A Wisdom Archive on Victorian morality

Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria (reigned 1837 - 1901) in particular, and to the moral climate of Great Britain throughout the 19th century in general. It is not tied to this historical period and can describe any set of values that espouses sexual repression, low tolerance of crime, and a strong social ethic. Historians now regard the Victorian era as a time of many contradictions. A plethora of social movements concerned with improving public morals co-exis ... Including:

• Victorian morality - Historical background
• Victorian morality - Victorian morality
• Victorian morality - Notes

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Victorian prudery sometimes went so far as to deem it improper to say "leg" in mixed company (the preferred euphemism if such must be mentioned was "limb").1 Those going for a dip in the sea at the beach would use a bathing machine. Verbal or written communication of emotion or sexual feelings was also often proscribed so people instead used the language of flowers. Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, only four years after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. The ...

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The term Victorian has acquired a range of connotations, including that of a particularly strict set of moral standards, which are often applied hypocritically. This stems from the image of Queen Victoria —and her husband, Prince Albert, perhaps even more so—as innocents, unaware of the private habits of many of her respectable subjects; this particularly relates to their sex lives. This image is mistaken: Victoria's attitude toward sexual morality was a consequence of her knowledge of the corrosive effect of the loose morals of the aristocracy in earlier reig ...

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The Victorian era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. It is often defined as the years from 1837 to 1901, when Queen Victoria reigned, though many historians believe that the passage of the Reform Act 1832 marks the true inception of a new cultural era. The Victorian era was preceded by the Regency era and came before the Edwardian period. Victorian era - Politics. The period is ostensibly characterized as a long period of peace ... Including:

• Victorian era - Politics
• Victorian era - Events
• Victorian era - Science technology and engineering
• Victorian era - Prostitution
• Victorian era - Sources and further reading

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The term "Victorian fashion" refers to fashion in clothing in the Victorian era, or the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). It is strictly used only with regard to the United Kingdom and its colonies, but is often used loosely to refer to Western fashions of the period. It may also refer to a supposedly unified style in clothing, home décor, manners, and morals, or a culture, said to be prevalent in the West during this period. Victorian fashion - Usefulness of the term. Those who have studied the perio ... Including:

• Victorian fashion - Usefulness of the term
• Victorian fashion - Historical overview
• Victorian fashion - Clothing
• Victorian fashion - Home décor
• Victorian fashion - Contemporary stereotypes
• Victorian fashion - Victorian prudery
• Victorian fashion - Victorian chic

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Several general style trends of the Victorian era transcend any one facet of fashion, but rather had broad influence across clothing styles, architecture, literature, and the decorative arts. Many of these had their roots in the 18th century but flowered in the Victorian age. These include: Orientalism The romanticising of the Scottish Highlands The Gothic revival, which in turn generated the Pre-Raphaelites and Artistic Dress Aestheticism The Great Exhibition of 1851 had a marked impact on fashion, especially home décor, and even social reform movements influenced ...

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The period is ostensibly characterized as a long period of peace and economic, colonial, and industrial consolidation, temporarily disrupted by the Crimean War, although Britain was at war every year during this period. Towards the end of the century, the policies of New Imperialism led to increasing colonial conflicts and eventually the Boer Wars. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of gradual political ...

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Adventurer or adventuress, meaning one who takes part in a risky or speculative course of action for profit or position, or one who lives by his wits. In Victorian morality it implies a person of no moral character, often someone trying to marry for money. In role-playing games, the player characters are often professional adventurers, who earn wealth and fame by adventure, such as undertaking hazardous missions, exploring ruins, and slaying monsters. This stereotype is strong enough that the adventurers ca ... Including:

• Adventurer - List of adventurers
• Adventurer - Fiction

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Victorianism is the name given to the attitudes, art and culture of the later two-thirds of the 19th century. This usage is strong within social history and literature, less so in philosophy. Many disciplines do not use the term, but instead prefer Victorian Era, or simply "Late 19th century". Victorianism as a word is often specifically directed at Victorian morality. Victorianism - Brief History. The succession of William IV of the United Kingdom by his niece Victoria of the United Kingdom on 20 J ... Including:

• Victorianism - Brief History

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Those who have studied the period in detail would protest against vacuous generalizations. Clothing, décor, manners, and morals varied from year to year, country to to country, and class to class. Whether or not there is a style or unified culture connecting a Scottish fisherwoman, for example, and an aristocratic London lady, might well be debated. If we carefully restrict our language, however, and take Victorian fashion to refer to the dress, or in a wider sense, the culture of an upper-middle-class London family of fashion and conventional attitudes, and describe it as it varied from decade to ...

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In the writings of Henry Mayhew, Charles Booth and others, prostitution began to be seen as a social problem, rather than just a fact of urban life. It also began to be seen as a feminist issue in the work of Josephine Butler, who attacked the long-established double standard of sexual morality. Prostitutes were often presented as victims in sentimental literature such Thomas Hood's poem "The Bridge of Sighs" and Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. The emphasis on the purity of women found in such works as John Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies led to the portrayal of the prostititute as so ...

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