This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 132.216.51.15 (talk) at 19:07, 15 November 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 19:07, 15 November 2004 by 132.216.51.15 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The term Victorian morality is used to describe the moral views not only of people living at the time of Queen Victoria, but also the general moral climate of Britain throughout the 19th century and anybody who adopts similar moral opinions.
The Victorian era is now often regarded as one of many contradictions. A plethora of social movements concerned with improving public morals co-existed with a class system which allowed the persistance of harsh living conditions for many. Possibly many people might perceive a contradiction between the widespread cultivation of an outward appearance of dignity and restraint and the widespread presence of social conditions which include prostitution, child labour, and an imperialistic colonising economy. However, these apparent contradictions can also be viewed as two sides of the same coin, since the various social reform movements and high principles were attempts to improve the harsh conditions.
The term Victorian has acquired a range of connotations, including that of a particularly strict set of moral standards, often applied hypocritically. This stems from the impression that Queen Victoria herself (and her husband, Prince Albert, perhaps even more so) was an innocent, unaware of the private habits of many of her respectable subjects - this particularly relates to their sex lives. This impression is far from the truth. Victoria's attitude to sexual morality actually sprang from her knowledge of the corrosive effect which the loose morals of the aristocracy in earlier reigns had had on the public's respect for the nobility and the Crown.
Two hundred years earlier the monarchy had been overthrown temporarily by Oliver Cromwell and the puritan republican movement. During those years when England was a republic, strict moral codes of fundamentalist Christianity were enforced on the people by law (even Christmas had been abolished as too indulgent of the sensual pleasures).
By reaction, when the monarchy was restored a period of loose living and debauchery had resulted. See: King Charles II of England. The two social forces of puritanism and libertinism continued to motivate the collective psyche of the United Kingdom from the restoration onward. It is interesting to examine these social forces in relation to Hegel's theory of historical dialectic.
By the time of Victoria the interplay between high cultured morals and low vulgarity was thoroughly embedded in the culture.
Victorian prudery sometimes went so far as to deem it improper to say "leg" in mixed company (the preferred euphemism if such must be mentioned was "limb"), and people would even put skirts on piano legs in the name of modesty. Those going for a dip in the sea at the beach would use a bathing machine. Verbal or written communication of emotion or sexual feelings was also often verboten so people instead used the language of flowers.
Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, only four years after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. The anti-slavery movement had campaigned for years to achieve the ban, succeeding with a partial abolition in 1807 and the full ban in 1833. It had taken so long because the Christian anti-slavery morality was pitted against a powerful capitalist element in the empire which claimed that their businesses would be destroyed if they were not permitted to exploit slave labour. Eventually £20 million was paid in compensation to plantation owners in the Caribbean.
In Victoria's time the British Royal Navy patrolled the Atlantic, stopping any ships which were suspected of trading African slaves to the Americas and freeing any slaves found. A state had been set up as a British Crown Colony in West Africa at Sierra Leone and the slaves were brought there to freedom. The capital was founded and named Freetown by freed slaves from Nova Scotia. Thus, when Victoria became the British were basking on the high moral ground as the nation which stood for freedom and decency. Many people living at that time argued that the conditions under which workers in English factories were living were worse than those which some of the slaves had endured.
In the same way, throughout the Victoran Era, movements for justice, freedom and other strong moral values were up against greed, exploitation and cynicism. These conditions were especially well observed and recorded in the writings of Charles Dickens.
See also: sexual repression, sexual norm