacy, of it. Unlike most orphans, Pip attends evening school kept by Mr Wopsle’s great aunt. Pip depicts her as “a ridiculous old woman … who used to go to sleep from six to seven every evening, in the society of youth who paid twopence per week each, for the improving opportunity of seeing her do it.”. This underlines the poor quality of schooling available in the 19th century to most children as the quality of a child's education was in direct correlation to the cost of it. Pip, coming from a working class family, is very fortunate to receive tutoring, albeit that of a very low standard as most of his class
One child in five died before its first birthday, and half had lost at least one parent by their thirteenth birthday. People of all ages died from “agues” and “fevers”—some of which we could recognize as smallpox, typhoid, whooping cough, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, pneumonia, and influenza. A given husband, wife, and children might suddenly become a husband and children if the mother died; then the man took a new wife; they had a few children; then the husband died and the wife married again. (http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume4/february%2006/virginiawomen.cfm)
Children as young as young as five or seven years old worked in dangerous factories. Many times if the children fell asleep while on the job, they would slip and get stuck in the machines, resulting in death. Child labor in the late 1800’s was very unsafe and put the lives of young children in danger. The children worked in very dangerous conditions, most of the time it was factories. The conditions were very poor, the factories were dirty and unsafe for children. The children would work for up to sixteen hours with little to no pay.
Victorian homes offered children a large network of various caregivers built in to the family structure. Each married couple had an average of six children, but the average household was considerably larger. Rarely would one find the nuclear family living alone. Only thirty-six per cent of families consisted simply of a set of parents and their children. Extended families were also rare. Only 10 per cent of families had three or more generations under one roof. The average household would more likely be a conglomeration of a nuclear family along with any number of random outsiders. The stragglers could include any combination of lodgers, distant relatives, apprentices and/or servants.
knew that he was my real uncle [Mr. Reed]" but Mr. Reed had died and
There were many prostitutes during the Victorian era. Most were lower-class women, with the exception of the mistresses kept by upper-class men. According to Victorian standards, respectable women did not consider sexual intercourse pleasurable. It was their duty to be intimate with their husbands. Having affairs was disgraceful (Waters). Prostitutes, on the other hand, were sexually intimate with men because they enjoyed sex. Men enjoyed prostitutes because they could not enjoy their wives. Victorian femininity was not defined by sexual pleasure, while Victorian masculinity was defined by sexual pleasure and conquest.
Although children had been servants and apprentices, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution, as the demand for labor increased. The need for child labor grew in Britain and even in the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s. During the Industrial Revolution, many families had to find someone to work for or they would not survive. Industrialists saw child labor as a favorable form of labor due to certain benefits, while the opponents of child labor saw it as a violation towards human treatment.
Gender roles have always been apparent throughout history. These gender roles often change as time progresses. The appearance of women factories led to a shift in the structure of domestic life and gender roles that continue to persist.
The industrial revolution was in the late 1700s and early 1800s, it started in England and caused mass production. Certain impacts that were short term where the population boom, and urbanization. Most of the population was the working class and they worked in factories and mines and didn’t get a lot of pay. The industrial revolution resulted in the suffering of the working class in the short-term due to the inhuman working conditions and child labor.
During the New Industrial Age in America, many aspects of American life were in flux. People were moving from rural areas to large population centres and factories were booming. This was also when America started to become an extremely capitalist country, with values to match. The economy was set up in a way that lower class Americans struggled to make a living, and as such child labour came into play. Children would work in factories that had conditions barely suitable for adults, let alone still developing children. They had to do this because it was necessary for their families to have whatever extra money they could get their hands on. All the while, upper class Americans were profiting off of the children’s suffering and amassing wealth
Cotton production during the Industrial Revolution played an important role in English history. The revolution was brought on by the development of new technologies, which included the invention of machines capable of producing large amounts of cotton fabric. The resulting shift in cotton production from home to factory began in 1760 and was complete by about 1830. The industrialization of cotton production transformed England in many ways, including rapid urbanization and the introduction of children into the factory workforce. It can be argued the cotton industry would not have been so successful without the use of children; however the effects were detrimental to their well-being and eventually led to the passage of a series of laws to limit child labour.
Throughout history, children have always worked, either as apprentices or servants. However, child labor reached a whole new scale during the time period of the Industrial Revolution. Throughout the time frame of late 1800s-early 1900s, children worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little wages. They were considered useful as laborers because their small stature allowed them to be cramped into smaller spaces, and they could be paid less for their services. Many worked to help support their families, and by doing so, they forwent their education. Numerous nineteenth century reformers and labor groups sought to restrict child labor and to improve working conditions.
Child Labor and England’s Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution in nineteenth-century England brought about many changes in British society. It was the advent of faster means of production, growing wealth for the Nation and a surplus of new jobs for thousands of people living in poverty. Cities were growing too fast to adequately house the numerous people pouring in, thus leading to squalid living conditions, increased filth and disease, and the families reliance upon their children to survive.
Imagine waking up at five in the morning to walk over a mile to a factory where you work until noon where you get a half hour break for lunch, then it’s back to work until nine or ten at night, when you are finally allowed to go home and you are only eight years old. Today that seems unimaginable, but during the early 19th century it was the everyday life of thousands of children whose ages range from as young as five until you died. During the Industrial Revolution many children were required to work dangerous jobs to help their families.
In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s big business began to boom. For the first time companies were developing large factories to manufacture their goods. Due to the new mechanics and cheap labor, factory owners could now produce their goods at a cheaper rate. As big businesses brought wealth and capitalism, it also widened the gap between the wealthy elite and the poor. One class in particular was horribly affected by the growth of big factories. This class was the poor working class. According to the article “Child Labor in the United States” written by Robert Whaples, a big proportion of the labour work force was made up of children: “In 1820 children aged 15 and under made up 23 percent of the manufacturing labor force of the industrializing
Today I have to wake up at 3:30 am in order to be at the factory by 4am. Then I found out that my mother had a cold over night and I have to look after her and do all the washing, cooking and cleaning. By the time I got to the factory it was 4:30. And when Mr. Bob sa...