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12
U n i t
Culture
The ‘Victorian compromise’.
The term
‘Victorian’ has acquired a negative meaning
in our time; it suggests an idea of ‘
prudery
’
– extreme propriety, often hypocritical, in
behaviour or speech, and especially in sexual
matters. Though there is some truth in this,
there is much more than this to the Victorian
period. In fact, there was much reaction to the
above mentioned tendency, and it should also be
noted that many of its less pleasant aspects were
inherited from the previous age and did not
disappear on Victoria’s death.
The
utilitarian philosophers
, especially
Jeremy
Bentham
(1748-1832), claimed that everything
had to be judged according to standards of
utility and how much it promoted the
material
happiness
of the greatest number of people.
However, this led to unrestrained
competition
and
exploitation
of
human and natural resources. The Victorian establishment refused to
admit the existence of a materialistic philosophy of life, trying to cover
the unpleasant aspects of progress under a veil of respectability and facile
optimism. This was the so-called ‘Victorian compromise’.
Respectability.
The outward
strictness
of Victorian
morals
and
behaviour
was highly inconsistent with what was actually happening in
society. The upper and middle classes, for example, could not tolerate the
word ‘leg’ spoken in polite society – both women’s and table legs were
covered with long skirts – but were responsible for social conditions that
pushed thousands of women into prostitution.
As the century advanced, however, Victorian standards began to break
down. This was particularly true of the family, which had been the
stronghold of Victorian respectability. Women felt more and more stifled
by being confined within the home most of the time (
➤
The Woman
Question
, p. 10
) and some writers began to expose the fundamental
hypocrisy
of Victorian society.
Liberal and Socialist concern for the working class.
The reaction
to industrialism and liberalism was strong, even among the Liberals
themselves. The best minds of the age feared that Britain was becoming
what Conservative Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli
(1804-81) aptly
defined as “the two nations”, a society made up of only two classes, the
rich and the poor. Such different thinkers as
Thomas Carlyle
(1795-
The Victorian compromise
The Bayswater
Omnibus
(c. 1885),
by George William
Joy. The picture
sums up many
traits of Victorian
respectability
and wealth:
reliable public
transport, smartly
dressed ladies and
gentlemen, shopping
for fashionable
goods. Notice the
advertisements
above the windows.
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