Victorian Moral: Characteristics of the Society of England in Victorian era (education, sexuality ...)

The Victorian era owes its name to the reign of Victoria I of England. At that time, the rules of social behavior were governed by the paradigms and moral values ​​of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxony. Modesty and prohibitions were the order of the day in Victorian England, although a range of debauchery practices took place in London hideaways, in addition to atrocities that occurred among the middle and working strata of society. To better understand Victorian morality, we will explain below what the Victorian era is and its characteristics, as well as the historical events that marked England in 1800.

Morality in the Victorian Era

The Victorian era had unique characteristics that set precedents in political, social, and religious behavior. Its rules and customs also marked art, music, what was or was not correct to have fun and even some practices that today are known to be dangerous.

Victorian society and morality

Victorian morality is defined within the parameters of the moral paradigms of the Victorians, that is, those of Queen Victoria's contemporaries.

At that time, at the end of the 19th century in England, a climate of moralism prevailed in opposition to the Georgian period that preceded the reign of Victoria. These practices were reinforced by the Anglican church, which still had strong power within state institutions.

Meaning of Victorian

Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, extending her reign to 63 years, one of the longest in history. Her permanence as regent of the British Empire for more than 6 decades was the event that would mark that period.

All aspects of daily life in the UK were carried out according to the customs and morality accepted at the time. These values ​​basically affected religion and morality, extending to social behavior, elitism, industrialization and the improvement of Victorian society.

This was a particularly prosperous time for the British Empire, where industrialization dramatically improved the nation's economy. There was also a political stability that led to substantial social changes. In addition, the country remained especially isolated from the mainland. So they did not suffer revolutions or riots, rather the general climate was to maintain a neutral position in the face of external conflicts.

That influence on all aspects of life in England even reached the world of science and technology. This is how in 1851, during the Great Exhibition in London, the term "Victorian" would be used for the first time to emphasize the innovations and ideas that were presented at that time.

Victorian Years

The Victorian age covers the 64 years of the reign of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, from 1837 to 1901.

What Victorian morality means today

Currently, the term "Victorian morality" is used to identify those value systems where a strict code of social conduct predominates, with little tolerance for crime and where manifest constant repression of sexuality.

Historical Development of Victorian Morality

The Victorian era in England was marked by strict moral modesty. However, it was an era marked by the contradictions between what appeared in the privileged social circles of Victorian London and what happened far from the eyes of the staunch defenders of moralism.

The Victorian period was preceded by the Georgian era, a time of profound changes generated by the agrarian revolution, which opened the way for the emergence of new social classes; as well as the time of the regency, a transition stage in which religion and mysticism prevailed.

Because it is a historical period that spanned just over two-thirds of a century, Victorian age is analyzed in three periods with well-defined moral characteristics.

Georgian Period

The Georgian period runs from 1714 to 1830. During this time, several English monarchs were from the House of Hanover: George I, George II, George III and George IV.

In moral terms, there is the openness to civil liberties and the emergence of the middle class as a new social stratum. Both phenomena are the product of the agrarian revolution.

Morals are also reflected in culture, especially in the novels of the time. These became popular thanks to the printing press. Access to literature for recreation and in the vernacular paved the way for the integration of these "new rich" into wealthier circles. Although it was very evident that they did not belong to the wealthy class because they did not know Latin and Greek or had a slightly more lax moral vision, they would soon be a fundamental part of the country's economic growth.

The Regency Era

The Regency stands as a transitional period between the Georgian and Victorian eras. It is historically located between 1830 and 1837. During that time the abolition of slavery, the restrictions on child labor, the change of the electoral law took place, in addition to granting a liberal Constitution to the kingdom.

These events marked the way towards a rather flexible morality, also due to the rise of the working classes and peasants towards wealthier strata, since England was on the way to industrialization.

Victorian Period

During the period of the regency, some issues arose that were susceptible to moral approval in society. These were accentuated during the Victorian age.

Within the Victorian era three moments can be distinguished: early, middle and late Victorianism.

Early Victorianism

Ranging from 1837 to 1851, it is a time marked by the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne in 1837. At that time, the British Empire stretched as far as the overseas territories until Australia and India.

In this context, the religious institution would also influence the state apparatus, even though Hindu, Jewish and Muslim settlements existed in various regions of England. The Anglican Church was part of the spheres of power, so it extended itself as a regulator of morality and good customs at that time.

As we enter the industrial revolution, English society finds itself in a moment of settlement. So those who had access to wealth by creating factories or dabbling in means of shipping such as the railway, headed towards better positioned strata and, therefore, morally conservative.

In higher strata, the aristocracy was baptized in the Anglican church to which the British monarchy belongs. The middle class made up of the bourgeoisie and workers could belong to the Anglican Church or other Protestant branches such as the Presbyterian.

Middle Victorianism

Dates between 1851 and 1873, being a time of peace and stability. At that time, England enjoyed the benefits of industrialization, becoming a major world supplier of cotton, clothing and other items. So enjoy your prominence internationally.

In this Victorian-era segment, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species comes to light. This work, based on the observations of the scientist, raised the theory of evolution, dealing a blow to religion with the crisis of faith that it caused. In it, Darwin is categorical in assuring that humanity has survived through time by natural selection and the adaptability of the fittest. Such assertions challenged both the Christian belief system and Victorian values.

To deal with scientific and religious controversies, an effort was made to combine individual duty with religious paradigms through pious practices in asylums, orphanages, and assisting the dispossessed.

The two Opium Wars took place at this stage (the first between 1839 and 1842, and the second from 1856 to 1860). Subsequently, the ban on the trade of opium and other drugs was lifted. The encouragement of their use was seen as a status symbol, since they were expensive to afford. It was not necessary to hide for consumption, on the contrary, there were rooms to display themselves while consuming. This is the kind of moral contradictions that had to be dealt with at that time.

Late Victorianism

This stage can be distinguished between 1873 and 1901, when conflicts took place in the English colonies and labor and social protests. In 1901 the Victorian age culminated with the death of the queen.

The social revolts are basically caused by the working conditions in the production lines that rapidly multiplied in England, an industrialized world power. Seamstresses, factory and mine workers complained about the long working hours and little pay they received.

These conditions pushed women into prostitution, as well as being victims of rape in factories where they could spend up to 14 hours a day. Child labor and prostitution were other scourges of the appalling working conditions in the country. And although both the abolition of slavery and the regulation of child labor were contemplated, in practice they were daily realities.

For this part of the Victorian era, morality was skewed by doublespeak in various ways. One of them was the proclamation of the virtues of aristocratic and wealthy women whose chastity was admired. But the reality is that many of them feared pregnancy due to the high mortality rate in childbirth. Many did not want to be intimate with their husbands for this very reason, or did so infrequently because sexual pleasure was off limits. So prostitution was on the rise as an escape for husbands from the repression of sexuality. And the number of prostitutes was increasing due to unfair salary remuneration.

Characteristics of Victorian morality

Victorian morality held the position of being the ruler of ethical values ​​at work, family and society. The moral dispositions were conservative and unwavering. Surely there was at some point a righteous intention in its application, but the truth is that historians and researchers have classified it as a set of superficial uses to appear and approach the powerful strata. But that in reality a double standard prevailed, especially in late Victorianism.

Victorian morality is characterized by vigorous sexual repression, total repudiation of crime, and maintaining a strict code of social behavior.

Sexual repression

Victorian morality implanted a profound repression of sexuality. The issues of intimacy, gender roles and everything that was somehow related to sexual intimacy were banned.

You couldn't talk about underwear or pleasure or dissatisfaction in the bedroom. Nor was it well seen to show emotions, or that it was related to this sexual modesty. Emotional and psychological diseases of women were generally judged as a disorder related to lack of sexual appetite and hysteria.

In this sense, it was an accumulation of repressed intimate experiences that, as described years later by Sigmund Freud and Victorian morality, would seek a way to be expressed or replaced. In this sense, a double standard was manifested, especially with regard to prostitution, secret love affairs and homosexual practices.

Sexual repression was also manifested in a clear definition of gender roles. Women could not participate in business or political decisions. Her job was to care for the family, have children, and please her husband. The poorest women who carried out almost slave-like jobs in factories were often subjected to sexual assault. Like the women who worked as domestics, they were generally seduced by the masters of the house who paid them or forced them to satisfy their repressed sexual desires.

Men held other roles, such as being the breadwinner of the home, taking care of business, monitoring respect for moral norms in their homes and in society, especially if they held a position in state institutions. They were called to reject vices and had to keep, even if only in appearance, zeal for the faith and Christian duties.

Little tolerance for crime

Inappropriate conduct had to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Whether it was with the payment of fines, reprimands, forced labor or jail, crimes could not go unpunished.

Small faults, like a prying eye or an out-of-place comment, couldn't be overlooked either. This type of behavior was quickly rejected, and the culprit was punished by being execrated from circles of friends, not being taken into account and even enjoying a bad reputation in the community.

Application of a strict moral code

Maintaining a dignified appearance was always a concern among the Victorians, especially for aristocrats and bourgeois, who were interested in having a good reputation to maintain a good lifestyle. This assured them social status, necessary to do important business and maintain their economic wealth.

That dignified appearance was maintained for a long time, covering up social ills, such as child labor, labor exploitation, vices, and prostitution.

In contrast, there were laws that protected the right of women, although in practice it was rarely used. These include the Married Women's Property Act, which allowed ladies to keep their property rather than transfer it to the husband upon marriage.

The divorce law also protected them, allowing them custody and possession of their children upon divorcing their husband.

Moral rigor was so daily that successful codes of conduct and civility were published to understand each other socially. In 1863, the book by Lady Gough became famous, entitled The Book of Etiquette. It established those codes of socially accepted behavior, such as, for example, not asking questions in conversation or not keeping the authors' books close to those of the authors, keeping the distance between men and women, to mention a few of them.

Significant Themes in the Victorian Era

Strong moral character ran rampant in the UK during the Victorian era. Each aspect of life had its moral parameters and it was a serious fault to transgress its limits. These are some of the essential topics to understand the characteristics of the Victorian era.

Religion in the Victorian Era

When Queen Victoria ascended the throne, the Anglican Church held power over universities and educational institutes. Also, Anglican clergy held exceptional positions in the House of Lords, adding power to the church.

This position of power of the Anglican Church marked the strict class system, as well as the moral behavior instituted by the Christian institution within the State institutions. A similar phenomenon had happened before, when Puritanism swept over politics before the Georgian era.

That same ostentation of power resulted in the opposite position of the citizens of the cities, with more followers in rural areas. In any case, what the Anglican church was looking for was to have the approval of the monarchy, the aristocratic class and the wealthiest of the bourgeoisie.

Working groups and part of the middle class, ignored by the church except for those moral issues in which it maintained control, preferred to join other Christian professions such as Quakers, Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationists. For these churches, the observance of morality was also important, preaching the importance of individual faith, an approach that gained strength in terms of spirituality in the Victorian age.

Political characteristics in the Victorian era

Politics were positively affected by Victorian morality, this time being a time of stability and demonstration of power in contrast to other European nations.

Even when social opinions were conservative, social policies and laws leaned toward liberalism. The politics of the country at the time of 18650, remained led by the liberals, represented in the Whig party.

Although the practices could be far from the legally established rights, Victorian morality aimed at improving the rights of the English.

It was not until the late Victorian period that there were social riots in order to achieve social, labor and wage improvements.

Victorian era and sexuality

Sexuality in the Victorian era was marked by the repression of pleasure, the expression of emotions, as well as the prohibition of homosexual practices. These rules sound contradictory at a time when prostitution grew exponentially. That is why it is often said that Victorian sexual morality is really a double standard.

Victorian society was protocol, taking care of the forms more than the substance. Enjoying a good reputation was essential, so they took care not to fall into attitudes that could cause scandal.

You couldn't be openly homosexual and, if you did, you had to pay for your crime with fines, jail and hard labor, as happened to the writer Oscar Wilde.

On the one hand, respect for appearances and reputation was exacerbated in a protocol society and vice was condemned, especially in sexual matters. For example, the writer Oscar Wilde was imprisoned on more than one occasion for committing the crime of sodomy, that is, for being openly homosexual.

Prostitution was also punishable by fines, beatings, and jail time. The raids were becoming more frequent and instead of correcting the economic and social conditions to reduce the practice, those who prostituted themselves were punished. Among them women, homosexuals and girls.

Likewise, women had to observe strict sexual modesty. They were not allowed to show even their ankles. They only left the head, hands and sometimes the neck exposed. On the contrary, men resorted to the arms of their lovers or the favors of a prostitute.

Even marital intimacy was affected by Victorian morality. Copulation was only allowed between spouses for reproductive purposes, not for mutual pleasure.

These limitations also caused men to turn to prostitutes to do with them what they couldn't with their wives. Female dissatisfaction often led to the disorder of hysteria, then requiring medical treatment. Such treatments could be psychiatric therapies, medical stimulation in the genital area with devices or using painkillers.

Women should always be perceived as weak people, dependent on men. That's why they used makeup to look very pale, ethereal, fragile. To achieve this, they used makeup that contained zinc oxide, they bleed themselves and ate poorly to be thin and anemic. These practices endangered the lives of young women who wanted to appear attractive to potential marriage prospects, however they were practices well regarded by the jealous guardians of Victorian morality.

Victorian education

Victorian moral education was governed by the canons of behavior and the observance of Christian commandments. The imposition of moral rules and respect for the roles of men and women were crucial at the time.

Usually only children from wealthy families could receive a formal education from a governess or teacher. The boys continued their studies at universities, while the girls were educated in housework, art and music.

The children of the working class and peasants only received classes in Sunday school after the religious service. So the majority would never be able to read or write. But he would have a strict training in values ​​and morals.

In 1870 there was a profound change in the educational system, requiring through a law school attendance for children from 5 to 12 years of age. Numerous schools were built at that time to serve them. But morality was still so strict that teachers had the power to physically punish children for misbehaving or not learning their lessons.

Other Characteristics of the Victorian Age

Scientific and technological advances also marked the Victorian era. The moral system established with respect to the outposts that England became at that time is contrasting.

At the time of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne, the United Kingdom was leaving agriculture behind. And at the time of the monarch's death, it was the largest industrialized power in the world.

Scientific progress was very important in the United Kingdom, photography being one of the most used resources for their research. But Victorian photos also had another meaning, like family photography. The custom of taking mortuary photographs with the corpse of a very dear relative was also imposed, just before the burial.

Victorian morality contains a series of rules with which value judgments were made to determine what was good and what was bad among social behaviors. Although the Victorian era was marked by the rise of industry, improved communication systems, economic growth, and political stability, it was also a time when people lived under the repression of their emotions, their sexuality, and everything they really wanted to do.