Class 2 Zhu Xiaoxue 541008010227(一一)The Victorian Age General Introductiona) Period an Eras in English historyAnglo-Saxon655–1066Norman1066–1154Plantagenet1154–1485Tudor1485–1603Elizabethan1558–1603Stuart1603–1714Jacobean1603–1625Caroline1625–1649Interregnum1649–1660Restoration1660–1688Georgian1714–1830Victorian1837–1901Edwardian1901–1910World War I1914–1918Interwar1918–1939World War II1939–1945Modern1945–present Brief intro: The Victorian Period revolves around the political career of Queen Victoria. She was crowned in 1837 and died in 1901 (which put a definite end to her political career). A great deal of change took place during this period--brought about because of the Industrial Revolution; so it's not surprising that the literature of the period is often concerned with social reform. As Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) wrote, “The time for levity, insincerity, and idle babble and play-acting, in all kinds, is gone by; it is a Class 2 Zhu Xiaoxue 541008010227serious, grave time.“b) Victoria Period1)Time Span The Victorian Period revolves around the political career of Queen Victoria. A new era really began with the passage of Reform Bill 1832 and closed at the end of Boer War in 1902. 2)Three phases The early Victorian period (1830~48): 多事之秋(A Time of Troubles) It saw the opening of Britain’s first railway and its first Reform Parliament, but it was also a time of economic distress.The mid-Victorian period (1848~70): 经济繁荣和宗教分歧的时期（Economic Prosperity and Religious Controversy） It was not free of harassing problems, it was a time of prosperity, optimism, and stability.The later period (1870~1901) : 由盛到衰过程的时期（Decay of Victorian Values） The costs of Empire became increasingly apparent, and England was confronted with growing threats to its military and economic preeminence.c) Queen Victoria and Victorian TemperVictoria was born in 1819.She came to the throne in 1837(aged 18), after the death of her uncle William IV, crowned in 1838 and died in 1901. She reigned for exactly 63 years, 7 months, 2 days (June 20, 1837 - January 22, 1901), longer than any other British monarch. Her 9 children and 42 grandchildren tying them together and earning her the nickname “the grandmother of Europe“. Exemplifies Victorian qualities: earnestness, moral responsibility, domestic propriety The Victorian Period was an age of transition An age characterized by energy and high moral purpose1819 年生于伦敦,1837 年继位成为英国女王。
到 19 世纪末，维多利亚女王由于拥 有许多欧洲皇室的皇亲国戚，被人称为“欧洲的祖母” 1897 年英国为她在位 60 周年 举行庆典，成为英国历史上统治时间最长的女王由于这一时期英国迅速地向外扩张， 建立了庞大的殖民地，因此被称为“日不落帝国” 1901 年 1 月 22 日，维多利亚女王 去世d) Four FeaturesThe long struggle of the Anglo-Saxons for personal liberty is definitely settled, and democracy becomes the established order of the day. Because it is an age of democracy, it is an age of popular education, of religious tolerance, of growing brotherhood, and of profound social unrest(动荡). It is an age of comparative peace. The Victorian Age is especially remarkable because of its rapid progress in all the arts and sciences and in mechanical inventions.Class 2 Zhu Xiaoxue 541008010227 Historical Background1. SocietyA Time of Change A great deal of change took place during this period--brought about because of the Industrial Revolution; so it's not surprising that the literature of the period is often concerned with social reform. 1)London becomes most important city in Europe 2)Population of London expands from two million to six million 3)Shift from ownership of land to modern urban economy 4)Impact of industrialism 5)Increase in wealth 6)World’s foremost imperial power 7)Victorian people suffered from anxiety, a sense of being displaced persons in an age of technological advances.2. EconomyColonial Expansion The most powerful of the British Empire at the time of territory across 5 continents with a total area of up to 33,500,000 square kilometers, the United Kingdom is 137 times that of the total global area of 1 / 4; its colony with a population of about 400,000,000, of the total population of the colony 75 %. From the Earth near the Canadian Arctic, the Antarctic to the vicinity of Argentina, from the Congo River in Africa, Asia, South-East Asia have ranged from Class 2 Zhu Xiaoxue 541008010227the size of the British colony. World Factory To the mid-19th century, the United Kingdom to become the world's first industrialized countries, which export a large number of manufactured goods, imports of raw materials and a large number of agricultural and sideline products. Britain became the world's factory, the economic center. In 1851, the number of British merchant account for nearly half of world merchant shipping, industrial products occupied 50% of the world market, and production of pig iron accounted for 53% of the world's coal output accounted for 50% of the world. Imperialism The sun never sets:“Russia and the North American plains is our corn, Chicago and Odessa is our granary, Canada and the Bal。