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Kirsten Cockriel
English IV
11 March 2014
Social Class in the Nineteenth Century
Social class is a very important part of everyones life. Even if we dont think about it
today, we are still in social classes. We all have somewhere that we fit into the world. Whether
were the ones who have it all, the ones who work hard for what they have, or the ones who
dont have much, we are still a part of society. In the nineteenth century, social class was even
more important. Social class was, in fact, one of the most important aspects of the nineteenth
century because of the way it divided the people and affected their lives and culture. George
Eliot wrote a novel called Silas Marner that perfectly illustrated this.
Hundreds of years ago, the nineteenth century was a time of progress and change. Most
of the world was under Europe domination at the beginning of the century. During the nineteenth
century, new ideologies such as conservatism, liberalism, and nationalism were produced. More
predominant features of the nineteenth century include the new directions in thoughts of
feminism, the universe, racism, modernism in art, radiation, religion relating to science, and so
on and so forth. This century was one that changed the world. The Industrial Revolution was still
occurring and economic development was everywhere. As a result of this industrialization, social
class was formed (Damerow). Social class is defined as a group of people within a society who
possess the same socioeconomic status. It replaced the terms rank and order as descriptions of
the major hierarchical groupings in society (Social Class).
When social class was formed, it divided the people from all over into different
categories depending on how much money they earned. Its important to note the differences

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between all of the classes. The upper class was known as the class with the most wealth; they
were the richest class. The majority of the wealth was inherited and they generally had
ownership of large amounts of property. And the people of the upper class didnt need to work a
lot for their money. They could spend leisurely time doing nothing (Social Class). In contrast,
the middle class, also known as the working class, did indeed have to work for their money. The
middle class became the most important and dominant class. Although they had to work a lot, the
middle class were devoted to the ideal of family and home (Fisher). And finally, there was a
lower class. The lower class was the poorest; they usually didnt have much at all and their
quality or life was a far cry from the upper classes. But in places like Britain, no matter how
poor a person was they could still obtain a penny in some way (British Library).
Additionally, social class changed the culture. Firstly, it affected the job world. Certain
jobs were considered the norm for each class. For example, the middle class jobs included
ministers, lawyers, teachers, doctors, bureaucrats, business tycoons, traders, and shop keepers
(Fisher). But in contrary, the lower class didnt have jobs at all or werent paid enough to live on.
The lower class generally couldnt afford to pay for their education. But, the working class
education blew up during this time because of the middle class being the dominant class and
because they thought education was an important part of life (Woodin).
Expanding on culture, social class dramatically affected womens lives. It created many
more challenges for them than before. Women now had more rules to follow, werent considered
for jobs, and werent treated fairly and as equals to men. Motherhood and domesticity were
praised by books and magazines. Women were to be married by age twenty-one and were
expected to have children immediately. After that, they were to spend their lives in the home and
always were to be below their husband. If they didnt marry, they were seen as social failures

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and treated poorly for it (Fisher). In the case of Silas Marner, the views on women fit in the
novel because Nancy Lammeter has guidelines she must follow that are set by the time and her
family. She is expected to marry a good man and have children with him.
Next, social class also has a strong influence on how you interact with others. People
from lower classes have fundamentally different ways of thinking about the world than people in
upper classes. Health studies found that lower-class people had more anxiety and depression and
are less physically healthy. People from the lower class also have to depend on people more,
while the upper class didnt need to rely on anyone. They hoard resources and are far less
generous than they could be (Menon). The squire Godfrey Cass in Silas Marner was of high
social standing and is a good example of this, he didnt care about the lower classes and what
happened to them. Its safe to say that class made everyone think differently about each other.
After it was all said and done, the real struggles surfaced the struggles between the
classes. Because of the way life was supposed to be for each class and how they related to each
other, arguments rose. One of the biggest reasons for disputes was social mobility. That means
that you couldnt always move from one class to another. It took a lot of work and almost never
happened, which could be very angering when some had it all and others had nothing. The points
made previously also enforce this, because its natural for extreme varieties of people not to like
one another. This point was also made in Silas Marner, because the people of different classes
often didnt even talk to one another unless absolutely necessary. And even then, they usually
didnt agree on anything.
In summary, when social class was formed in the nineteenth century, it altered peoples
lives for years to come. It determined every component of a persons life. Social class made you
who you were. And after it was formed in the nineteenth century, conditions for all people were

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never the same. We still follow the rules of social class and probably always will for years to
come.

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Works Cited
Damerow, Harold. "19th Century." Ucc.edu. Union County College, 29 Apr. 2003. Web. 18 Feb.
2014.
Eliot, George. Silas Marner. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1948. Print.
Fisher, A. Women in the Middle Class in the 19th Century. Clark College. PDF File.
Menon, Divya. "Social Class as Culture." Psychologicalscience.org. Association for
Psychological Science RSS, 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
"Social Class." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition.
Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Woodin, Tom. Working-Class Education and Social Change in Nineteenth- and TwentiethCentury Britain. History of Education 36.4/5 (2007): 483-496. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
"Victorians." Bl.uk. British Library, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.