Abstract This paper discusses belief in the Victorianera. It particularly focuses on the Victorians' skepticism of the existence of God and their belief that God could not influence their lives. The paper discusses the questions posed by new social and scientific theories of the time that led to the crisis of faith in the Victorian period and, more specifically, their doubt about the origins of life and the meaning of existence.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Changing Views Of Life And Reality
Science, Evolution And Faith
From the Paper "Related to the development of the scientific attitude was the utilitarian view of life. This view was based on the assumption that only material reality existed and was driven by industrialization and modern commerce. This philosophy was also related to for the desire for monetary wealth. Briefly utilitarianism is "The belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by its utility." (Definitions of Utilitarianism on the Web) Therefore, in this view there can therefore be no intrinsic and spiritual meaning to life. The individual has worth only to the extent of his immediate utility to society and industry. Writers of the time like Charles Dickens reacted strongly against this view of life. Utilitarianism was also an indication that the religious dimension had been lost in Victorian society. "They knew something fundamental had been lost from their society, and they were trying to grasp it, but most of them had an incomplete understanding of what it was." (Ahlquist D.)"
Abstract This paper explores how "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, has shaped the way women since the VictorianEra have defined womanhood, family, and girlhood. The novel has a sense of realism because it is based on the author's family. The paper details Alcott's experiences while writing "Little Women" and summarizes the story. The paper argues that the novel is beloved throughout time, because it is a landmark in female self-expression unique for the late-19th century literature.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Louisa May Alcott
III. Synopsis
IV. Media Adaptations
V. Conclusion
From the Paper "Barely one generation after Charles Dickens had popularized the observance of Christmas, as a festive day in Protestant America, one of the most famous opening-lines in American literature became Jo March's lament, ?Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents!? Little Women (1868) is one the best loved classics of its time. Written by Louisa May Alcott this is the story of four sisters set in the nineteenth century England. Girls by the thousands, later millions, fell in love with it, and then passed it on to their daughters in turn, and so on."
Tags: louisa, may, alcott, little, women, feminism, victorian, era, 19, century, nineteenth, charles, dickens, america, literature
Abstract This paper talks about the roots of Child Labor Laws by examining the use of children as laborers beginning in the Middle Ages, through the Industrial Revolution and into the VictorianEra. It traces the abhorrent conditions these children faced, especially during the Industrial Revolution, where times where extremely difficult, through the VictorianEra the The National Child Labor Committee was formed, and strict laws were passed regarding children. These laws regulated and enforced working conditions, hours and ages that could be employed.
From the paper:
"It was thought to be a benefit for children to work, so they could get a head start on building a life for themselves. Poor children could contribute to society by working, and through self-reliance and determinism could break free from poverty.
"The prevalent attitude was that the laissez-faire economic system had made America great, and that any interference in the natural way of things was "unscientific, irrational, and unjust" (Trattner, 1970: 32). Social Darwinism also supported child labor and the lack of regulation. Society valued individualism and self-reliance, and saw any regulation of industry as obstructing a natural process that should be allowed to progress free of restraints. Each person should try their hardest to get rich, and nobody should interfere with a person's right to accumulate wealth, even at the expense of others."
A review of D.H. Lawrence's novel "Rainbow", Vera Brittain's memoir the "Testament of Youth" and Francois Truffault's film "Two English Girls" with an emphasis on the legacy left to women from the VictorianEra.
Abstract The paper discusses how D.H. Lawrence's novel "Rainbow", Vera Brittain's memoir the "Testament of Youth" and Francois Truffault's film "Two English Girls", all deal with the issue of how women in the twentieth century deal with their inheritance of Victorian morality and how they shape their own lives both in response to and in defiance of those virtues. It examines how in Victorian society, women had an extremely well-defined, repressive and limited role in society with strict taboos surrounding female sexuality, which was not a subject available for polite discussion. It looks at how in all the three works, several different young female characters raised in the shadow of the VictorianEra are coming to grips with their identity especially as it relates to the typical idea of women that people held in the VictorianEra.
From the Paper "Vera Brittain on the other hand, displays an example of the new femininity that began to emerge in the twentieth century after the end of the Victorian era and the repression that that era caused people to entertain, particularly as regards their gender roles. Brittain, unlike Ursula, however, seems to have a sense of how she can achieve a difference between her and her forbearers in action as well as in thought. She realizes what she learns by working outside of the house as a nurse and what this information enable her to accomplish in the world. Further, she realizes how having access to information about the realities of both life and of sexuality enable her to have a more privileged and enlightened position in the world than many of her female contemporaries."
Abstract This paper details the poverty and poor working conditions in England during the VictorianEra and how these conditions had a profoundly negative impact on the health and well-being of the working class. The paper describes the long hours, hazardous working conditions, and low pay that sentenced the people of the working class to a life of inadequate food, housing, medical care, and education. The paper also points out how the VictorianEra is a disturbing example of the consequences of substandard working condition.
From the Paper "Poor working conditions had a tremendous and negative effect on the health of the working class in England in the Victorian Age. The Victorian Age (the nineteenth century) saw the rise of a large working class, where women, men, and children are spent long hours in employment in substandard conditions. Working conditions were poor, and physical mistreatment was common, as were long hours, unhealthy conditions, and poor wages. As a direct result of these poor conditions and ensuing poverty, the health of the average working class Victorian was poor. Nutrition and hygiene were poor, and disease was common, as was malnutrition."
Tags: toiling, factories, industrial, revolution, workforce, difficult, grueling, damaging, health
Abstract This paper examines the child raising techniques of three cultures: the Mbuti, the Yanoamo, and the !Kung. According to the author, each of these food-foraging societies showed different elements of independence training to instill survival skills.
From the Paper "The Mbuti culture instructs independence by a way of religious means. The Mbuti have many rituals in where they give thanks to the forest. One of them is called the bamelima, where young girls go into the forest for a long period of time. This practice is to ensure cooperation between the girls for survival's sake and for later adult cooperative activity. The Mbuti see the male children as being well developed with their cooperation skills, but do not think the same of the girls. This is why this festival is for only the girls. (Turnbull, 135,136) The boys have rituals also, such as the nkumbi. This ritual practices strength training (instead of cooperation training) with strenuous labor and physical abuse. After it is through, the boys are then considered men in the village and may take part in any adult male activity. (Turnbull, 221-226) Although training methods differ, the Mbuti culture uses survival skills in rituals to teach independence in both girls and boys."
Abstract This essay includes a summary of two views on child-rearing and parenting in the Victorianera and contemporary times. The paper also includes a response and reaction to these views. Other authors and thinkers are cited regarding socialization and normalization strategies, particularly their impact on childhood in contemporary times.
From the Paper "In 'Uncovering Childhood', Peter Fuller traces the way that children's imagery, in fact their being, has been co-modified by adults and capitalistic socioeconomic systems. Primarily viewing children as young adults, Fuller argues that..."
Abstract This paper examines the differences in childrearing techniques from the beginning and mid-nineteenth century and today. It briefly looks at some popular sitcoms which depict both of these eras to explain the role that the media has had in forming different patterns of childrearing and child development.
From the Paper "Television commercials constitute a large segment of the media's representation of children. These children are usually the product of suburban households, and show popular trends in their speech and dress. They have a personality that shows an early development of cynicism and too much emphasis on the latest trends. However, they are educated, technologically aware and interested in competitive sports. Very little attention is given in television commercials to the children who may not be interested in these mainstream pursuits. The child who loves books, or plays the piano or enjoys solitary pursuits is usually not represented in this part of the media. However, it must be remembered that commercials are marketing devices, and does not have child development as a part of the agenda. In general, the depiction of childhood in the media is healthy and reflective of the influences of today's society and the advances made in the field of child development."
Abstract This paper examines how authors Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish wrote their counter-cultural book, "Liberated Parents, Liberated Children: Your Guide to a Happier Family", regarding tips and tactics for parents to use as they raised children before the term "counter-cultural" had become politically correct. It looks at how, in 1974, when the majority of children were being raised under the questionable, permissive advice of Dr. Spock, these authors focused on another aspect of childrearing. It looks at how they were significantly influenced by child psychologist Haim Ginott ,who believed that it was the emotional well-being of the child that would guide his actions.
From the Paper "This differentiation between giving of ourselves to our children, and giving ourselves over to our children is the delicate line which Mazlish and Faber walk throughout their book as they discuss skills for parents to learn to build emotionally balanced and self-secure children. The approach which encourages parents to remain in their authority role in the child's life, as well as equips the parent to connect with the child's feeling is the element of this book which sets it apart from other works. Dr. Spock taught parents to reason with their children rather than correct them. By doing so, the well intentioned doctor instructed parents to abdicate an important role in their children's development, which is the role of authority to which the child is accountable."
Abstract This paper discusses nudity in Victorian art on the basis of "Lady Godiva's Prayer" by Edwin Landseer. The writer points out that this image dates from the Victorianera, and Landseer was a typical Victorian in many ways and so shaped the image according to principles and customs from that era. The writer further notes that critics see the painting as a contradiction, mixing a degree of nudity with a narrow-minded vision of a partly historical, partly mythical subject matter well-known in England. The writer discusses that the painting is also structured on certain anachronistic elements, with the dress of the lady-in-waiting being Puritan garb from a different century.
From the Paper "The painting selected for consideration is Lady Godiva's Prayer by Edwin Landseer, dating from around 1865. This image dates from the Victorian era, and Landseer was a typical Victorian in many ways and so shaped the image according to principles and customs from that era. Critics see the painting as a contradiction, mixing a degree of nudity with a narrow-minded vision of a partly historical, partly mythical subject matter well-known in England. The painting is also structured on certain anachronistic elements, with the dress of the lady-in-waiting being Puritan garb from a different century."
A discussion on the difference between appearance (how we learn about things through our senses) and a deeper reality, using George Eliot's 1859 Adam Bede as a reference.
Abstract The following paper examines how Charles Darwin's discoveries had a substantial effect on the writers of his age. This paper discusses literature of the Victorian age focusing on the importance of the senses, when reading books from this era. The writer discusses the ways in which important authors of this era were fascinated by the ways in which their characters and themselves were linked to the world through the use of their senses and that sensory information could be counted upon to be reliable in a way that few other things might be in a world in so much flux.
From the Paper ?The world of Victorian writers and readers was one whose epistemological and physical borders were each day being pushed further back. For those living in such times the choices were to sink into a reactionary railing against such change or to embrace it ? and the most direct way to embrace it whether in science or art of simply in life was to walk through the world with one's senses entirely and absolutely engaged, George Eliot's 1859 Adam Bede is very much a work of Realism and in it we see the author's warning that while fuzzy Romantic writers might think that could discern the true nature of a person simply through the act of observation, the Realist novelist and reader were not so easily fooled.?
Abstract This paper will analyze the poem by Maya Angelou called " I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and use this as a medium to discuss the factors of childrearing that occur as lessons within the structure of the writing. This poem will be a way to see how resilient children can be brought up and show how the lessons for good parenting can be found in the lines that she has written. The realm of the parent will be revealed as well, within the poem, to show how the relationships of the parent play a part in raising a child to be healthy as an adult in later life.
Abstract This paper explains that generations of parents continue to perpetuate negative childrearing techniques because it is what they themselves know. The author presents the work of Alice Miller who feels that children who survive an abusive childhood have a natural 'gift' to adapt even to unspeakable cruelty by becoming numb. Presenting the author's own situation, the paper concludes that that when someone was not a happy, healthy child herself, it requires a concerted effort on the part of the adult to become healthy and happy and to make amends with that childhood in order to go on to raise happy, healthy children.
From the Paper "I accept that I, nor anyone, can or should expect our parents to change. The burden of change lies within my generation because we have the faculties and resources to overcome the past, in the form of our own intelligence and self-awareness, literature, both instructional and auto-biographical (self-realization aided by the realizations of others), and good therapists. I believe that acknowledging and working to understand the cycle you have been victim of (and may in fact have been perpetuating) is an important start to breaking it."
Abstract This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes, the readings, "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy, "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, and "The Odd Women" by George Gissing. Specifically, it shows how Victorian women were willing to struggle for emancipation, even if it meant dying for it. Victorian women had to live under many societal constraints, which kept them subservient and shackled to their relationships. When women struck out for independence and vitality, they were crushed by an unbending Victorian society whose mores did not encourage personal growth and transformation for women.
From the Paper "Each of these novels portray a different facet of Victorian women, however, ultimately the females in these three works all suffer from the constraints of Victorian society, and each one struggles for emancipation and equality in her own way. Each woman lives outside the "norm" of Victorian society and works to become self-actualized long before it was a recognized or accepted concept."
Abstract This paper reviews and analyzes the plots and characters of several well-known novels, which have to do with the Victorianera and the limitations placed on women living in that era. Works such as "The Awakening", "The Case of Daniel Deronda", and "Jane Eyre" are discussed and analyzed in terms of what they say about women's independence, rights, and individuality.
From the Paper "In The Awakening, according to Elizabeth Elz, Kate Chopin uses symbolism to communicate her ideas about the status of women at the turn of the century. Birds, for example, are utilized to convey women's entrapment in marriage and society (14). Wives such as Edna Pontellier are encaged like birds, and when trying to escape their confines they confront difficult obstructions."
