“Women wear Trousers”: Rational Dress Reform in the Victorian Era

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 ◽  
pp. 307-343
Author(s):  
Hye-Jeong Bae
Keyword(s):  
Victorian Era ◽  
Dress Reform

A Christmas Carol: Disability Conceptualised through Empathy and the Philosophy of ‘Technologically Useful Bodies’

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-191
Author(s):  
Ester Vidović
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Models ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
Victorian Britain ◽  
Image Schemas ◽  
Victorian Period ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Linguistic Approach

The article explores how two cultural models which were dominant in Great Britain during the Victorian era – the model based on the philosophy of ‘technologically useful bodies’ and the Christian model of empathy – were connected with the understanding of disability. Both cultural models are metaphorically constituted and based on the ‘container’ and ‘up and down’ image schemas respectively. 1 The intersubjective character of cultural models is foregrounded, in particular, in the context of conceiving of abstract concepts such as emotions and attitudes. The issue of disability is addressed from a cognitive linguistic approach to literary analysis while studying the reflections of the two cultural models on the portrayal of the main characters of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The studied cultural models appeared to be relatively stable, while their evaluative aspects proved to be subject to historical change. The article provides incentives for further study which could include research on the connectedness between, on one hand, empathy with fictional characters roused by reading Dickens's works and influenced by cultural models dominant during the Victorian period in Britain and, on the other hand, the contemporaries’ actual actions taken to ameliorate the social position of the disabled in Victorian Britain.

Unclean Truth

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Talbot
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Liminal Space ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
Museum Exhibits ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Object Biography ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
English Society ◽  
Physical Objects

The Metropolitan Police’s Crime Museum, famously known as the Black Museum, exhibits evidence from some of the most appalling crimes committed within English society from the late-Victorian era into modernity. Public admittance to this museum is strictly prohibited, preventing all but police staff from viewing the macabre exhibitions held within. The physical objects on display may vary, but whether the viewer is confronted with household items, weaponry or human remains, the evidence before them is undeniably associated with the immorality surrounding the performance of a socially bad death, of murder. These items have an object biography, they are both contextualized and contextualize the environment in which they reside. But one must question the purpose of such a museum, does it merely act as a Chamber of Horrors evoking the anomie of English society in physical form, or do these exhibits have an educational intent, restricted to their liminal space inside New Scotland Yard, to be used as a pedagogical tool in the development of new methods of murder investigation.

Mary, Countess of Derby, and the Politics of Victorian Britain

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Davey
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Benjamin Disraeli ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
William Gladstone ◽  
Victorian Britain ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Key Events

Lady Mary Derby (1824–1900) occupied a pivotal position in Victorian politics, yet her activities have largely been overlooked or ignored. A Female Politician places Mary back into the political position she occupied and offers the first dedicated account of her career. Based on extensive archival research, including hitherto neglected or lost sources, this study reconstructs the political worlds Mary inhabited. Her political landscape was dominated by the machinations and intrigues of high politics and diplomacy. As this book uncovers, her political skill and acumen were highly valued by leading politicians of the day, including Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, and she played a significant role in many of the key events of the mid-Victorian era. This included the passing of the Second Reform Act, the formation of Disraeli’s 1874 government, the Eastern Crisis of 1875–1878, and Gladstone’s 1880–1885 government. By exploring how one woman was able to exercise influence at the heart of Victorian politics, this book considers what Mary’s career tells us about the nature of political life in the mid nineteenth century. It sheds new light on the connections between informal and formal political culture, incorporating the politics of the home, letter-writing, and social relations into a consideration of the politics of Parliament and government. A Female Politician is a rich investigation of how a woman, with few legal or constitutional rights, was able to become a significant figure in mid-Victorian political life.

Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-55
Author(s):  
Dawn Behrend
Keyword(s):  
Social Conditions ◽  
British Library ◽  
Settlement Houses ◽  
Handwritten Documents ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
Victorian Britain ◽  
Handwritten Text ◽  
Handwritten Text Recognition ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Keyword Searching

Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain published by Adam Matthew Digital is comprised of primary digital materials culled from three major archives in Britain and the UK focused on the experience of poverty in Victorian Britain and efforts involving economic, government, and social reform such as the Poor Law, workhouses, settlement houses, and philanthropic initiatives. Content is derived from the National Archives at Kew, British Library, and Senate House Library and includes pamphlets, correspondence, newspaper clippings, books, and other resources. A small portion of the collection utilizes Adam Matthew Digital’s Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) to enable keyword searching of handwritten documents. The digitized images and documents are clear, searchable, and user-friendly to access, save, and share. Contract provisions are standard to the product with authenticated access across institutional locations and guidelines for Interlibrary Loan sharing. Pricing is determined by institutional size and enrollment. While the product is a one-time purchase, annual hosting fees apply for ongoing access. Content is currently heavily derived from one archive, the Senate House Library, with pamphlets from this source making up nearly half of the total holdings. Users seeking access to a more extensive collection of similar material may prefer subscribing to JSTOR which includes JSTOR 19th Century British Pamphlets with over 26,000 pamphlets along with secondary scholarly journals and eBooks on the Victorian era. While not providing the primary sources of Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain or JSTOR, Historical Abstracts may be an alternative resource in providing access to notable scholarly resources on the period.

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