Victorian era. Victorian era in England

The Victorian era is called by name and determined by the years of the reign of Queen Victoria (Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the Empress of India) - 1837 - 1901 This is the time of the emergence and formation of the middle class in England. And also the famous gentleman's code - the gallant era.

The word initially meant belonging to a noble origin (as the basic definition of an aristocrat, which opened up the category of title - Esquire), but due to the emergence of the middle class, it became customary to address and call educated and well-mannered men with a respectable and balanced disposition and manners (prim and imperturbable ), regardless of origin.

Contemporaries also noted that before and at the beginning of the 19th century. It was customary to call a “gentleman” any man who lived on income from capital, having the opportunity not to work, regardless of the qualities of his personality. In the Middle Ages, the word “gentleman” was usually understood as belonging to the category of untitled nobility - Gentry, which included knights, descendants of the younger and non-hereditary sons of feudal lords (the title was inherited only by the eldest of the sons).

However, from the standpoint of the image that was steadily formed in society in the Victorian era, and which appears to us as such now, in reality, a gentleman is distinguished by impeccable manners and gallant behavior towards ladies. In particular, a gentleman, under no circumstances, will dare or allow himself to be treated rudely, and in ladies’ company he will strictly observe the rules of etiquette.

So, a gentleman is punctuality and elegance, an impeccable ability to keep one’s word (hence the category “gentleman’s agreement”).

In addition to gentlemanliness, as noble manners in society and everyday communication for the middle class, we inherited from that era democratic trading approaches and trendy lines of behavior.

The seemingly modern “boom” of supermarkets (self-service systems of inexpensive price categories) takes its toll in the Victorian era, as a project specifically for the middle class.

The concept of the middle class consciousness, which consists in first making a career, acquiring social status, earning money, and love must wait - precisely from that era.

The Victorian era is a noble era of the middle class, which took its rightful place in British society, displacing the aristocracy from its pedestal. The enormous influence of his masses changed society itself in its attitude to work and profession. If the English aristocrat considered it extremely important to avoid systematic work, and this confirmed his elite status as a leisure class of the upper social stratum, then with the advent of the influence of the spirit of the middle class, respectability of perception and professionalism was introduced. It's even becoming fashionable to be a professional.

The Victorian man was characterized by loneliness, against the backdrop of strict morals and customs that prevented the ease of making acquaintances. Realization took place mainly in the profession. Apparently for this reason, the category “houses” played the most important role. Creating a home, under the conditions of many years of engagement (until the young man “gets on his feet”), the opportunity to start a family, get a home, acted as a kind of ideal, a goal that they strived for, but did not always achieve.

Probably, under the influence of such conditions, the need for economic activity, as an opportunity to create and support a family, at the end of the 19th century. The first suffragettes appear, demanding equal rights with men. Others continued to be content with housekeeping and growing flowers in country houses built by their prosperous husbands. As part of this trend, the first cottage villages appeared, already at the end of the Victorian era. This is how the middle class tried to separate itself from the working class.

At the same time, detective stories became a characteristic hobby of the era (stories about Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle, numerous exciting works by Agatha Christie about Miss Marple, etc.).

Detective Sherlock Holmes embodied the good conservatism of the Victorian era.

Conan Doyle extremely accurately conveyed the sense of respectability, stability, nobility and excellent noble manners of the era inherent in any Victorian person that was demanded by society. Thanks to this, the character Holmes, fictional from beginning to end, is perceived as an absolutely real person of that time, and his apartment on Baker Street is a place of pilgrimage.

The expansion of trade relations led to the assimilation of Indian with Chinese and Japanese, as well as Persian with Arabic decorative styles for European living rooms - everything came down to the category of “oriental” - oriental style.

“And it resulted in a true Victorian eclecticism of an enriched cultural heritage, which was manifested in the interior diversity for each room: the bedroom could well be in the spirit of the revived Rococo, the library of the same house - in the style of the revived Gothic, and the hallway of the neoclassical style could lead straight to” Persian smoking room.

The gold of geometric and floral patterns reigns in the interiors and outfits of the era. It is applied with stencils to embossed wallpaper, and gilded frames are made for paintings. The ideal shading colors for interiors are red and burgundy. Plush drapes and velvet curtains in red and burgundy tones, with gold trim, separate the library and dining areas. Above the mahogany beds you can find pale yellow canopies with fringe, made of curtain fabric - they served as protection from drafts. There was a fashion for painting cheap wood furniture to look like hardwood (oak, mahogany).

Europe spread its values ​​around the world, with sharply dressed gentlemen pulling pith helmets over their eyes, traveling to exotic distant lands and previously unexplored corners of the world. All the wonderful works we read in childhood, the wonderful works of this era of great geographical discoveries, written by educated English authors with good manners, nobility of spirit and an excellent style of witty writing, shaped many of us, and will probably influence the minds of even one future generation.

The Victorian era (and the features of its fashion trends) is conventionally divided into 3 periods:

Early Victorian era (period 1837-1860)

The early period of the Victorian era is also called the “Romantic Period”. Good reasons for this name were the youth and tenderness of the age of the new queen of the British throne.

During these times, she is passionately in love with her husband Albert, full of life, and adores jewelry (which she wears in huge quantities). The style is reflected in palace fashion, and then throughout the country: imitating its queen, England wears gold in all forms (with precious stones, enamel, etc.) and in sets of 4 or even more pieces of jewelry.

Gold and jewelry are becoming an integral attribute of evening wear. In the daytime, they wear less expensive and luxurious ones (made of selected pearls, corals, ivory, tortoiseshell). Earrings were worn dangling and swaying - long and large, bracelets - flexible and hard, sometimes with a stone, worn in pairs, and in a special fashion there were bracelets representing a strap with a buckle. In necklaces (fashionably short and with a stone in the center), it was customary to use a design that allows the stone to be separated and also worn as a brooch or pendant.

Feeding romantic ideas about nature, shaped by Ruskin's philosophical ideas about God and beauty, the era actively supported depictions of flora and fauna in jewelry. Also, often the sentimental content of medallions and bracelets was a lock of hair of a loved one or his image; engraved messages and inscriptions on the products were often used.

Middle Victorian era (period 1860-1885)

The Great Period - luxurious, lush and abundant - was the true origin of the (typical) image of the Victorian era that we have today. There was also a third, so there are 3 Victorian periods in total:

- early, characterized by neostyles (1835-1855);
- mid-Victorian luxurious (“Mid-Victorian period”, 1855-1870) period;
- “free revival of the Renaissance” late (“Free Renaissance revivals”, 1870-1901) period.

The years are merciless. Some thirty years pass - and the young coquette in pink frills turns into a caricature of herself (unless, of course, she is smart enough to change her wardrobe, manners and habits). Roughly the same thing happened to England in the 19th century. Having greeted the young century with classicism, enlightenment, strict morality and other wonders of the Regency era, this stately maiden with a proud profile, by the end of the century England arrived in the form of an elderly prude in lace bustles and bugles.

Okay, okay, an old woman arrived there in a car, accompanied by airplanes, who owns a good half of the land on this planet, but such magnificence did not make her any less funny. In general, the Victorian era is one complete contradiction. This is the time of the boldest discoveries and the most cautious morals; a time when a person was as free as possible and at the same time entangled hand and foot in a dense network of rules, norms and social contracts. This is the time of the most false hypocrisy and the most daring movement of thought, the time of impeccable rationality and nonsense elevated to the rank of virtue... In short, the Victorians are worth having a passionate interest in them.

Little woman in black

It’s probably worth starting with the queen who gave the era its name. Never before has such an insignificant creature been on such a high throne (at least, one that managed to stay on this throne). Alexandrina Victoria of Hanover became ruler of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1837 at the age of 18. She was a plump girl, a little over one and a half meters tall, not the sharpest of minds, and extremely well-mannered. The little girl knew from infancy that someday she would have to become a queen. Her father died when Victoria was still very young, and there was no one in the family closer to the throne than she. The British, who had already learned over the past centuries that a woman on the British throne means almost guaranteed prosperity for the country, did not try to find a boy of suitable blood to replace her, and this turned out to be a far-sighted decision.

When little Victoria talked about her upcoming reign, she said that “she will be good, very, very good.” Usually, growing up, we are in no hurry to implement our childhood plans (otherwise there would be no breath of astronauts, firefighters and ice cream sellers around), but Victoria turned out to be a man of her word. At least she definitely didn't become bad. Brought up in the already mentioned Regency era, the queen placed morality and virtue above all else.

Morality and virtue, however, can be very bloody instruments of power, but it all depends on the scale of the personality of the one who took it upon himself to look after them. Fortunately, Victoria was just a small, good-natured bourgeois and managed to remain so even when half the world was subject to her power - a test that would have broken, perhaps, the most powerful titans of the human race. Very young, she married her distant relative and demonstratively adored her husband. Victoria gave birth to children every year, and soon the royal family consisted of nine princes and princesses. So after some time, almost all the monarchs of Europe turned out to be sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and granddaughters of Victoria, who added the nickname “grandmother of Europe” to the titles of Queen of Great Britain, Empress of India, etc. (Empress Alexandra, the wife of our Nicholas II, was the granddaughter of Victoria*.)

“In fact, Victoria’s fertility led to tragic consequences for the European monarchy. She turned out to be the ancestor of the most dangerous mutation leading to hemophilia - a disease in which blood clots very poorly and any scratch can be fatal. Only men suffer from it, but they cannot pass it on to their descendants, but women, remaining only carriers of a dangerous gene, risk giving birth to sick sons. Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Russian Emperor Nicholas II, suffered from precisely this disease, inherited from his great-grandmother. In general, the deck is shuffled interestingly. If Victoria had not been a carrier of the hemophilia gene, the Tsarevich would have been healthy, his parents would not have fallen under the influence of Rasputin, who knew how to alleviate the boy’s suffering, and perhaps our history would have taken a completely different path. And this comment would not be read by you at all, but by some completely different person.”.

After the death of her husband, Prince Albert (he died of typhus), Victoria mourned all her life. True, this did not stop the queen from starting an affair, apparently completely platonic, with his former valet, Scotsman John Brown, who for many years was her closest friend and confidant.

Was Victoria really a dim-witted creature? This question hangs in the air. She dealt with Parliament, ministers and admirals with the ease with which the wise mother of a large Victorian family dealt with the male part of the family - infinitely respecting their opinions in words and not taking them into account when it came to action. The fact that under the leadership of the Queen England has finally become a world leader in everything related to economics, progress, science, technology and culture is in no way subject to doubt. And the Queen's love of moral plays, smelling salts and embroidered napkins should not deceive us too much.

Victoria ruled the country for 63 years and died three weeks into the 20th century, in January 1901.

Everyone in their place

The best-selling titles in Victorian England were:

a) The Bible and edifying religious brochures;

b) books on etiquette;

c) books on home economics.

And this selection very accurately describes the situation there. Led by the burgher queen, the British were filled with what Soviet textbooks liked to call “bourgeois morality.” Splendor, splendor, and luxury were now considered not quite decent things, fraught with depravity. The royal court, which for so many years was the center of freedom of morals, breathtaking toilets and shining jewelry, turned into the abode of a person in a black dress and a widow's cap. The sense of style caused the aristocracy to also slow down in this matter, and it is still widely believed that no one dresses as poorly as the high English nobility. Saving was elevated to the rank of virtue. Even in the houses of lords, from now on, for example, candle stubs were never thrown away - they had to be collected and then sold to candle shops for refilling.

Modesty, hard work and impeccable morality were prescribed to absolutely all classes. However, it was quite enough to appear to have these qualities: there was no attempt to change human nature. Agatha Christie once compared the Victorians to steam boilers that boil inside (and every now and then someone's valve opens with a terrible whistle). You can feel whatever you want, but giving away your feelings or doing inappropriate things was highly discouraged, unless, of course, you valued your place in society. And society was structured in such a way that almost every inhabitant of Albion did not even try to jump a step higher. God grant that you have the strength to hold on to the position you occupy now.

Failure to live up to one's position was punished mercilessly among the Victorians. If a girl's name is Abigail, she will not be hired as a maid in a decent house, since the maid must have a simple name, such as Anne or Mary. The footman must be tall and be able to move deftly. A butler with an unintelligible pronunciation or too direct gaze will end his days in a ditch. A girl who sits like this will never get married. Don’t wrinkle your forehead, don’t spread your elbows, don’t sway when walking, otherwise everyone will decide that you are a brick factory worker or a sailor: that’s exactly how they are supposed to walk. If you wash down your food with your mouth full, you won't be invited to dinner again. When talking to an older lady, you need to bow your head slightly. A person who signs his business cards so clumsily cannot be accepted in good society. Everything was subject to the most severe regulation: movements, gestures, voice timbre, gloves, topics of conversation. Every detail of your appearance and manners should have eloquently screamed about what you are, or rather, trying to represent. A clerk who looks like a shopkeeper is ridiculous; the governess dressed up like a duchess is outrageous; a cavalry colonel must behave differently from a village priest, and a man's hat says more about him than he could tell about himself. Being Sherlock Holmes in Victorian England was like being a duck on a pond, that is, natural to the extreme.

Victorian naked feeling

A living person fit extremely poorly into the Victorian value system, where each subject was supposed to have a specific set of required qualities. Therefore, hypocrisy was considered not only acceptable, but also obligatory. Saying what you don’t mean, smiling when you want to cry, lavishing pleasantries on people who make you shake—this is what is required of a well-mannered person. People should feel comfortable and comfortable in your company, and how you feel is your own business. Put everything away, lock it, and preferably swallow the key. Only with the closest people can you sometimes allow yourself to move the iron mask that hides your true face a millimeter. In return, society readily promises not to try to look inside you.

What the Victorians did not tolerate was nudity of any kind - both mental and physical. Moreover, this applied not only to people, but to any phenomena in general. Here is what Christina Hughes, author of the book “Everyday Life in the Regency and Victorian England” writes: “Of course, the fact that the Victorians put knickers on the legs of furniture so as not to conjure up an indecent allusion to human legs is an anecdote. But the truth is that they really couldn’t stand anything open, bare and empty.”

If you have a toothpick, then there should be a case for it. The case with the toothpick should be stored in a box with a lock. The box must be hidden in a locked chest of drawers. To prevent the chest of drawers from seeming too bare, you need to cover every free centimeter of it with carved curls and cover it with an embroidered bedspread, which, in order to avoid excessive openness, should be filled with figurines, wax flowers and other nonsense, which it is advisable to cover with glass covers. The walls were covered with decorative plates, engravings and paintings from top to bottom. In those places where the wallpaper still managed to immodestly come out into the light of God, it was clear that it was decorously dotted with small bouquets, birds or coats of arms. There are carpets on the floors, smaller rugs on the carpets, the furniture is covered with bedspreads and strewn with embroidered cushions.

Today's directors who make films based on Dickens or Henry James have long given up on attempts to recreate real interiors of the Victorian era: it would simply be impossible to see the actors in them.

But human nakedness, of course, had to be hidden extremely carefully, especially female nakedness. The Victorians viewed women as some kind of centaurs, who had the upper half of the body (undoubtedly, the creation of God), but there were doubts about the lower half. The taboo extended to everything connected with feet. This very word was prohibited: they were supposed to be called “limbs”, “members” and even “pedestal”. Most words for pants were taboo in good society. The matter ended with the fact that in stores they began to be quite officially titled “unnameable” and “unspeakable”.

As corporal punishment researcher James Bertrand wrote, “An English teacher, regularly removing this piece of clothing from his students to administer due punishment, would never say out loud either its name or, of course, the name of the body part it covers.”

Men's trousers were sewn in such a way as to hide the anatomical excesses of the stronger sex from view as much as possible: thick fabric linings along the front of the trousers and very tight underwear were used.

As for the ladies' pedestal, this was generally an exclusively forbidden territory, the very outlines of which had to be destroyed. Huge hoops were worn under skirts - crinolines, so that a lady's skirt easily took 10-11 meters of material. Then bustles appeared - lush overlays on the buttocks, designed to completely hide the presence of this part of the female body, so that modest Victorian ladies were forced to walk, dragging their cloth butts with bows, protruding half a meter back.

At the same time, shoulders, neck and chest for quite a long time were not considered so indecent as to hide them excessively: ballroom necklines of that era were quite daring. Only towards the end of Victoria’s reign did morality reach there too, wrapping the ladies’ high collars under their chins and carefully fastening them with all the buttons.

Ladies and gentlemen

In general, there are few societies in the world in which gender relations would please the outsider with reasonable harmony. But Victorian sexual segregation is in many ways unparalleled. The word “hypocrisy,” already mentioned in this article, begins to play with new bright colors here.

Of course, for the lower classes everything was simpler, but starting with middle-class townspeople, the rules of the game became extremely complicated. Both sexes got it to the fullest.

Lady

By law, a woman was not considered separately from her husband; her entire fortune was considered his property from the moment of marriage. Quite often, a woman also could not be the heir of her husband if his estate, say, was a primordial estate*.

* Note Phacochoerus "a Funtik: « Inheritance scheme, according to which the estate can pass only through the male line to the eldest in the family».

Women of the middle class and above could only work as governesses or companions; any other professions simply did not exist for them. A woman also could not make financial decisions without her husband's consent. Divorce was extremely rare and usually led to the expulsion of the wife and often the husband from polite society.

From birth, the girl was taught to always and in everything obey men, obey them and forgive any antics: drunkenness, mistresses, ruin of the family - anything. The ideal Victorian wife never reproached her husband with a word. Her task was to please her husband, praise his virtues and rely entirely on him in any matter. However, the Victorians gave their daughters considerable freedom in choosing spouses. Unlike, for example, the French or Russian nobles, where children's marriages were decided mainly by their parents, the young Victorian had to make a choice independently and with her eyes wide open; her parents could not force her to marry anyone. True, they could prevent her from marrying an unwanted groom until she was 24 years old, but if the young couple fled to Scotland, where it was allowed to get married without parental approval, then mom and dad could not do anything. But usually young ladies were already sufficiently trained to keep their desires in check and obey their elders. They were taught to appear weak, tender and naive - it was believed that only such a fragile flower could make a man want to take care of him. Before leaving for balls and dinners, young ladies were fed for slaughter, so that the girl would not have the desire to demonstrate a good appetite in front of strangers: an unmarried girl was supposed to peck food like a bird, demonstrating her unearthly airiness.

A woman was not supposed to be too educated (at least to show it), have her own views and generally show excessive knowledge in any issues, from religion to politics. At the same time, the education of Victorian girls was very serious. If parents calmly sent boys to schools and boarding schools, then daughters had to have governesses, visiting teachers and study under the serious supervision of their parents, although there were also girls’ boarding schools. Girls, it is true, were rarely taught Latin and Greek, unless they themselves expressed a desire to learn them, but otherwise they were taught the same as boys. They were also especially taught painting (at least watercolor), music and several foreign languages. A girl from a good family had to know French, preferably Italian, and German usually came third.

So the Victorian had to know a lot, but a very important skill was to hide this knowledge in every possible way. Of course, only from strangers - with her friends and parents - was she allowed to be either Spinoza or Newton. Having acquired a husband, the Victorian woman often gave birth to 10-20 children. The contraceptives and miscarriage-causing substances so well known to her great-grandmothers were considered so monstrously obscene in the Victorian era that she had no one to discuss their use with.

* Note Phacochoerus "a Funtik:

« By the way, the development of hygiene and medicine in England at that time left 70% of newborns alive, a record for humanity at that time. So the British Empire throughout the 19th century did not know the need for gallant soldiers».

Gentlemen

Having such a submissive creature as a Victorian wife on his neck, the gentleman took a deep breath. From childhood, he was raised to believe that girls are fragile and delicate creatures who need to be treated with care, like ice roses. The father was fully responsible for the maintenance of his wife and children. He could not count on the fact that in difficult times his wife would deign to provide him with real help. Oh no, she herself will never dare to complain that she lacks something!

But Victorian society was vigilant in ensuring that husbands dutifully pulled the strap. A husband who did not give his wife a shawl, who did not move a chair, who did not take her to the water when she was coughing so terribly all September, a husband who forced his poor wife to go out for the second year in a row in the same evening dress - such a husband could put an end to his future: a profitable place will float away from him, the necessary acquaintance will not happen, at the club they will begin to communicate with him with icy politeness, and his own mother and sisters will write him indignant letters in bags every day.

The Victorian considered it her duty to be constantly ill: good health was somehow unbecoming of a true lady. And the fact that a huge number of these martyrs, forever moaning on their couches, lived until the First and even the Second World War, outliving their husbands by half a century, cannot but amaze. In addition to his wife, the man also had full responsibility for his unmarried daughters, unmarried sisters and aunts, and widowed great-aunts. The Victorian may not have had the extensive conjugal rights of the Ottoman sultans, but he often had a larger harem than theirs.

Free love Victorian style

Officially, the Victorians believed that girls and young women were devoid of sexuality or, as it was then whisperedly called, carnal lust. And in general, an unspoiled woman should submit to shameful bed rituals only within the framework of the general concept of submission to a man. That's why the slogan "Ladies don't move!" was really close to reality. It was believed that a woman does this only with the goal of having a child and... well, how can I put it... to pacify the demons tormenting the sinful flesh of her husband. The public treated the husband's sinful flesh with disgusting condescension. He had 40 thousand prostitutes at his service in London alone. These were mostly the daughters of peasants, workers and traders, but there were also former ladies among them who charged 1-2 pounds for their services compared to the usual fee of 5 shillings. In Victorian slang, prostitutes were supposed to be referred to figuratively, without offending anyone's ears by mentioning their craft.

Therefore, in the texts of that time they are referred to as “unfortunate”, “these women”, “devil cats” and even “Satan’s canaries”. Lists of prostitutes with addresses were regularly published in special magazines, which could be purchased even in some quite respectable clubs. Street women, who were given to any sailor for coppers, were, of course, not suitable for a decent gentleman. But even when visiting a hetera of the highest rank, the man tried to hide this unfortunate fact even from close friends. It was impossible to marry a woman with a tarnished reputation, not even a professional, but simply a girl who had stumbled: a madman who decided to do this would himself turn into a pariah, in front of whom the doors of most houses would be closed. It was impossible to recognize an illegitimate child. A decent man had to pay a modest sum for his maintenance and send him somewhere to a village or a run-down boarding house, never to communicate with him again.

Humor, madness and skeletons in the closets

It is quite natural that it was in this world, drawn out to the point of strain and decent to the point of complete nonsense, that powerful opposition to the polished routine of everyday life arose. The Victorians' passion for horror, mysticism, humor and wild antics is the same whistle on the steam boiler that for so long prevented the artificial world from exploding and flying into pieces.

With the greed of civilized cannibals, the Victorians read the details of the murders, always brought to the front pages of newspapers. Their tales of horror are capable of causing a shiver of disgust even among fans of the Chainsaw Massacre in Texas. Having described in the first pages a gentle girl with clear eyes and pale cheeks watering daisies, the Victorian author delightedly devoted the remaining twenty to how her brains were smoking on those daisies after a burglar with an iron hammer had broken into the house.

Death is the lady who is unforgivably indifferent to any rules, and, apparently, this is what fascinated the Victorians. However, they made attempts to trim and civilize even her. Funerals occupied the Victorians as much as they did the ancient Egyptians. But the Egyptians, making a mummy and carefully equipping it for the future life with scarabs, boats and pyramids, at least believed that this was reasonable and prudent. Victorian coffins with rich carvings and floral paintings, funeral cards with vignettes and fashionable styles of mourning bands are a vain exclamation of “We ask for decency!” addressed to a figure with a scythe.

It was from the early Gothic novels of the British that the detective genre developed, and they also enriched the world's cultural treasury with such things as surreal humor and black humor.

The Victorians had another absolutely amazing fashion - for quiet crazy people. Stories about them were published in thick collections, and any inhabitant of Bedlam who escaped from his nurses and walked around Piccadilly with “unspeakable” on his head could entertain guests at London social dinners for months. Eccentric persons, who, however, did not allow serious sexual violations and some other taboos, were highly valued as a pleasant seasoning for society. And keeping at home, say, an aunt who loved to dance a sailor’s dance on the roof of a barn, although it was troublesome, was not worthy of public discontent.

Moreover, ordinary Victorians, especially older ladies and gentlemen, got away with strange antics if these antics were, say, the result of a bet. For example, Gilbert Chesterton's story about a gentleman who wore a head of cabbage on his head for a week and then ate it (as payback for carelessly exclaiming “If this happens, I swear to eat my hat”) is a real incident he took from a Devonshire newspaper .

We know exactly when Victorianism ended. No, not on the day of the little queen’s death, but thirteen years later, with the first radio messages about the beginning of the First World War. Victorianism is that wax bouquet under a hood that is completely out of place in the trenches. But in the end, the Victorians could admire in awe the ease with which this whole colossus of decency shatters into small rubbish, forever freeing from its bonds the captives who had basked in them for so long.

Victorian era, 1837–1901

These years, like the Elizabethan era, are often depicted as a golden age in English history. Trade flourished, industrial production gained unprecedented strength, vibrant cities grew everywhere, and the possessions of the British Empire extended throughout the world.

Among the many changes that took place in those years, I would like to note one, the most significant, - the outflow of the population from rural areas to cities. If in 1801, according to the census, the urban population accounted for only 30% of the total number of Englishmen, then by the middle of the century this figure had increased to 50%, and in 1901 80% of the population lived in cities and their suburbs. This trend was undoubtedly very convenient for the developing industry, since it created an inexhaustible reserve of labor, but it also gave rise to serious problems. Due to the great overcrowding, terrible dirt and poverty reigned in the cities. At first, the government tried to turn a blind eye to the plight of poor citizens, but then individual employers appeared who tried to take care of their employees. Gradually they realized that this could only be done properly if there were appropriate government laws. Such laws began to appear under pressure from industrialists, and each new law controlling the living and working conditions of workers meant more and more interference in the lives of British citizens. The army of civil servants grew steadily: in 1832 there were about 21 thousand of them, by 1880 there were already over 50 thousand, and in 1914 over 280 thousand hired workers worked at state enterprises.

Victoria: Queen and Wife

For many years, Queen Victoria was a symbol of reliability and stability for the entire nation. This woman, even in her youth, showed extraordinary strength of character, as evidenced by her refusal to sign documents while ill with typhoid fever in 1835. However, she achieved true greatness when she ascended the English throne. Already in the first year of her reign, one of the journalists noted: “She never leaves her post for a minute - the most hardworking and obliging queen in the world.” Although there were those who considered Victoria a limited and stubborn person.

A year after her coronation, in 1838, the queen fell in love with her brilliant cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the wedding soon took place. Since then, Victoria relied on her husband in everything, recognizing his intellectual superiority. Those around him immediately felt Prince Albert's influence. If before that Victoria had the habit of sleeping late, then the very next day after her marriage, her subjects saw their queen walking hand in hand with her husband in the predawn fog. As one of the courtiers sarcastically remarked: “Not the best way to give the country a Prince of Wales.”

It was an extremely successful marriage, although, naturally, there were some disagreements: the parents did not always see eye to eye on raising children. And they had a lot of children - nine. The first, in 1840, was born Victoria, who later became the wife of the German emperor. She was followed in 1841 by Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. Besides them there were three more boys and four girls. Prince Albert attached great importance to family life, taking particular care of his children's education. Their married couple served as role models throughout England for many years.

Queen Victoria

If in previous centuries members of the royal family were often distinguished by their penchant for gambling, drinking and love affairs, then the current monarchs expressed ardent disapproval of all these vices. Part of this condemnation fell on their eldest son, who indulged too zealously in the joys of life. Victoria inherited three estates - Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Either these buildings were not spacious enough for the royal family, or did not seem private enough, but the family acquired two more houses - Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and Balmoral Castle in Scotland. In these places they finally found the peace and solitude they had so dreamed of. Queen Victoria later wrote: “Here we can stroll peacefully without fear of running into a crowd of curious people.”