Victorianism
Nineteenth-century British propriety
Victorianism refers to the attitudes, values, and cultural characteristics associated with the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901).
The term often carries connotations of strict moral codes, sexual repression, social propriety, and elaborate ornamentation—whether in furniture, architecture, or language.
Someone accused of Victorianism today is usually being called prudish or excessively formal: His Victorianism about nudity seemed absurd to the younger artists.
Correctness of conduct
- prudishnessExcessive moral strictness
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
- decorumFitting social conduct
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
chastity · temperance · modesty · rectitude · prudery · purity · duty · decency
Forcible prevention or concealment
- self-controlAbility to restrain impulses
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- inhibitionMental check on behavior
- reserveSupply kept back
strictness · puritanism · corsetry · hysteria · sublimation · denial · emotional restraint · stiff upper lip
Transition to factory-based economy
- steam engineThermal vapor motor
- railwaysFixed-track transport systems
- factoriesIndustrial production facilities
- mechanizationConverting to machine operation
Great Exhibition · Crystal Palace · iron · coal · mills · manufacturing · engineering · progress
Grouping by shared traits
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- gentilityRefined social standing
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
- servantsHired household workers
etiquette · calling cards · parlor · drawing room · chaperone · debutante · season · finishing school
Domination through foreign settlement
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- British RajImperial rule over India
- East India CompanyBritish colonial trading corporation
- Scramble for AfricaRapid European colonization period
Opium Wars · Commonwealth · Boer War · missionaries · Suez Canal · exploration · India · Australia
Elaborately decorated
- Gothic RevivalArchitectural return to medieval forms
- Pre-RaphaeliteVictorian artists emulating earlier masters
- William MorrisVictorian pattern designer
- decorativeServing to beautify
elaborate · fretwork · bric-a-brac · mahogany · velvet · antimacassar · parlor · wallpaper
Surname of Victorian novelist
- TennysonVictorian English poet laureate
- BrowningNoted poet's surname
- BrontëLiterary sisters' surname
- HardyName connoting toughness
Eliot · serialization · penny dreadful · gothic · Sherlock Holmes · Conan Doyle · social realism · bildungsroman
propriety
Correctness of conduct
- prudishnessExcessive moral strictness
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
- decorumFitting social conduct
virtue · chastity · temperance · modesty · rectitude · prudery · purity · duty · decency · uprightness
suppression
Forcible prevention or concealment
- self-controlAbility to restrain impulses
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- inhibitionMental check on behavior
reserve · strictness · puritanism · corsetry · hysteria · sublimation · denial · emotional restraint · stiff upper lip · propriety
industrialization
Transition to factory-based economy
- steam engineThermal vapor motor
- railwaysFixed-track transport systems
- factoriesIndustrial production facilities
mechanization · Great Exhibition · Crystal Palace · iron · coal · mills · manufacturing · engineering · progress · smokestacks
class
Grouping by shared traits
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- gentilityRefined social standing
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
servants · etiquette · calling cards · parlor · drawing room · chaperone · debutante · season · finishing school · governess
colonialism
Domination through foreign settlement
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- British RajImperial rule over India
- East India CompanyBritish colonial trading corporation
Scramble for Africa · Opium Wars · Commonwealth · Boer War · missionaries · Suez Canal · exploration · India · Australia · Canada
ornate
Elaborately decorated
- Gothic RevivalArchitectural return to medieval forms
- Pre-RaphaeliteVictorian artists emulating earlier masters
- William MorrisVictorian pattern designer
decorative · elaborate · fretwork · bric-a-brac · mahogany · velvet · antimacassar · parlor · wallpaper · gilt
Dickens
Surname of Victorian novelist
Eliot · Hardy · serialization · penny dreadful · gothic · Sherlock Holmes · Conan Doyle · social realism · bildungsroman · morality tale
- literary movementsRomanticism, Realism, Modernism, Surrealism, Symbolism
- Victorian IdeasDarwinism, social Darwinism, evolution, natural selection, utilitarianism
- Victorian literatureDickens, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Eliot, Thomas Hardy
Victorianismpermissiveness
Tolerance of behavior others forbid
sexual liberation · libertinism · free love · hedonism · licentiousness
Victorianismmodernism
Favoring contemporary approaches
postmodernism · Roaring Twenties · Jazz Age · counterculture · avant-garde
Victorianismfeminism
Advocacy for sex equality
women's liberation · egalitarianism · gender equality · informality · emancipation