The Victorian Age

1327 Words3 Pages

The Victorian Age of Literature “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” (Dickens n. pag.). These words by Charles Dickens, one of the most famous writers of the Victorian Period, were intended to show the connections between the French Revolution and the decline of Dickens’s own time, the Victorian Era (“About” n.pag.). Dickens wanted to show how the trends of his time were following a tragic path that had already played out and not ended well in France. According to an article about this historical period, the Victorian Era was “a time of change, a time of great upheaval, but also a time of great literature” (“Victorian” n.pag.). The Victorian Period reflects the great changes in the social, political, and economical shifts of the time. To start with, some information is in order about the Victorian Period itself. Queen Victoria, England’s longest reigning monarch, sat on the throne from 1837 to 1901. The span of time is referred to as the Victorian Period (Abrams 1860). At the death of Queen Victoria, her subjects reacted in such a way that they rebelled against many of the ideas put forward during her reign. Even her own country recognized her life and rule as a distinct historical period separated from the rest (Abrams 1861). Also in the Victorian Period, other events were going on that changed the way many people thought about life. Among those changes were advances in scientific research, which created conflict with biblical beliefs. With Darwin’s contribution of The Origin of the Species in 1859, which set off a scientific revolution, many Victorians lost faith in the church. His theories stirred doubt about where humanity really started from, and the... ... middle of paper ... ... the era brought with it a change to the people of England and the globe. Thanks to England’s ideas of their responsibly and rights to the rest of the world, civilization as we know it would never be the same. Just like this change impacted England, the effects of Queen Victoria’s ruled shaped the world as it is now. One cannot imagine much less chart how different things would be if it were not for Queen Victoria’s influence on global economy, philosophy, biology, geology, psychology, religious beliefs, etc. Thanks to her and her support of reform from the Industrial Revolution, even the most simple of things that people take for granted today would not exist like being able to call it a day after eight hours of work, overtime pay, healthy and safe working conditions, and rights to defend themselves against unfair practices both in the workplace and out of it.

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