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Nicole Rodriguez
Mr. Munoz
English IV AP, Per. 4
23 January 2015
The Victorian Period
The Victorian Period was a period in which Queen Victoria ruled England and brought
great prosperity and success to England. At first, everything seemed all too well for England.
Citizens were optimistic and happy. However, soon the downfall of the Victorian Period would
occur and uneasiness would fill the minds of England civilians. Although the Victorian Period
first seemed like a time of prosperity and success with the Industrial Revolution, the British
imperialism, and romanticism and realism, it would eventually fall due to doubt about the
Industrial Revolution and British imperialism, as well as the new darker styles of writing such as
nonfiction and naturalism.
Just as the name suggests, the Victorian Period was named after none other than Queen
Victoria herself. Queen Victoria began her reign at the young age of 18 and went on to rule for
63 years, 7 months, and 2 days. Her reign turned out to be the longest reign in English history as
of right now (Allen et. al). Queen Victoria was well loved by England as she was very devoted to
all of her duties and she was very insistent on proper behavior. She supported British imperialism
as well, which later came to impact the Victorian Age greatly. Another reason Queen Victoria
was well liked was due to the fact that she practiced the idea of a constitutional monarchy, where
she gave advice rather than orders (Allen et. al).
At the time Queen Victoria began her reign, the Industrial Revolution had already began
to take place and make changes to England. In one hand, the Industrial Revolution positively

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impacted Englands middle class. It created new wealth for the middle class as the new
inventions allowed the people of the middle class to make more money quicker and easier, and
therefore also creating more goods to spend this money on. Middle-class Victorians grew very
fond of this new wealth and often took every opportunity they could to show off their dazzling
new clothes and homes and even went as far as trying to outdo each other. Some writers liked the
changes being brought forward by the Industrial Revolution; however, others saw this change as
tasteless, joyless, and destructive of community (Allen et. al).
However, even though the Industrial Revolution brought great changes to the middle
class, the lower class suffered even greater. Poor factory workers had to face long, dangerous
conditions for little pay. Children as young as five years old were also forced to work in the
factories and pick up cotton under moving machinery or in the coal mines doing heavy lifting.
The children of the lower class suffered from low pay, beatings, air pollution, and
malnourishment. Unfortunately, things continued to take a turn for the worst and during the
1840s, unemployment skyrocketed in England, leaving many without a job and in a financial
crisis.
Thankfully, in 1833, Parliament abolished slavery and prohibited child labor in
workplaces. This was the first of many reforms to take place and help all of those citizens who
suffered. As a part of the Liberal Party, Gladstone established public schools and instructed
secret ballots for elections. Gladstones opponent, Disraeli, was able to improve housing,
sanitation, and helped lessen the harshness of factory labor and eventually gave the vote to
working-class men in 1867 (Allen et. al).
Gladstone and Disraeli both agreed that change was needed in England, however, both
disagreed with one another in regards to British imperialism, which was just British expansion.

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Gladstone opposed further expansion, whereas Disraeli thought that imperialism would
ultimately lead to Britains success in prosperity. Queen Victoria ultimately sided with Disraeli,
who helped England expand greatly by buying territories such as a share in the Suez Canal,
Cyprus, and Transvaal (Allen et. al). Before long, the British Empire became the largest empire
ever consisting of over 25% of the worlds population and territories. These territories included
India, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, and many other territories. In
1750, the population of Britain was 4 million. By 1851, the population had skyrocketed up to 21
million. By 1900, one year before the Victorian Period ended, Queen Victoria reined over 410
million people (Victorian England). The expansion of the British Empire had many longlasting effects such as the increased use of the English language outside of Europe, as well as an
increase in trade between Europe and surrounding nations (The Victorian Period). Many
citizens and writers supported the idea of imperialism. Rudyard Kipling, one British writer,
suggested that he felt it was Englands duty to bring civilization to the rest of the world and
society. Another write, William Morris, disagreed with Kiplings idea, saying that it is not
Englands place to do so. He even went as far as to say that civilization cannot be worth much
anyway (Allen et. al). Eventually the support for British imperialism died down and many
civilians supported Morris idea over Kiplings.
Besides reforms and imperialism, literature also played a large role in the Victorian
period. By the time Queen Victoria took her throne, romanticism had already reached its climax.
However, it still impacted early Victorian poets on what poetry should be (Allen et. al). Instead
of focusing on realistic struggles surrounding the world, these poets practiced what seemed like a
form of escapism, writing about old legends, romance, the beauty of nature, and adventures in
foreign and exotic lands. Romanticism was a way of bringing pleasure into the world, pleasing

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not only the author himself, but anyone who reads his works. However, eventually many people
got tired of this and wanted something relatable. Before long, realism was brought into play.
Realist novels captured everyday life just as it was, struggles and all, because people wanted to
read stories similar to them and their own lives. Some authors combined the ideas of
romanticism and realism together, creating realistic and relatable stories while still amusing and
suspenseful characters or twists.
Finally, towards the end of the Victorian Period, many authors began writing more dark
and depressing nonfiction novels talking about different opinions towards the Victorian Period.
Many questions were raised in regards to the Industrial Revolution as well as British
imperialism. These questions led to uneasiness and confusion in England. Later on, more
pessimism came from author Thomas Hardy who wrote in the style of naturalism, which is
seeing the universe as an uncaring force, indifferent to human suffering (Allen et. al).
Naturalist writers often left humor out of their works and wrote about the world for what it truly
is. Eventually, many citizens gave up on this dark literature due to its depressing undertones and
sought out more adventurous type books. Little did these readers know that very soon England
would be faced with one of its worst catastrophes of all time: World War I (Allen et. al).
The Victorian Period started off as a time of great prosperity and success in England, but
what was originally a time joy and hopefulness ultimately turned into a time of fear, confusion,
and uneasiness. Although British imperialism, the Industrial Revolution, and reforms seemed to
positively impact England at first, these things would eventually fall, leading to the down spiral
of the Victorian Era, seemingly predicted by nonfiction and naturalist writers.

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Works Cited
Littell, McDougal. Literature British Literature. United States: McDougal Littell, 2007. Print.
The Victorian Period. The Victorian Period. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015
"Victorian England." Victorian England. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.