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The Historical Background of the Victorian Age
Background of Victorian age
The Historical Background of the Victorian Age
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The Nouveaux Riche of Victorian England
Relation of The New Banking/Industrial Class to High Society
As the middle class began to further divide, those who grew in wealth became known as a banking/industrial class. Along with their sudden economic prosperity there came a desire for social transformation- an aspiration for new aristocracy. They carried their traditional middle class values into prominence with their accumulation of wealth. They sought to achieve a merit oriented Society rather than social climbing, for their children's sake, into the existing one based solely on birth. This hindered the new class from ever attaining Aristocratic Social acceptance for their new wealth and deemed them the nouveaux riche. Despite obvious disapproval from the Aristocracy the nouveaux riche continued their economic ascent through "personal contact [which] was a crucial element in filling posts" (Loftus 5). This dependence upon others for mounting economic standing was contrary to the middle class value of independence. This industrial class was forced to rely upon the connections, potentially aristocratic, in order to succeed. Loftus explains that middle-class values were carved out in these attempts to define a society based on merit rather than aristocratic privilege. However, the importance of cultural capital and social networks to success in the period implies that the rise of the middle-classes in the Victorian period saw the replacement of one set of privileges with another (Loftus 4). However the Nouveaux Riche failed to fully assimilate into aristocratic society due to lack of pedigree.
Spending Habits of the Nouveaux Riche
Along with new money comes the ability to spend it. The Industrial class did exactly that, using their newly acquired
money to purchase large amounts of land and houses august enough for the property. This land ownership propelled some nouveaux
riche into riches surpassing those of the highest aristocracy. Their houses of course had to be decorated outdoing the splendor
of the structure itself. This class "took immense pride in their homes which they saw as a reflection of status" ("BBC Homes"). The styles were excessively ornamental and took their influence from Gothic styles, rococo, styles, the Orient, and developments from their own industrialization. With owning such ornately decorated residences they had to show them off; this was done so through dinner parties and balls. People of course could not be outmatched by the rich styles of their houses and therefore doled out large amounts of money for clothes and transportation.
In America, the late 19th Century was known as the Victorian Era. It was a time when pro-private upper class culture dominated the nation, a time of liberation from the burden of the past and a time when the development of science and technology flourished. The Victorians believed that the advancement in science and technology served as a mean for protection, and could bring in an abundant of wealth and power, something they desired. The middle-class admired those from the upper-class, as they imitated the lives of the wealthy families. It was a period of competition and the survival of the fitness for the Victorians. While these neighbors, friends and families competed against each other for wealth, there was competition between workers and machineries in the cities, as labor was gradually being replaced by modern technology.
One Victorian sentiment was that a civilized individual could be determined by her/his appearance. This notion was readily adopted by the upper classes and, among other things, helped shape their views of the lower classes, who certainly appeared inferior to them. In regards to social mobility, members of the upper classes may have (through personal tragedy or loss) often moved to a lower-class status, but rarely did one see an individual move up from the abysmal lower class. Although poverty could be found almost anywhere in Victorian London (one could walk along a street of an affluent neighborhood, turn the corner, and find oneself in an area of depravity and decay), most upper-class Londoners, who tended to dwell in the West End, associated the East End with the lower class.
The life of an immigrant in the United States during the Gilded Age was a rough life. During this time period the U.S. went through a dramatic change in dealing with changing infrastructure and masses of people coming over from different countries for a chance at a better life. This time period was characterized by small wage jobs, poor working conditions and the struggle to survive. The Jungle embodies the themes of the Gilded Age with first hand experiences of an immigrant's hardships of life.
The Gilded Age gets its name from a book by Mark Twain called The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today. It was written in 1873, and unfortunately was not that successful. While the Gilded Age conjures up visions of ostentatious displays of wealth and decorative parties, the over all topic was politics. The book gives an extremely negative assessment of the state of American democracy at that time. Which does not come as a huge surprise coming from Twain, who famously said "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” So when faced with sweeping changes in the American economy after the Civil War, the American political system both nationally and locally dealt with these problems in the best way possible, by inevitably and incredibly becoming corrupt.
Kailey Durnez History 132 Dr. Liles During the gilded age it was a time when individual freedom and governmental regulations meant differently from those of upper and middle class to working class. The differences these social classes faced were mainly due to the wealthy of the people. Upper and middle class consisted of wealthy doctors and lawyers as the working class consisted of factory workers who could barely put food on the table. The upper and middle class believed in social Darwinism, as the working class had denied social Darwinism.
As stated in the textbook, the wealthiest people were seaport merchants that made their business on imports, exports, banks and insurance companies, and urban real estate. An example would be the Boston Brahmins who were a cluster of old Protestant families in Boston that constituted the city’s social elite by the early 19thcentury. The upper class enjoyed the prosperity industrialization granted them as they achieved luxury and extravagance. Below the social elite was a growing middle class that included lawyers, salesmen, clerks, retail merchants, and accountants. Industrialization provided occupations that allowed people to lift themselves higher in the social strata The middle class took advantage of their increased wages by living comfortably and providing an education for their next generation in order to maintain their social standing.
Through the Middle Ages, society was divided into three social classes: the clergy, the nobles, and the peasants. However, as people entered into the Renaissance, these classes changed. The nobles during these times started to lose a lot of income, however, the members of the older nobility kept their lands and titles. On into the Renaissance, the nobles came back to dominate society and w...
The Gilded Age is marked as the thirty-five years between the end of the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century. During this period of time, the economy grew at an astonishing rate, producing enormous amounts of wealth. This was also a time where the majority of the population was struggling to get by, and was classified as poor workers, while the industrial and financial aristocracy lives in beautiful homes and lived their lives with opulent amusement. Life was very different between different groups such as the rich and the poor, and even the men and the women. I definitely would not fit into the urban society of the Gilded Age because everything had to do with the men being in power, racism, and men’s constant control over politics, which would make being a women in this period of time very difficult.
Mark Twain collaborated with Charles Dudley Warner on The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Published in 1973, as Twain’s earliest work of extended fiction, The Gilded Age gives a name to the period of opulence and corruption at the end of the 19th century. Portraying the superficial luxury of Washington and high society, the authors describe “The general laxity of the time, and the absence of a sense of duty toward any part of the community but the individual himself” (Twain 203). Twain’s The Gilded Age, like Wharton’s The Age of Innocence focuses on high society. Yet, the imperfections in the gilding betray the dramatic change of the period. Forces of corporatization, unionization, immigration, urbanization, populism, post-reconstruction racism and machine politics were among the drastic changes in American lifestyle churning beneath the brittle “gilded” surface.
“Where some possess much, and the others nothing, there may arise an extreme- either out of the most rampant democracy, or out of an oligarchy.'; This was once said by Aristotle who was probably the first to recognize the importance of a middle class. A powerful debate whether the middle class is essentially defined by cultural or economic factors still remains an issue. A rich tradition is devoted to disentangling economic from cultural components of a class. According to Karl Marx, the middle class is an outgrowth of economic factors, primarily capitalism. Many people tend to disagree with Marx that capitalism is the only important factor in the outgrowth of the middle class. Judith R. Blau argues that her understanding of the middle class has much to do with inclusive cultural values. Blau demonstrates her opinion though her ethnography, Social Contract and Economic Markets. I believe that Karl Marx’s economic factors and Judith Blau’s cultural factors together define the middle class.
...were major contributions of the Bourgeoisie as well as the investment, banking, and currency systems. Bourgeoisie wealth enhanced Europe’s knowledge of the New World and the New World gave the Bourgeoisie fortunes. Literature shows much evidence of this class being solely responsible for discovery and success; their main drive being Gold and Glory!
The lavish way of life these women exhibited was outwardly apparent in the fashions of the time . Noble class women were adorned in ornate dresses, extravagant jewels, and the finest accessories. The best way to describe the look of upper class women in Victorian England is to say that she looked like a porcelain doll .
Throughout the Victorian Era, the standard of occupations were distinctly divided based on class. These social classes that divided the caliber of work in occupations were: the upper class, middle or working class and the lower class. Occupations that required skilled labor and unskilled labor each employed people in separate classes. Men and women within each class had different jobs in accordance with the type of work in their social class. (Victorian Web.)
The revolution resulted in the development of a new social class the middle class. This class contained factory, min owners as well as engineers, doctors and lawyers. The flourish of this new social class greatly noticeable in Britain as the British scholars were more practical rather than theoretical. As Strayer explains, the discoveries on atmospheres and vacuums promoted the innovation of the steam engine in Britain (Strayer, 2012; 834). The industrial revolution brought the social status of business men up as they benefited the most from the industrial revolution, it can also be said that the factory and min owners were the sponsors of the industrial revolution. Because of their wealth they got the advantage of living a healthy life in the villages away from the diseases that were spreading in the overcrowded cities. However, the aristocrats lost their social power and were harmed by the industrial revolution. They struggled to keep their power in the parliament but as the industrial revolution grew they became less important to the economy and by the end of the nineteenth century they were replaced by businessmen in the parliament. “The aristocracy’s declining political clout was demonstrated in the 1840s when high tariffs on foreign agricultural imports… were finally abolished” (Strayer, 2012; 837), this is when the aristocrats struggled the most because the taxes were very high and they could not pay their
The nobility included people who inherited wealth. They were inclined in cultural endeavors like arts and music. Wealth in this group was transferred from generation to generation.