Victorian Era Synthesis Wylie.P6.T2

The Georgian which occurred before the Victorian era was a time of great transition. Although the Georgian period was known for its flourishing culture, it is also known as a time in which the gaps between the rich and the poor widened. With the new technological developments of the time, the population boomed and the size of the lower class increased. As the royalties and upper class of the time lived extravagant lives, many in poverty were left to fend for themselves relying on prostitution and child labor as a source of income. While the poor struggled to make ends meet, they had to witness the upper class flourish. With a large portion of the population unhappy with their lifestyles, it was inevitable for a revolt against the tragic lifestyle of the poor. The Romantic Movement which emphasized emotions helped fueled this revolt against the social norms of the Georgian era. It focused on originality and imagination and as people began to reject realism, they were able to reassess their lives in a new light and see the faults of their lifestyles. The romantic era gave people of the Georgian era a new point of view and help jump start the revolt against the social hierarchy as well as the search for individuality. This search for individuality led to the belief of a better life in the middle class and helped lead into the strong morals held during the Victorian era in which people valued a strict social morality.

With the combination of the Georgian era and Romanticism, the Victorian era emerged. In contrast to the Georgian period, people in the Victorian period valued a strong moral efficacy in which people had low tolerance for transgressions and valued those who had sexual restraints. This is because after the Georgian and romantic era, people began to accept realism and realize the tragedies in their lives. The Romantic era helped bring about the belief in a better life; that if one is morally correct, good things will happen to them. This is evident in a lot of Victorian literature which focused on the tragic lives of the poor and the injustice of the social system of the time, but ultimately ended with a happy ending for those who worked hard. Charles Dickens, for instance, often used satirical irony to portray the tragic lives of the poor but would show that one could find love and happiness if one just works for it and is morally good. For instance, in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens portrays Charles Darnay as a kind and moral man, who denounced his aristocratic status because of his disgust with the social system of the time. At the end of the novel, Darnay who lived a moral path all his life was able to escape his execution and be with the love with his life. The moral beliefs in the Victorian era were created in revolt against the crude social norms of the Georgian period and the strong sense of individuality which developed in the Romantic era. In the end, the Victorian era focused on strong moral ethics because it was a backlash of the Georgian and Romantic period.