[4] When the railway line from London to Brighton was established, going on holiday began to be a regular part of Victorian life. - Both men and women would have worked in factories. During the Victorian Era, the social class system of that time rigidly defined the role of women. The Victorian Era: Social Classes 1837- 1901 2. [4], They had a comfortable life, not being exactly poor, with steady jobs and no manual labor involved; however it was a far cry from their previous lives of leisure, and an even further cry from the lives of the lowest class of Victorian women; those of the "lower" working class. The shape was essentially an inverted triangle, with a wide-brimmed hat on top, a full upper body with puffed sleeves, no bustle, and a skirt that narrowed at the ankles (the hobble skirt was a fad shortly after the end of the Victorian era). The Lower Middle Class in Britain ed. The lower class included seamstresses, washerwomen, farm, factory, and mine workers, and domestic servants. Some jobs for the middle class citizens during Victorian England were teachers and doctors. Many coats in the Victorian Era were long and stretched all the way down to your knees. These people were the total low of all of society. If you hate your job now, just thank your lucky stars that you did not work during Victorian times! [19], In Victorian England, the lower classes, the skilled workmen and the impoverished under class, were excluded from the political process and not given equal educational opportunities as those of the middle and elite. [27] [5] The long, parted section of the back earned the name "cut-away" in the UK, "tails" in the USA. Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly 1830s to 1900s (decade). All of these examples prove that a person's social class highly affected the life that person lived during Victorian England. Social class and values in the Victorian Era Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Some women prepared and sold fish, or made and repaired nets, but most lower-working class women were engaged in servicing the wealthy residents and visitors in one way or another. They were a very large class, and often very angry at anybody in the middle or upper class. [26] [4], Sometimes women would be put into this class from the upper class, after the death of a father or brother and they had to starting working for their money again ("Women of Victorian England"). During the Victorian era, for the most part, women never traveled alone. The social classes of this era included the Upper class, Middle class, and lower class. The class that was below the lower class was often called the under class or the “paupers”. [10] While the women of the upper class busied themselves with following the proper protocol in selecting a suitor, the working-class mother found herself scrounging to make ends meet. [9] [16] This quickly made them into the lower class citizens as there were very few jobs that they were capable of finding at this time. [4] In the Victorian era women were to get married to a man of the same or a better social status, be good wives, and be a mother to her husband's children. Most of the aristocrats did not need to work in the other classes, but they had received their money from previous generations, who had saved money up for their children to have, so they would never be short of money ("Victorian Era Social Classes"). The conditions were so brutal for the working class that at times children were forced to work away from their parents. [4], The Industrial Revolution greatly changed the way of the life for the middle class citizens by opening up many more job opportunities for the lower and middle class, so you could make a decent amount of money and have a decent way of living life. [4], The fourth and final class that women had a role in was the "lower" working class. [1] Many of the upper class men and women alike would disguise themselves in lower class clothing and head to the slums for a night or two to indulge in the guilty pleasures that could be found in the streets and boarding houses of the slums. Marriage and Divorce in the Post Victorian Era Marriage is a social structure. [21] [17] While the elite built extravagant homes, workers lived in crowded tenements, and the economic downturns forced workers to accept lower wages just to feed their families. [9] It was called the victorian era because at that time Britain was under the reign of Queen Victoria. [1] Most women found work in textile or clothing factories under harsh conditions, while others found trades in such things as metals, pottery or laundry. Along with those, the streets were also a place for theft, sickness, and musk from the local factories. This quickly made them into the lower class citizens as there were very few jobs that they were capable of finding at this time. Capitalists, for example, employed industrial workers, who were one component of the working classes (each class included a wide range of occupations of varying status and income; there was a large gap, for example, between skilled and unskilled labor), but beneath the industrial workers was a submerged "under class" sometimes referred to as the "sunken people," which lived in poverty. The Lower Class was divided into two subclasses: The Working Class and The Poor. [2] In the Victorian era women were to get married to a man of the same or a better social status, be good wives, and be a mother to her husband's children. The Industrial revolution had taken what many would consider to be medium class and left them without jobs. [4] During the 1870's, long … Working Class Housing (typical inside setting) Fashion WOMEN: - They did not bother to wear tight corsets, as it would only be impractical and slow them down. [19] The lowest among the social hierarchy were the working class. There were many job opportunities for domestic service, because even the lowest families of the middle class had at least one or two domestic servants, so there was a lot of opportunity for a job there. PURE FINDER. [3], There was time to read a novel during the Victorian period. [7] Social Classes. [3] The people under this class did not work manually. [10], The middle class population was the people who did the "clean" work and were paid monthly or annually. Social classes had been around for a long time, but the Victorian Era redefined them. [11] [7] The images we have today of Victorian women, clad in fine fabrics, grand dresses, bonnets and petticoats, are the clothes of the upper classes. [7] Wells' Time Machine and Its Relativity with the Victorian Era Herbert George Wells was an English writer from the nineteenth century. These were the first political parties in England who dominated the political field throughout the Victorian reign. Another trade which lower class women could turn their hand to was that of domestic service. Although it was a peaceful and prosperous time, there were still issues within the social structure. [15] [4] - They couldn't marry anyone outside of their own class - They worked in factories for long hours with little or no break. Some of the workers during Victorian England, that would be equal in skill to another person in their class, would both be doing the same job, but one might prosper, while the other might not do well at all. [4] [4] Well, most Victorian housewives made their children's clothes for they had learnt how to at a very young age, but even still, poor Victorian families had very few outfit. To be quite honest, by today’s standard, this would not be middle class, it would simply be upper class. [12] In the upper and middle classes, the family also included servants while the lower class family may have included lodgers. [20] [11] Research numerous resources on the world history topics! [14] Farming was still very much a part of life in Victorian Britain. [2], Jop Opportunities - 30-40 per cent of women from working class families contributed significantly to household incomes in the mid-Victorian years. [11] It was very common for women to pass away during childbearing. [4] Dancing and grand social parties were commonplace in the lives of wealthy Victorian women, and offered them a chance to mingle with other women of similar backgrounds and to show off their fineries. One of the worst parts for the lower class families was that they were so poor that they needed their own children to go work for them so they could have more money to support their family. [4] The farmers, who were in the lower class during Victorian England, thought that it was good to have the education of his daughter polished up a little bit. [7] Working class women wearing decent clothing. [10] The middle class before the start of Victorian Era was a very small class, and over the time period of the Victorian Era it grew to be very large. Any worker was easily replaced with another of any age, or machine in some cases, to do the life-threatening industrial work for an incredibly low wage. Very large families were not peculiar in the centuries before birth control, with the Victorian Era being no exception. During that time Britain consists of four classes: the. Ritual and … [4] [19] [19] [13] This can be seen in the 18th and 19th century in the story of crime in Britain. Most people were born into a class and never left it; if they did, they only moved one degree: Upper to upper middle, or upper working to lower middle, for instance. Here, Anna Maria Barry highlights five fascinating 19th-century performers who had a lasting influence on the world of show business Codeine and iodine made their appearance in Victorian life. Therefore, the middle class not only would lose their jobs and have to find another, but they had to compete with immigrants for work. Despite the clean-sounding name, this job actually involved collecting dog feces … This carriage was only owned by wealthy upper class gentlemen and being the equivalent to today’s sports car, dignified ladies of status did not ride in them (Crank). The reform of the Victorian era, a time in England of refinement and high decorum surrounding the years of Queen Victoria’s reign, did not produce revolution but the opposite: stagnation. [1], Like the middle class, the lower class was a very large class and was very populated. [26] [19] During Victorian England, the middle class was the most populated class of all the classes. [4] [3] [20] -Their foods were limited and low in quantity as well as quality. [12] [17] [26] [4] The Victorian England social hierarchy is described below in a descending order pattern means starting with the uppermost power holder social class and going on further describing all the classes in brief. There are lots of memoirs written by people who grew up in the Victorian era saying how closely they associated with their servants when they were children and how remote they felt from their own parents. Some of the most frequent customers at brothels were young men in the military. © Copyright 2017, Power Text Solutions, All Another frightening asset was having a premature baby. These women were usually single, and relied only upon themselves for support, often working among men of the same class in workhouses. The Upper Class was in a powerful position giving them authority, better living conditions, and other facilities. TOSHER. A person's social class during Victorian England determined many things during his or her lifetime, including education, medical treatment, and jobs. The Victorian era consisted of local producers. [19] This was called the Victorian Era because Queen Victoria was in control. (More...) At the start of the Victorian era (1830s-1900), English society was highly stratified and hierarchical, and the population fell into three main classes. [15] Sports born in the Victorian Era Sports are a way of life for some individuals and without sports it would feel like a so called hole in their hearts. The Victorians liked to have their social classes clearly defined. [19] [14] Most women want to dress upper class, but the lower classes often have more fun and an easier time creating a costume. By today’s standards, the middle class of Victorian England would be equal to the upper class of the 21st century (“Victorian Era Social Classes”). [4] Horrible Histories - Victorian Work Song, online video, 6 June 2011, accessed 25 August 2013, < BBC n.d. [3], Victorian London food shopping was handled in the same fashion, although the baker or butcher would brings his food to the servants entrance of the home. [2] The Victorian era of the England history was the reigning period of the Queen Victoria. [4] [7] Image courtesy of www.eriding.net (Click on image to … Various classes and their lives, The Working Class Of The Victorian Era by Jomadnhy Smith on Prezi, Victorian England Social society chart-Hierarchystructure.com, Victorian Houses and Where the Rich and Poor Victorian Children Lived, Victorian Society and the Time Machine - UI Victorian Wiki - UIowa Wiki, Class System in Victorian England - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com, Working Conditions for Poor Victorian Children | ToughNickel. [19] At the start of the Victorian era (1830s-1900), English society was highly stratified and hierarchical, and the population fell into three main classes. [3] [11] [9], They were only to stay in the standards of this class and if they were to take the standards of another class, it was considered a very high offense ("Women of Victorian England"). There was almost a negligible change in the lower class though and this class still remained shut from the royal England’s political processes. Although prostitution was legal, many ladies of the night were arrested for crimes like public drunkenness or gathering in the streets. [5], Despite the vast differences between the women in this era, their similarities encouraged a change that shaped the history of Britain. [2] Victorian Era: Social Class System 1. Prostitute Sporting Guides. [4] http://world-history-education-resources.com/victorian-era/era-lower-victorian-class.html, http://victorian-era.org/victorian-poor-and-middle-class.html, https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Lower-Class-In-The-Victorian-Era-PJE5J46LYQR, https://www.answers.com/Q/Lower_class_in_the_Victorian_era, http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/wojtczak/lower.html, https://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8246102_class-differences-victorian-era.html, https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/the-working-classes-and-the-poor, http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/4/21/how-the-other-half-lived-rich-and-poor-women-in-victorian-britain, https://www.coursef.com/lower-class-victorian-era-food, https://fashionfromthevictorianera.weebly.com/who-wore-what.html, https://community.dur.ac.uk/4schools.resources/victoriandurham/home8.html, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/503221/10-worst-jobs-victorian-era, https://sites.google.com/site/thevictorianmiddleclass/, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3x39j6/revision/4, https://bellatory.com/fashion-industry/Mens-Clothing-of-the-Late-Victorian-Era, https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/a-persons-social-class-during-victorian-england-history-essay.php, https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/education-literacy-and-publishing-in-victorian-england/, https://sites.google.com/site/thevictorianmiddleclass/clothing-and-fashion, https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Upper-Class-Middle-Class-And-The-Working-PASC5E6LZQ6, https://www.pinterest.com/victorianeracla/lower-class/, http://world-history-education-resources.com/victorian-era/era-social-classes-victorian.html, https://listverse.com/2016/05/03/10-facts-about-prostitution-in-the-victorian-era/, https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/morality/an-overview-of-victorian-morality/, https://victorianchildren.org/victorian-food/, Joliet Junior College North Ca… courses. The Prostitutes - These women were at the bottom of the society and an enormous debate took place over them during the Victorian era. The difference between upper class and lower class was vastly greater than it is today. [2] - Although they didn't have the most pleasant jobs, most factory workers were still able to provide the basic amenities such as food. It is hard to adequately put into words how bad the conditions were for poor Victorian children. Victorian England social hierarchy demonstrates the social class system and the social divisions of England people on certain terms and conditions in a pre-defined specific ladder of pattern. [13], There were three main classes in the Victorian Era: the Aristocrats, the Middle Class, and the Lower Class. It was the general opinion of many of the wealthy Victorian families that the slums were brought on because of laziness, sin and lack of principle and self-discipline among the people who lived there. [26] [26] [12] [7] [15], The best way to not only explain and investigate class differences, but to highlight just how vast the problems of inequality and division were at the time, is to consider rich and poor in turn. Middle class women can almost be considered guides to the lower class women. [18], Pre 1914 Love Poetry from the Victorian and Elizabethan Era Conventional females were considered to be second class citizens who were expected to refrain in conveying their natural feelings and emotions. [24] She examines the classes’ use of transportation and how the upper class are transported from place to place via coach, carriage or sedan while the middle class, "The professional men and their wives, the shopkeepers and their spouses, and all such people, walked about at considerable peril both night and day (Gaskell, 1)." [9] [4] [16] Once women married, Jalland notes, even upper class women risked death in giving birth. [5] Many Victorian novelists highlight this mechanization of human beings, as it contributed to the identity crisis epidemic of the Victorian Era in which children were especially affected. [2] [11] [4] [2] [19] [15] Privacy Policy  | The Victorian Era was full of change in England, and with that change brought the rise of different social classes. The middle class people made about three hundred to eight hundred pounds annually. [9] They also had no sewage system. [4] [11] Lower Upper Class - This class include country wealthy gentleman and large scale business men who had made their way with the immense wealth they possessed. Their income normally came from the investments made by them or from the inherited lands. [19] Women of every class came together to stand against the injustice and inequality of the voting system and to lobby for their right to vote. [4] This working class was further categorised as the skilled workers and the unskilled workers.Due to the revolution, the industrial workers got jobs thus improving their living conditions. The Industrial Revolution was beneficial to the middle class, but created a lot of problems for the lower class.