Seperation Among Social Classes in the Victorian Era By Amanda Barbre
Social class determined one's lifestyle because working and living conditions greatly varied from class to class by the jobs held within each class. There were three basic social classes; the upper class (hereditary aristocracy), middle class (odd merchants, bankers, odd shipowners), and the working class, often referred to as the sunken people (factory workers, mine workers, prostitutes, railway porters). Social class was not solely determined by income, but also on the type of profession and family birth name. Most people accepted the social stature they were born into. Certain values were also considered important to social class and would be expressed through one's manners and priorities. Each class would expect the people in that class to follow certain rules according to the values most admired by that class. It would be considered wrong to act according to to the standards of a class different than one's own. The classes were so divided that people only married within their class. The industrial revolution benefited the skilled workers such as those in the middle class who were textile workers or blacksmiths. However, unskilled workers and those who worked in factories were exploited because they didn't earn nearly enough to survive. The middle class thus worked less manually but more mentally while the lower class worked physically and ended up filthy. The upper class held the most authority and power in society since they owned the most wealth and had the most education.
The Upper Class
The upper class consisted of the hereditary aristocracy, who were nobles that inherited the wealth and land from their ancestors. This wealth was passed on through the generations so that each one could live luxuriously and leisurely. Military officers, clergymen, and wealthy businessmen were also included in this class. The upper class didn't work manually, though some owned factories and mines which were expanding from the industrial revolution. The upper class had an upper hand in parliament since before the Victorian era the middle class and lower class were deprived of being politically involved due to property requirements needed to vote and take part in political activities. Also the upper class had an advantage in the court system because the head of a noble family couldn't be arrested for debt and would be tried for criminal offenses in a special court made up of noblemen rather than a court where the middle class and working class criminals were tried in. In Britain, the wealthiest 5 percent owned over 40 percent of the overall wealth, with aristocrats making between 10 to 30 thousand pounds each year from their land and investments. With this amount of wealth, women and men of the upper class enjoyed lavish parties, social events, and recreational activities such as horseback riding. Aristocrats had enough money to send their sons to well known schools such as Eton. Women of the upper class didn't clean their homes but rather had servants who would keep their home tidy and take care of their children. These servants were part of the working class. Estates were strictly passed to the next eldest son with restrictions such as marriage in ones own class. The upper class would own a manor house usually or a house farm which was maintained by farm laborers. Aristocrats would spend most of their time in London attending parliament whereas squires who lived on house farms would attend to local issues.
The middle class
The middle class grew rapidly during the Victorian Era, benefiting from the industrial revolution and an increase in their political power after the 1832 Reform Act loosening property requirements needed to vote. The middle class made up 15 percent of the population, so it was the second largest class. Those included in the middle class were odd merchants, bankers, odd shipowners, industrialists, and clerks. Those in the middle class were not intellectuals with creative occupations. In the middle class, status was not solely determined by wealth but also by the values one held. The highest social ranking in this class were professionals like doctors, professors and engineers. Those who benefited mostly from the industrial revolution were merchants, manufacturers and bankers, who were able to increase their social stature in through wealth. Those in the lower middle class were literate but not highly educated and had positions such as shop keepers and clerical workers. The children of the upper middle class were often sent to boarding school whereas the children of the lower middle class stayed in school till middle school age to work with their families. Children of the upper middle class also were often taken care of by servants. The middle class had distinct morals and values they strove to maintain which also determined their social stature besides education and income. The manners and backgrounds of one's family were looked at to determine values. The values they strove to maintain were self control, self denial, self help, hard work, and sexual morality. The middle class scorned getting drunk, being lazy, gluttony and not making an effort to improve one's position in society or as a person. A tight family and church were ideal. Those in middle class also valued being thrifty and using leisure time wisely.
The working class
The working class was also known as the sunken people because they were of the lowest social stature, were shut out of politics, and often had to turn to criminal activity and extremely hard work in order to survive. Many in the working class worked in factories and mines owned by industrialists though many were also servants and agricultural laborers. The lowest social status in the working class were those who became criminals and prostitutes. Most of the population was in the working class, including immigrants who were mostly Irish. The working class was burdened with low pay and was forced to live in crowded, dirty slums. They barely had enough to get by and had the shortest lifespan among all the social classes because they were more susceptible to disease and injuries from their work and living conditions. Both women and men would work and their children received little education since they began working as a child because their parents couldn't survive from both incomes. The working class was looked down upon as failures of society and moral-less. The middle class even believed those in the working class didn't try to improve themselves or their position in life. Immigrants and criminals were especially looked down upon. Black minstrel shows came out and racist ideas were bred from the theory of evolution which pseudoscientists claimed Irish and Africans were less developed than Anglo Saxons. Prostitution, drinking and criminal activity were all popular among the working class out of frustration and the need to survive. The temperance movement by middle class women shunned drinking, but the middle class also denounced prostitution and criminals as it went against their ideas of self denial and sexual morality. Therefore the working class was seen as dirty, immoral, and hopeless in society.
Reflection
The Victorian era centered around seperation, and this seperation classified people as less or higher than others which is wrong. All humans deserve the same treatment and opportunities to advance themselves, and social classes during the Victorian era prohibited this because one's social status was inherited through birth. With not everyone being able to have the same education or permittance to marry above or below one's class, one's social status was essentially static. Education is powerful, though the upper class received most of it and were subsequently more powerful and considered higher than others in society because of it. Today, the wealthy still receive better education and opportunities than those less wealthy, however one can improve oneself by working hard and setting goals to become successful.Today there still remains some class seperation, however it has become looser and equality has expanded tremendously since the Victorian era. Today, social classes still exist, though they are mostly governed by wealth split into three main classes like that of the Victorian era: the wealthy, the middle class or white collar workers, and the poor or blue collar workers. Typically people today still condone marrying someone below their class, though speaking with them or being friends with them isn't treated as harshly in society today. This may be because since the Victorian era, equal rights have been granted to several minorities such as African Americans, native Americans and Latinos. These equal rights make people in society think of everyone as inherently equal even if one has less wealth than another. Perhaps marrying below one's class is still condoned in society today because well payed professions and a comfortable living are sought for, while poverty and minimum wage jobs aren't. Professional careers and wealth are associated with success and minimum wage jobs aren't, they are instead often associated with laziness and failure which those who have professional careers may condone and thus separate themselves from those people in society. However many who are wealthy and refuse to converse with those less wealthy than them are considered snobs and arrogant, these attitudes may suggest that in the future everyone will not feel ashamed or intimidated to speak to others of a different wealth stature than them. Welfare and charities today show that the wealthy and the government caring for the less fortunate, which may mean that more sympathy is given to the less wealthy, making social classes become closer to one another and considering one another more equally. Hopefully in the future people come to see one another as equal because we are all human and something as materialistic as wealth shouldn't determine our perceptions of others or who should and shouldn't interact with. Morals hopefully become more important values one looks for in others rather than wealth, and if that does happen, everyone will be considered equal and given the same opportunity to improve oneself based on morals not money.
References
Cody, David. "Social Class." Victorian Web. Hartwick College, 22 July 2002. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Mitchell, Sally. "The Elite, Middle and Working Class." Utexas.edu. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1996. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.