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Due to the fast pace of industrial development,
social problems, especially for the workers, turned to be much more serious.
Thus, Reforms were urgent to be carried out. The Reform Bill in 1832 gave
the middle class a stake in responsible government, which did not change the
basis of government. Yet the working class and some section of the lower
middle classes still remained voteless because of the high property
qualification. Later, the industrial bourgeoisie struggled for further
reform in their own interests. The trade unions also demanded further
reform. Then the bill lowered property qualification and extended the
franchise to all householders in the boroughs. In this way, the industrial
bourgeoisie strengthened in politics and members of the upper layers of the
working class also shared this fruit of the reform. However, agriculture
workers, and urban workers who were not house- holders, stayed voteless.
From 1868-1874, some important liberal legislation of the 19th century
appeared, such as William Edward Forster’s Education Act, the
Trade-Union
Act of 1871 and the
Ballot Act of 1872, which marked the beginning of secret
voting. From 1875, laws concerned workers and factories were passed, such
as,
the Employers and the Workmen Act of 1875, the
Publish Health Act of
1875,
A Factory Act of 1878. These reforms were far-reaching and
fundamental. They did relieve the social tension to some extent and help to
improve the workers’ conditions, but these reforms could not solve the
social problems completely. However, these reforms kept England relatively
unaffected from the armed revolutions waging fervently in other European
countries in mid-19th century.
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1842) was a British
naturalist who revolutionized the science of biology. His theory of
evolution was the best-known scientific achievement in the 19th century. In
1859, he published his book
On the Origin of Species that stirred the
Victorian Age. This book offered reasons why the old idea of the special
creation of species by God was defenseless and also explained that all
living being, including men, were similar and were not individually created,
but evolved from more primitive species. Religious believers ragingly
attacked his theory because it rejects God’s creative power. Darwin’s later
treatise, The Descent of Man (1871) further reduced man to nothings, almost
identified with the animals. This theory led to a loss of faith in religion
as reflected in Matthew Arnald’s Dover Beach and some of Harry’s novels
Some prose writers such as Thomas Henry
Huxley (1825-1895) did a good job in popularizing Darwin’s theory of
evolution, i.e., the theory of natural selection and the survival of the
fittest, so that they became influential on English social life. This so
called
Social Darwinism justified free competition and the superiority of
the rich over the poor because the former considered themselves the fittest
to survive. It also justified England’s colonial expansion all over the
world.
For a long time in history, women had been
regarded as second-class citizens. They were completely dependent on or
doll-like subordinates to their husbands, with no right to vote, to hold
office, or to handle their own property after marriage. Though women’s
social status was not actually changed until the 20th century, social
attitudes towards them were gradually changing during the Victorian Age
extension of suffrage to more and more men made women restive, and the
so-called “women question” concerning sexual inequality grew in importance.
John Stuart Mill published The Subjection of Women in 1869, in which he
boldly changed long established assumptions about women’s roles in society.
Petitions to the Parliament advocating women’s suffrage were introduced as
early as the 1840s.
At the same time, the need for women to receive
advanced education was recognized and led to the establishment of colleges
for women, beginning with Queen’s College in London (1848) followed by
others in Cambridge and Oxford. During the 19th century, the number of
talented women increased in England and throughout the Western world. In the
literary field, the Victorian Age produced a group of women novelists,
including George Eliot, Mrs. Gaskell, and the Bronte sisters, though most of
them used men’s names as pseudonyms because of the social prejudice against
women. How women were regarded and regarded themselves as members of society
became one of the chief concerns of Victorian writers.
The struggle for women’s rights had its success
in early 20th century. “The Married Women’s Property Act” was passed in
1980. This act allowed women to keep their own property after marriage. This
was followed by general women’s suffrage in 1918.
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