Tennyson As A Victorian Essay Research Paper

Tennyson As A Victorian Essay, Research Paper

Tennyson as a Victorian

The Victorian age was an age where many changes occurred

socially, economically, and industrially. People began to explore

into areas such as the earth, the human body, and how to benefit

the daily lives of individuals. English literature was also

something that was beginning to be developed.

Historically, it began when Queen Victoria was anointed to the

thrown in 1837 and brought a new prosperity to England. She held

the throne for 63 years which is the longest monarch to hold the

thrown ever in English history. To many people, she was a symbol

of stability and prosperity as evidenced by the following feeling

from her people. The Victorian age has been said to be a very

diverse time. Historian T.B. Macaulay in 1838 said that the

English had become “the greatest and most highly civilized people

that ever the world saw.” Yet, another man by the name of Benjamin

Disraeli, who was a writer and a politician, disagreed with this

statement and pointed out that the existence of an England of “two

nations who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and

feelings, as if they were … of different planets; who are

formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are

ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same

laws.” He further says that “these two nations were the richest

and poorest.” It was a time when the rich were rich, and the poor

people were poor. The poor or lower class of people went hungry

and half naked throughout most of their lives. Life and death went

hand in hand; wealth and poverty stood side by side; repletion and

starvation laid them down together.

Such rapid change in industry destroyed jobs as it provided

new ones. The population shifted and left thousands housed in

urban slums with bad water, no sanitation, and little food. The

depression left whole factories unemployed, and with no means of

producing goods. Yet, some people believed that the only way to

control population growth was through starvation or self-control.

Men, women, and children accustomed to the community life of rural

towns and farms to the varied and independent work habits of the

farm, and the small shop, found themselves laboring up to sixteen

hours a day, six days a week, in factories without any government

safety regulations, and with very low pay. People were not known

as individuals only as “hands” with no control over their lives,

hired, and fired at the whim of the owner or the fluctuation of the

market. There was no way to make a better life for oneself because

you were born into a certain social status, or you lived a life of

poverty for the rest of your life or you were one of the privileged

classes and were guaranteed the status of the royalty.

The Victorian years also brought with them the increasing

efforts to achieve political, social, and economic reforms that

would change the structure of the country to meet the changes

created by industry. The Reform Bill was passed in 1832 which

increased the electorate by fifty percent. The bill made it

impossible for workers and women to vote, therefore, only one in

five Englishmen could vote. These men were generally from the

upper class and they controlled everything. To many people, this

was a light of hope that England would improve, but during the

1840’s England saw the worst years of the century for unemployment,

hunger, and disease. It brought radical working class agitation

for the People’s Chapter, which demanded universal male suffrage

and a Parliament in which any man could serve. The effects of

these problems prompted a series of bills to be passed. Parliament

repealed some of the more unjust laws, and began to legislate

shorter working hours, industrial safety, and urban sanitary

reform. Due to the economic prosperity, it reduced radical

agitation and in 1867 a second Reform Bill, which meant that most

working men were allowed to vote. It brought a more liberal view

of what was needed in life.

People’s thoughts and ideas also changed with the development

of the country. The peoples’ ideas became more free and they

accepted change more easily, yet not everybody wanted to admit to

change. People began to ask more questions about life, which

prompted the development of science and many people began to

question the bible. Lyell’s Principles of Geology and Chamber’s

Vestiges of creation brought out the view publically that the earth

was older than the bible said it to be. People’s beliefs were

suddenly being shattered and the quest for answers was in need.

The change caused a great deal of confusion and alarm, which

prompted English writers to accept responsibility and write about

new thoughts, beliefs,

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