A Period of Progress

I agree with Lainey and Sarah that one of the primary difficulties in understanding this period (or any for that matter) is hurdling our pre-conceived notions of the period. Certainly stereotypes set up by the era’s own authors and popular culture, particularly the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland in my mind, play a critical part in our contemporary understanding of the period. However, we should look not just to our misunderstanding in terms of how these authors or popular culture has affected it but also, as Lainey began to point out, to the aspects of the culture that we really cannot comprehend.

As I read the introduction to the period, what stood out to me the most was the incredible progress that took place throughout the entirety of the period and the effect it had on the people. The Norton tells us that the people “suffered from an anxious sense of something lost, a sense [. . .] of being displaced persons in a world made alien by technological changes that had been exploited too quickly for the adaptive powers of the human psyche” (980). What is at stake here is not whether or not we have lived through technological progress that matches or exceeds, perhaps proportionally, what was accomplished during the Victorian era. I think a case could be made for either side. However, I do not believe those of us alive today, who have lived at the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, can comprehend the mental strain that the majority of people during the Victorian era had to bear as a result of massive technological advancement.

The reasons for us not being able to understand such a thing stem from phenomena different from what Lainey and Sarah referred to: our pop culture and the ways the Victorian authors themselves presented the period. The advent of the railroad was monumental. We have not experienced such an incredible advancement in transportation. Even the invention of the car and airplane, I don’t think, can compare to the difference between traveling by horse and carriage and traveling by steam engine. Remember, before the steam engine, there had been no other practical way to travel except by horse or foot. I suppose the best analogy I can draw is if we suddenly discovered a way to teleport instantly—or, dare I say, apparate? As far as I can tell, that is the sort of monumental advancement in technology that the Victorian mind had to cope with.

We also do not know what it is like to live in a completely unfettered, free market economy. Yes, we’re a capitalist country, but I’m sure we’re all familiar with the ways in which our government regulates our economy, for better or worse. As contemporary Americans, we’ve grown accustom to a certain level of entitlement when it comes to employment. A minimum wage and an eight hour or less work day were simply a given when we were all holding down jobs to get through college. To think an employer could pay us less and work us more was laughable. We need to keep in mind the implications of a free market economy—both good and bad. Yes, child labor, extreme poverty, and few rights for the working class are horrible, but Britain also experienced unbridled progress that lead to inventions such as the photograph and photographic paper, the sewing machine, reinforced concrete, the list goes on and on (Victorian Web). Many of these things are completely taken for granted today, yet they are part of the foundation of our society. Now imagine what sorts of things cropped up all at once during this time. The sewing machine allowed for the mass production of clothing and linens. Reinforced concrete allowed buildings to be constructed quicker and stronger. As I said, I could continue the list of inventions and the ways in which they affected society, but the point is that all of these cropping up within just years of each other effected the common Victorian immensely. We’ve lived with concrete buildings—with skyscrapers, which were not around during this era. We’ve lived with department stores full of clothing, bed sheets, towels, anything imaginable made with a sewing machine. The mass production of goods of this nature did not exist before this time.

One final area that will escape our understanding is the imperialism of this age. We may be able to relate to it partially based on the Americanization of many countries around the world, i.e. a McDonald’s in just about every developed nation, but to understand what it would be like for those nations to actually belong to the United States would be impossible for us to understand. Never has a nation controlled such a large portion of the globe. To control so much of the world is a detestable notion today. Think about one of the major reasons most Americans believe we invaded Iraq: Oil. To gain wealth. Such a thing was completely standard just over a hundred years ago. Of course, that does not mean it was right, but I’m curious to see just how many of the authors we read address British imperialism and to what degree.

Many of us have written about our perception of the Victorians as affected by what we have in front of us: the novels of the age and the barrage of pop culture representations. While those are important, I would also stress the elements affecting our perception that are not in front of us, that we cannot fully comprehend: the lost British empire, the impact of a transportation development such as the steam engine, the effects of an unfettered, free market economy. I think it is easier for us to look at the images of the Victorians that have been planted in our head by popular culture and say, no, those are wrong because we can read the history of the period. However, reading the history of the period does not suffice when trying to comprehend the monumental progress that took place during this era. It is something that we’ll have to wrestle with and discuss if we want to understand.