Preface (150 words)
Over the course of these last few months we have immersed ourselves into the lives of people from 18th and 19th century England, ranging from factory workers of the Industrial Revolution to the Baronets of the British Aristocracy. We have read books like “Persuasion” aby the famous English novelist Jane Austen, as well as having watched two movie adaptions of another work of hers, “Mansfield Park”. In addition, we have seen the movie “Hysteria” and I myself have chosen to watch a movie adaption of Charles Dickens “David Copperfield”. Based on the knowledge and insight these authors have provided, I am now going to write an article on some of the issues the people of 19th century Britain were faced with, including sosioeconomical …show more content…
People left the countryside for the city. Cities expanded and cities emerged. Society developed – but this kind of urbanization wasn´t always good. The city residents often lived in cramped, overcrowded houses, with poor sanitation, and disease and crime running rampant. For the vast majority of workers, life wasn´t too good.
Consequently, as the industrial revolution flourished, the social and economic differences began to increase considerably and it was in the midst of all this that the social class system of Great Britain truly came to life. Pre industrialisation, the British society, like its European neighbours and most societies in the world at the time, consisted of peasants, the landed gentry (born into land) and the aristocracy. In fact, prior to the 18th century, one didn´t even speak of class or classes.
Post industrialization the peasants had become the working class; a new middle class had developed consisting of empowered workers, that is people who had a “comfortable” lifestyle; the landed gentry had become the upper class and the aristocracy continued to rule the country. The social differences were clearly visible and defined – the British society had become …show more content…
In the works of Austen, the life and afflictions of upper class women is in fact the recurring issue. Money or the lack of it on the other had, is never a large concern, as opposed to the works of Dickens, where sosioeconomical issues like inequality and social immobility are the hardships. Anyhow, further on I will focus on the life of the upper classes and the issues they were faced with, in particular the suppression of women, as well as social immobility and class rigidity, as these were the main themes in Persuasion, Mansfield Park and
Over the course of these last few months we have immersed ourselves into the lives of people from 18th and 19th century England, ranging from factory workers of the Industrial Revolution to the Baronets of the British Aristocracy. We have read books like “Persuasion” aby the famous English novelist Jane Austen, as well as having watched two movie adaptions of another work of hers, “Mansfield Park”. In addition, we have seen the movie “Hysteria” and I myself have chosen to watch a movie adaption of Charles Dickens “David Copperfield”. Based on the knowledge and insight these authors have provided, I am now going to write an article on some of the issues the people of 19th century Britain were faced with, including sosioeconomical …show more content…
People left the countryside for the city. Cities expanded and cities emerged. Society developed – but this kind of urbanization wasn´t always good. The city residents often lived in cramped, overcrowded houses, with poor sanitation, and disease and crime running rampant. For the vast majority of workers, life wasn´t too good.
Consequently, as the industrial revolution flourished, the social and economic differences began to increase considerably and it was in the midst of all this that the social class system of Great Britain truly came to life. Pre industrialisation, the British society, like its European neighbours and most societies in the world at the time, consisted of peasants, the landed gentry (born into land) and the aristocracy. In fact, prior to the 18th century, one didn´t even speak of class or classes.
Post industrialization the peasants had become the working class; a new middle class had developed consisting of empowered workers, that is people who had a “comfortable” lifestyle; the landed gentry had become the upper class and the aristocracy continued to rule the country. The social differences were clearly visible and defined – the British society had become …show more content…
In the works of Austen, the life and afflictions of upper class women is in fact the recurring issue. Money or the lack of it on the other had, is never a large concern, as opposed to the works of Dickens, where sosioeconomical issues like inequality and social immobility are the hardships. Anyhow, further on I will focus on the life of the upper classes and the issues they were faced with, in particular the suppression of women, as well as social immobility and class rigidity, as these were the main themes in Persuasion, Mansfield Park and