British Society Essay Research Paper The nineteenth

British Society Essay, Research Paper

The nineteenth (19th) century was a period of great change and accompanying social unrest in the British Isles. Most outstanding among the changes was the industrial revolution. As everything in life, it brought good, but it also brought evil. The industrial revolution combined with the expansion of the British Empire made the United Kingdom, the richest and most powerful country in the world. Some of the islanders became unbelievably wealthy, but others, unfortunately, became unbelievably poor. Writers from this historical period cognizant of the human suffering, became social critics of what was taking place in England, of how the rich and powerful became more oppressive than before and how the very poor, were evenly more oppressed. Among these writers were Charles Dickens and George Eliot. In his novel, Felix Holt the Radical, Eliot (nee Mary Anne Evans) describes graphically the conflict and battle between these two groups.

In the novel, Eliot portrayed British society as having two types of people, the oppressors, who were the landowners who had the ability to vote and serve in government and then there the oppressed, who are the back breaking workers. The factory workers and miners (the oppressed) were denied basic human rights and their opinion and beliefs were discarded as being useless. These workers wanted change and reform, however they did not speak out against their masters or government because of fear of retaliation by the oppressors, of punishment and also because of the lack of leadership skill to organize a revolt. The leadership that was needed was that of Harold Transome, a radical, and of his political agents that began preaching the need for change and for equality among the workers.

Traditionally, two main political parties existed in Great Britain, the Whigs and Tories, which forced society to choose what side would represent them. The split in society caused conflict in which people would only associate with those individuals who supported the same party. Adding to these conflicts, political candidates gave false hopes and promises in order to sway the opinion of people. Nonetheless a rise of uncertainty for the two parties began when Harold Transome returned home and brought with him enough wealth to gain the support needed to back up his political movement. Transome had made his fortune trading in the Far East of the empire. Despite his vast fortune there was one vast obstacle in Transom’s plan to rebuild his estate and build a political career, which was that he wasn’t the actual heir to his family’s estate. Long ago, the principal of the estate was sold off to the Baycliff family. Legally the estate belonged to Tommy Transome, an illiterate peasant who had been paid off to keep quiet. If anything were to happen to Tommy Transome, the rights to the estate would pass to any existing heir of the Baycliff family.

Harold Transome the lord of the Transome estate was a strong handsome man who left home to find his fortune in the Middle East in trade. He worked in banking in Smyrna, currently Izmir, a city in western Turkey. He returned to England when he had a sizable sum which he would use to rebuild his estate and support his political actions. Harold envisioned change, a change for the good of the workers. He disliked the Whigs and Tories because they represented everything old and unmodern. Being a radical meant new, improvement, change and modernization. He had modern opinions and ideas to change the outcome of society, however he still believed that women were silly creatures who did not have any ability nor right to discuss or work with what he considered “men’s work,” such as politics and running estates.

Mr. Johnson, one of Transome’s agents was a charismatic person with a strong passionate voice and convincing manner, with which he was able to rile up the workers. He claimed that their support of the radical movement would improve their lives. According to Mr. Johnson, “this country will rise to the tip-top of everything, and there isn’t a man in it but what shall his joint in the pot, and his spare money jingling in his pocket, if we only exert ourselves to send the right men to Parliament – men who will speak up for the collier, and stone cutter, and the navy, and will stand no nonsense” (p. 114). Harold Transome was the man for this job. He could put extra money in the worker’s pocket and alter the political arena. In return for a chance of a better life, Mr. Johnson wanted the workers to show their support for Harold Transome and the radical movement. He also demanded that the working men united themselves and give their “hands and voices for the right man,” and when you shout for Transome, remember you shout for more wages, and more of your rights, and you shoot to get rid of rats and sprats and such animals, who are the tools the rich make use of to squeeze the blood out of the poor people,” (p. 117).

If left to themselves, these workers would have never conceived the idea to rally against their oppressors. A strong influence was needed, a catalytic agent, in order to instill in them the idea that change was needed and rising against the leaders of society their oppressors would bring about the best results. The outcome of Mr. Johnson’s speech resulted in a very short-lived revolt with much chaos. The day of the election saw upset drunken workers who wanted the