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Victorian Attitudes and Values
Rules of Engagement
Values
 Duty and hard
work were paramount
 other values included
◦ respectability: possession of good manners, ownership of a comfortable house,
regular attendance at church and charitable activity
◦ charity and philanthropy: active effort to promote welfare of humanity
Why So Serious?
 Stress placed on morals, hard work, and personal success
 People were sure of themselves
◦ few doubts about values and beliefs
 High value placed on modesty, propriety (following acceptable
behavioural and moral
◦ Ex. of modesty: “arms” and
“legs” were referred to as
“limbs” and “extremities”
standards), and duty
 Victorians focused a lot
on order and progress
Optimistic
 British Empire grew and armed forces (navy) was almost beyond challenge
 many new discoveries in medicine, science, & technology
 Colonies often reported these achievements in daily newspapers
Snobbery
 Very conscious of social class and status – even in the colonies
 Occupation and social standing determined by family background
 class system continued in the colonies – to lesser degree
 Many immigrants would not have been allowed into Victorian upper and middle class
homes
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Materialism
 Very materialistic - enjoyed spending
money (clothes, accessories,
homes, furniture)
 obsession with status shown in building
large homes and churches
◦ this despite being very conscious of
temptation and sin
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House Exterior
House Interior
Fashion and Decor
 dress and home decor indicated social status and Victorian values
 poor or lower class
◦ even labours dressed in a formal manner
 women wore long dress and aprons
 men wore hats and ties
◦ small cramped homes in poor sections of town or country
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◦ small cramped homes in poor sections of town or country
 decorated with whatever was affordable
 grown, even married children often remained in parents’ home
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Fashion and Décor Cont.
 wealthy or upper classes
◦ women's dresses made of best cloth
 high collars, large brimmed hats and parasols protected skin against the sun
◦ men wore long jackets and high, stiff collared shirts
◦ having a tan implied you were lower class
◦ size of home indicated class and social status in community
◦ large homes to accommodate large families (grandparents, other relatives, and
servants)
◦ small rooms with heavily decorated furnishings, including drapes, were heated with
coal or wood
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Battle of the Sexes
 patriarchal – husbands represented authority and respectability
 Separate Spheres
◦ Men went out to work
◦ Women stayed in home – domestic lifestyle (family, motherhood, and respectability)
 modesty was a virtue that was expected
 Female chastity was very important
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Etiquette
 Rules developed which controlled behavior
◦ to be respectable, people had to abide by the rules
 Good manners were stressed on a daily basis
 Chivalry and gentility were prized qualities
 This is the era where the proper setting of a table, and how to serve food were
introduced
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Veneer of Respectability – The Dark Side of Victorian Era
 Drug use was prevalent – cocaine, opium
◦ Sherlock Holmes, used cocaine in order to stimulate his brain, when not on a case
 Opium dens became popular
◦ But not as popular as newspaper accounts made it seem
 these dens became popular in Victoria and Vancouver
 Gambling was very popular, and dangerous
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Crime
 Victorian’s faith in progress led them to believe crime could be defeated
◦ Official stats do seem to show falling crime rates
 This doesn’t take into account unreported or unrecorded crimes however
 This happened in lower class neighborhoods (trust of police was low), and in
cases of minor crimes (theft often reported as lost property)
 Even unofficially violent crime seemed to be on the decline
◦ Violent behavior was increasingly frowned upon
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◦ Violent behavior was increasingly frowned upon
◦ Newly formed and reformed police services had success in lessening unacceptable
behaviours
Criminal Classes
 Criminals even started to be viewed as a distinct class in society (“criminal classes”)
◦ A class with a “moral problem”; who didn’t like doing honest work and were prone
to being lazy
◦ Another separate class lurked in the slums, waiting for an change to cause disorder
and mayhem (“dangerous classes”)
◦ Seen as having a behavioural abnormality; inherited from or nurtured by parents
 Majority of offenders were working class
◦ Mental image of “the criminal” was tied to this; even though middle-class
businessmen often engaged in more harmful offences (ex. fraud)
Common Offences
 Majority of offenders were male and young
◦ Majority of crimes were theft, though there were some sensational crimes (which
got much more attention in the news)
◦ England had lowest murder rate in Europe (Southern Europe had some of highest)
 Crimes of women mostly centred around prostitution
◦ Solicitation, drunkenness, vagrancy, drunk and disorderly
◦ Often treated more harshly than men (especially for violent offences)
 Broke the law; and had also broken the ideals of womanhood
 Ex. One woman received 5 years imprisonment with hard labour for stealing a
piece of bacon in 1883 (paroled after 2 years)
 Cases of domestic abuse were rarely seen
◦ Happened in private homes
◦ Seems to have been degree of tolerance in some working class neighbourhoods
◦ Courts reluctant to bring down family’s repudiation
Jack the Ripper
 Carried out a series of brutal murders in the autumn of 1888
◦ Location was Whitechapel in London’s East End
 5 victims; all prostitutes (Mary Ann Nicholls on31 August; Annie Chapman on 8
September; Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddoweson on 30 September; and Mary
Jane Kelly on 9 November)
◦ All horribly mutilated; except one (Elizabeth Stride)
 Never caught and still remains unidentified
◦ Though thought to have been a doctor or butcher
◦ Many theories about who is responsible; one saying that it was Queen Victoria’s
grandson, Prince Albert Victor
Policies Regarding Criminals (Penal Policies)
 Capital punishment had been limited to murder and treason
 Transportation to Australia had almost completely ended
◦ Australians increasingly outspoken about having their land used to dump criminals
 Experiments began in treatment of criminals/prisoners
◦ 1830’s and 40’s saw attempts at reform of criminals
 enforcing silence and/or isolation
 Would leave offenders alone with their thoughts and bibles
 Required periods of work (learn the virtue of labour) – quarrying, road building,
dock work
◦ By the 1890’s doctors and psychiatrists were a regular sight in prisons
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◦ By the 1890’s doctors and psychiatrists were a regular sight in prisons
◦ Corporal punishment (whipping) was used liberally
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Response
 Has our society been influenced by the social values and attitudes of the Victorian
Age? Explain
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