The Elizabethan Age And The Victorian Age - 1611 Words

‘To revisit the Renaissance of England, wherein the literature and the arts are at height, where Shakespeare was starting to be well-known for his works, or to explore the Victorian Age which lasted for nearly sixty-four years, wherein the British Empire reached the height of its wealth and power?’ The indecision of choosing either Age, both important in the history of Britain, led to weighing the more informative of the two in the fields of the country’s military, government, economy, social hierarchy, and roles of men and women during the rule of Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria; the Elizabethan Age and the Victorian Age named after them respectively. With time spent, the idea of venturing across untested waters caught my fancy; for†¦show more content†¦This caused the government to be run completely by the prime minister and the cabinet. In the mid-Victorian prosperity, Britain was the â€Å"Workshop of the World†. The economy flourished and was at its height. Although, when Victoria ascended the throne, it was in the early phase of the world s first industrial revolution. Industrialization brought with it new markets, a consumer boom and greater prosperity for most of the propertied classes. With it came the rapid, also chaotic change as towns and cities expanded at a pace which precluded orderly growth. According to research, life expectancy at birth - in the high 30s in 1837 - had crept up to 48 by 1901. One of the great scourges of the age - tuberculosis - remained unconquered, claiming between 60,000 and 70,000 lives in each decade of Victoria s reign. Desperately poor housing conditions, long working hours, the ravages of infectious disease and premature death were the inevitable consequence. Taming, and then improving, Britain s teeming cities presented a huge challenge. Mortality data revealed that, in the poorer quarters of Britain s larger cities, almost one child in five born alive in the 1830s and 1840s had died by the age of five. Polluted water and damp housing were the main causes. Death rates in Britain as a whole remained obstinately above 20 per thousand until the 1880s and only dropped to 17 by the end ofShow MoreRelatedGender Roles Of Female Characters1479 Words   |  6 Pagesgender roles of female characters. The Elizabethan era, which lasted from 1558 to 1603, is often referred to as the golden age by historians where many transitions in English society regarding marriage and gender took place (Ivic 110). It was a time in which wives were viewed as the property of their husbands (Ivic 110). However, every woman was expected to marry and be dependent on her husband or male relatives throughout her life (Ivic 98). Conversely, the Victorian era, which lasted from 1837 to 1901Read MoreGender Roles In Virginia Woolfs Orlando859 Words   |  4 PagesVirginia Woolf’s Orlando speaks for both the time period in the novel but also for the time period in which Virginia Woolf grew up. The novel takes place in England during the Elizabethan era through the Victorian era (covering a 400 year span)- time is very fluid through the story. Virginia Woolf grew up in the later Victorian era and wrote the novel between the World Wars. At the beginning of the book, Orlando is a noble gentleman until one day he wakes up and finds himself to be a 30-year -old womanRead MoreEssay on Analyzing Poetry2868 Words   |  12 Pagesenhance its theme. In the Elizabethan period, Lullaby, by Richard Rowlands; in the Romantic period, Samuel Taylor Coleridges Youth and Age; in the Victorian period, A Childs Laughter, by Algernon Charles Swinburne; and in the Modern period, Jessica Hagedorns Sorcery, the reader will come to the conclusion that they have minor similarities as well as significant differences in the areas of structure, style, theme and imagery. The Romantic poem called Youth and Age, by Samuel T. ColeridgeRead MoreThe Era Of The Victorian Era771 Words   |  4 PagesDuring the reign of Queen Victoria, people learned how to control themselves and get along with one another; this is called the Victorian Era. The Victorian Era is known for being a time of peace and serenity, but also a time that transformed a culture. Although our own generation has come a long way culturally, we still use some of the same ideas from the Victorian Era. During this time period especially, people’s social status defined who they were and their capabilities. For instance,Read MoreCritical Appreciation Of T. S. Eliot s The Metaphysical Poets1382 Words   |  6 Pagessudden contrast. Here, he quotes from Donne’s poetry to illustrate the device. However, these characteristics are not found only in Donne or Cowley’s poetry. It also characterises Elizabethan dramatists like Shakespeare, Webster, Middleton, and Tourneur. This implies that Donne, Cowley, and other poets belonged to the Elizabethan Tradition rather than a new formed tradition.   Eliot then talks about Dr. Johnson’s famous definition of metaphysical poetry. According to Dr. Johnson, metaphysical poetry isRead MorePre –1914 Poetry Comparison on Love Essay1409 Words   |  6 PagesLast Duchess’ were written in the infamous Victorian Era whereas the two Shakespearean Sonnets were written in the Elizabethan Era. The styles of the poems differ in accordance to the difference of the time in which they were written. Pre-Romantic Era poems moved away from the idealistic concept of love towards a more realistic consideration of it, taking into account the social crisis of the time. The sonnets written by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan era were written to challenge the unrealisticRead MoreGender Inequality In Othello And Shelleys Frankenstein1294 Words   |  6 Pageswomen are not treated as a human, but rather an object to men whether it is a husband or even a father. As a woman in both Elizabethan and Victorian eras, not only do they face being a man’s property, but it is also evident that they are only necessary in order to benefit a man’s social standing. Women in Othello, such as Desdemona, are praised for being the ideal Elizabethan women, beautiful, fair and reticent. Which is why Othello, a man of colour, one that many do not consider part of society quicklyRead MoreLiterary Group in British Poetry5631 Words   |  23 PagesAnglo-Norman period and the Later Middle Ages 3 The Renaissance in England 3.1 Early Renaissance poetry 3.2 The Elizabethans 3.2.1 Elizabethan Song 3.2.2 Courtly poetry 3.2.3 Classicism 3.3 Jacobean and Caroline poetry 3.3.1 The Metaphysical poets 3.3.2 The Cavalier poets 4 The Restoration and 18th century 4.1 Satire 4.2 18th century classicism 4.3 Women poets in the 18th century 4.4 The late 18th century 5 The Romantic movement 6 Victorian poetry 6.1 High Victorian poetry 6.2 Pre-Raphaelites, arts andRead MoreEssay on Morality in the Elizabethan Era1101 Words   |  5 PagesMorality in the Elizabethan Era Values and morals of the Victorian era are quite different than those that our society upholds today. The satirical plays, A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, and Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, examine the problems with certain beliefs held by the people, both men and women, of the Victorian age. Furthermore, the people in general didnt not just hold certain morals, but the different classes in the Victorian society also held their own beliefs on moral codeRead MoreA Brief History of English Literature1782 Words   |  8 PagesOctober 13, 2010 from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/426926/Anglo-Saxon-literature;http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Exeter_Book.aspx;http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HusbandsMessageThe.html. 2. Elizabethan poetry and prose. English poetry and prose burst into sudden glory in the late 1570s. A decisive shift toward a fluent artistry self-consciously displaying its own grace and sophistication was announced in the works of Spenser and Sidney. It was