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Hughes, Kathryn. “Gender Roles in the 19th Century.” The British Library, The British Library, 13 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century.

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Hughes, Kathryn. “Gender Roles in the 19th Century.” The British Library, The British Library, 13 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century.

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This source looks at the gender roles and role of women in the Victorian era.

According to Hughes, it was this time that traditional gender roles actually became more 'traditional' and sharply defined - before the 1830s, women often worked alongside their husbands, but as time went on and men began commuting to their place of work, women were left alone to tend to the home. This, coupled with the beginning of crinolines (those huge bell-shaped skirts), now restrained women from doing any work and cemented them at home.

Women were seen as physically inferior but morally superior to men. Their job was to "counterbalance the moral 🤬 of the public sphere in which their husbands laboured all day, they were also preparing the next generation to carry on this way of life. The fact that women had such great influence at home was used as an argument against giving them the vote." --> this was known as the ideology of the Separate Spheres.

Fun fact!! During this time, middle class girls and those of above classes would attract men not with their domestic ability, but with their 'accomplishments', like ability to sing, paint, dance, etc. This can be seen in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice too!

Another fun fact: There was a term for girls who were too dedicated to intellectual pursuits - they were called 'blue stockings', and no one wanted to be one :(

Look at memoraable quotes for more fun facts :)

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Twain, Mark. "Queen Victoria's Jubilee." San Francisco Examiner. 20 and 23 June, 1897. Available online at Library of America, http://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2010/03/queen-victorias-jubilee.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019. 

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Twain, Mark. "Queen Victoria's Jubilee." San Francisco Examiner. 20 and 23 June, 1897. Available online at Library of America, http://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2010/03/queen-victorias-jubilee.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019. 

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Mark Twain happened to be in London in 1897 to witness the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign, and commented on the festivities and the Victorian era and its legacy. It is an excellent primary source detailing the power and splendor of England at the time, and putting into perspective the rapid technological advances of Victoria's time.

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When the Queen was born there were not more than 25,000,000 English-speaking people in the world, there are about 120,000,000 now... Victoria reigns over more territory than any other sovereign in the world’s history ever reigned over; her estate covers a fourth part of the habitable area of the globe, and her subjects number about 400,000,000 (Twain).

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Why you shouldn't eat all your vegetables 

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Why you shouldn't eat all your vegetables 

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“The Importance of Being Earnest.” Ra Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com, wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest.

The source talks about how the Marquess of Queensberry, father of Wilde's alleged male lover, intended to spoil the opening night of the play by bringing spoiled vegetables as a bouquet to present to Wilde. But Wilde caught wind of it and refused him entry. But the dispute was brought to court, Wilde got imprisoned, and the play was shut down after only 86 performances.

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Shepherd, Anne. “History in Focus.” History In Focus, 1 Oct. 2004, www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Victorians/article.html.

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Shepherd, Anne. “History in Focus.” History In Focus, 1 Oct. 2004, www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Victorians/article.html.

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According to Anne Shepherd, the Victorian Era was the first Era that was named after the (then) current English monarch. Leisure was also a large part of the Victorian era with football matches and travelling by train to seaside resorts being more and more common. With advancements in technology, traditional medicine, as well as sciences, people started to live longer and had a more peaceful life. Social movements such as organised feminism, liberalism and socialism became more and more apparent. Medicinal breakthrough was a large part of Victorian era with medicinal plants from all over the world coming due to progress in botanical sciences as well as an interest in geographical exploration.

Additional fun fact: Queen Victoria took chloroform for the birth of her son.

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“Oscar Wilde .” The British Library, The British Library, 15 Jan. 2014, www.bl.uk/people/oscar-wilde.

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“Oscar Wilde .” The British Library, The British Library, 15 Jan. 2014, www.bl.uk/people/oscar-wilde.

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"I put all my genius into my life, I put only my talent into my books" - Oscar Wilde
This source gives a brief and quick summary of who Oscar Wilde was, when he died (1900 in Paris, France at the age of 46), and a few important events in his life including him falling in love and having an affair with Sir Alfred Douglas and his secret times in male brothels that subsequently led to Sir Douglas' father finding out about it and accusing him of being a "somdomite" yet still winning the case, leaving Wilde in prison for two years and exposed for "gross indecency" which shunned him from the public and led him to bankruptcy.

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Sheehan, Mary. “15 Things You May Not Know About Oscar Wilde.” Culture Trip, PPF Group, 26 Apr. 2016, theculturetrip.com/europe/ireland/articles/15-things-you-may-not-know-about-oscar-wilde/.

The source has a lot of fun facts about Oscar Wilde. Did you know that the Irish writer could speak 5 different languages but couldn't speak a lick of Irish? And did you know that he got re-baptized into the Catholic Church before he succumbed to the illness that would lead him to his doom? And did you know that despite his homosexual relationships, he was actually married to a Ms. Constance Lloyd who mothered two of his children (who was really pretty!). He was also a strong advocate for aestheticism (art should be for the sake of art and without political motivation.

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Görlach Manfred. English in Nineteenth-Century England: an Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 1999. 6.

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Hyde, H. Montgomery quoted in: “Oscar Wilde.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/oscar-wilde.

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Hyde, H. Montgomery quoted in: “Oscar Wilde.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/oscar-wilde.

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In this source the poetry foundation quotes H. Montgomery Hyde who wrote the book, "Oscar Wilde: a biography". Within his book he says that Oscar's mum "doted on him as a child and insisted on dressing him in girl's clothes". Additionally, Oscar's father was a philanderer who suffered condemnation after details of his sexual relationships were disclosed in a public case against him. Oscar did not come from a stable home and whether this lead to resentment or furthered his want involvement in the aesthetic movement i am not sure. But it had to have had some kind of impact on him.  Hyde was famous in his own right during the mid-1900s as he was a politician as well a prolific author and biographer who campaigned for reform to homosexual laws. In order to write his biography on Oscar Wilde, he met with many people who knew Wilde (including his son and other close friends). Therefore the use of primary sources adds validity to this source with Hyde's campaigning for homosexual rights adding and interesting perspective.

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Factory workers and Proletariats in 19th Century England

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Factory workers and Proletariats in 19th Century England

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Mazlish, Bruce. “Marx's Historical Understanding of the Proletariat and Class in 19th Century England.” History of European Ideas, vol. 14, no. 1, 1992, pp. 731–747., doi:10.1016/0191-6599(92)90310-9. 739-740

"[The proletariat]  were, in fact, on the cutting edge of the Industrial Revolution; but even then they comprised only a small part of the total society. In the middle of the nineteenth century, they numbered in England about one-half to one million out of a total working population of about 71/2 million males, or of 15 million workers if all women over age ten are included. Of these one-half to one million factory workers themselves, the majority were women and children under 14... Moreover, in a society where between one and two million were domestic servants, and a similar number agriculturists, even a united work force might not represent the general interest of society except as an abstract proposition "

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An introduction to The Importance of Being Earnest

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An introduction to The Importance of Being Earnest

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Stokes, John. Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians. 15 May 2014. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-importance-of-being-earnest

The source discusses some ways in which Oscar Wilde had used satire to convey a deep message about the aristocracy, namely through understanding of the social context then.

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White, Micah. “The Importance of Being Indecent.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 14 Oct. 2015, www.biography.com/news/oscar-wilde-biography-facts.

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White, Micah. “The Importance of Being Indecent.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 14 Oct. 2015, www.biography.com/news/oscar-wilde-biography-facts.

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Oscar Wilde was a key figure in the Aestheticism movement where instead of art being a tool to comment on social or moral issues, it is created for art itself "Art for Art's Sake". Literature was just another way to express idealism and beauty, according to Wilde. The Victorian era was very traditionalist and strict, but Oscar Wilde truly loved to break this and would definitely have been proud of being labeled "indecent". He went out of his way to break out of the norm and to become different.

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Kashti, Yitzshak. “The Public School in 19th Century England.” Child & Youth Services, vol. 19, no. 1, 1998, pp. 35–54., doi:10.1300/j024v19n01_04.35

"The public schools traditionally encouraged withdrawal and isolation from cities. They preferred country life for the sake of moral education, distance and isolation supposedly making the educational process easier. The students were continually exposed to teachers, religious leaders, and prefects and were under constant pressure to achieve learning objectives dictated by the classical curriculum and to behave in an exemplary manner in public"

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"Wilde ridiculed sports, wore his hair long, and adorned his room with flowers, peacock feathers, and other fine objets d’art, such as blue china. He even became part of the Dress Reform Movement, which promoted new, more sensual fashion that rejected the dominant purity-centric styles of the day (and eventually gave rise to the acceptance of women wearing pants). Wilde’s own style—flamboyant enough to give Liberace a run for his money—went directly against Victorian gravitas and decorum. Beauty was beauty, Wilde thought, regardless of its fit into longstanding conventions" (White)

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"Blue-stockings were considered unfeminine and off-putting in the way that they attempted to usurp men’s ‘natural’ intellectual superiority. Some doctors reported that too much study actually had a damaging effect on the ovaries, turning attractive young women into dried-up prunes. Later in the century, when Oxford and Cambridge opened their doors to women, many families refused to let their clever daughters attend for fear that they would make themselves unmarriageable."

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This article tells us about Oscar Wilde's life form the early career as a writer, the literature that he has written, his education to even the had times that he faced. One interesting event that occurred during Oscar Wilde's life is actually what ended his career which was imprisonment under the charge of homosexuality. Although his rise as a poet was not a surprise as he grew up in a family of literature artists, his life as a child was far from stable. According to Hyde, his mother "insisted on dressing him in girl's clothes" while his father on the other hand was a notorious philanderer. Although Wilde lived a life with a family of his own, the imprisonment that ended his career might have been caused by the traumatic experiences of his childhood.

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Beckson, Karl. “Oscar Wilde.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Nov. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Wilde.

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Beckson, Karl. “Oscar Wilde.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Nov. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Wilde.

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Oscar Wilde is an Irish poet and dramatist whose reputation rests on his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). After attending school, he also managed to go on successive scholarships which awarded him a degree with honors. Later in the early 1880s, he then became a spokesman for the Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art's sake. In 1884, he married Constance Lloyd, the daughter of a prominent Irish barrister, where they then gave birth to two children in 1885 and 1886. Between this time and the final decade of his life, he continued to write several works, whereby the society comedies became his greatest successes. His works often discusses the exposure of a secret sin, indiscretion, and consequent disgrace, leading him to be arrested shortly thereafter when he was accused by the marquess for being a 🤬. In May 1895, he was sentenced to two years at hard labor, serving most of his sentence in Reading Gaol. In May 1897, he was released a bankrupt, immediately fleeing to France, hoping to regenerate himself as a writer.

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The Victorian Age was characterised by rapid change and developments in nearly every sphere - from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to changes in population growth and location. Over time, this rapid transformation deeply affected the country's mood: an age that began with a confidence and optimism leading to economic boom and prosperity eventually gave way to uncertainty and doubt regarding Britain's place in the world. Today we associate the nineteenth century with the Protestant work ethic, family values, religious observation and institutional faith.
https://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Victorians/article.html

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“The 10 Most Popular Misconceptions about Oscar Wilde.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 May 2003, www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/07/top10s.oscar.wilde.

"She and my father had bequeathed me a name they had made noble and honoured not merely in literature, art, archaeology and science, but in the public history of my own country in its evolution as a nation."

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Religious Conformity in the Victorian Era

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Religious Conformity in the Victorian Era

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By the end of the Victorian Era, the Church of England was increasingly only one part of a vibrant often competitive religious culture, with non-Anglican Protestants. Throughout the 19th century, England was a Christian country, the only other religion that existed during that time was Judaism. The number of Jews have increased from 60,000 in 1880 to 300,000 by 1914 due to the migrants that were escaping persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe. As the verities of religion kept on increasing, so does the amount of disagreements. In the midst of the 19th century, the amount of clergy have increased from 14,500 in 1841 to 24,000 in 1875. The increase of clergyman have impacted on the different ways of beliefs and practices that were taught by these clergies. The 19th century is also the period of time where numerous public figures declared that they have no religion or belief. It was a period of time where doubt and faith in religion have increased. Intellectuals and writer were rejecting the teachings of christianity altogether.
“Victorians: Religion.” English Heritage, www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/victorian/religion/.

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“Victorians: Daily Life.” English Heritage, www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/victorian/daily-life/.

This article masterfully gives an insight as to just what life was like in the Victorian Era, Although the Victorian era was a period of extreme social inequality, industrialisation brought about rapid changes in everyday life that affected all classes

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Hughes, Kathryn. “Gender Roles in the 19th Century.” The British Library, The British Library, 13 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century.

If a young man was particularly pious he might manage to stay chaste until he married. Many respectable young men, however, resorted to using prostitutes.
But the young and not-so-young women had no choice but to stay chaste until marriage. They were not allowed to speak to men unless there was a chaperone present. Higher education or professional work was also out of the question for women. These emotional frustrations could lead to all sorts of covert rebellion.

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BBC. “History - Historic Figures: Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900).” BBC, BBC, 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilde_oscar.shtml.

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BBC. “History - Historic Figures: Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900).” BBC, BBC, 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilde_oscar.shtml.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilde_oscar.shtml
The source is describing Oscar Wilde's messy backstory & some of the struggles he experienced.

Wilde had a lot of drama and tragedy surrounding his love life and family. In 1884, he married Constance Lloyd and had two sons but began having an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas (nickname: Bosie). Wilde tried to sue Bosie's father, the Marquis of Queensberry, for accusing him of being homosexual - Wilde lost, was tried for gross indecency & sentenced to two years of hard labour.

Whilst in jail, he wrote a long letter to Bosie about their dysfunctional relationship titled, 'De Profundis'. After his release, his health & reputation were both incredibly damaged. He then spent the remainder of his life in Europe and published, 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' in 1898 and died in Paris on November 30th, 1900.

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“When they entered they found, hanging upon the wall, a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.”

http://www.victorian-era.org/oscar-wilde-writer-during-victorian-period.html

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1. Algernon:   “Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it.”

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1. Algernon:   “Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it.”

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On one level, this exchange merely continues the long-running marriage gag, which treats the whole Victorian notion of “married bliss” with a kind of gallows humor. However, it also initiates the play’s darker subtext. What Algernon suggests is that all husbands in Victorian society lead double lives. In Wilde’s view, Jack’s refusal to acknowledge that he is “a Bunburyist” is what differentiates him from Algernon from a purely moral perspective.

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"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all"

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Shepherd, Anne. “Overview of the Victorian Era.” History in Focus, Institute of Historical Research, 1 Apr. 2001, www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Victorians/article.html.

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Shepherd, Anne. “Overview of the Victorian Era.” History in Focus, Institute of Historical Research, 1 Apr. 2001, www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Victorians/article.html.

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In this article, Shepherd discusses what life was like in Victorian England. For example, she explains how women were often portrayed as Madonnas or whores, and that there were no inbetween. This was challenged though as more women were granted access to education and authority outside of the family. Moreover, families were heavily patriarchal and were often quite large.  She explains how the Victorian Era was characterized by rapid change and development in almost every sector.

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This article gives a summary about Wilde's early life, his education, his works and his prison sentence. Oscar Wilde had a father who was a doctor and a mother who was a poet. His mother translated Sidonia the Sorceress which had a deep influence on Wilde's writing. While in school, Wilde also fell in love with Greek and Roman studies. He went to Oxford with a scholarship and moved to London after graduating. He was the leading advocate for aesthetic movement. He had an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas and got sent to prison. After getting out of prison, he went into exile in France and died of meningitis.

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"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about"

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"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"

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COUGH THE MERCHANT OF VENICE WASN'T ANTI-SEMITIC COUGH

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COUGH THE MERCHANT OF VENICE WASN'T ANTI-SEMITIC COUGH

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"There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are either well written or badly written. That is all"

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"The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read"

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"One should always be in love. That is why one should never marry."

“Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.”

“I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.”

“ Don't be misled into the paths of virtue.”

“Women never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.”

“There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating- people who know absolutely everything and people that know absolutely nothing.”

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Victoria & Albert Museum. “The First Stage Production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 1895.” Victoria and Albert Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 31 Jan. 2013, www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-importance-of-being-earnest-first-stage-production/.

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Victoria & Albert Museum. “The First Stage Production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 1895.” Victoria and Albert Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 31 Jan. 2013, www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-importance-of-being-earnest-first-stage-production/.

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This article discusses the first stage production of The Importance of Being Earnest on Valentine's Day in 1895. It talked about the original cast and what it would have looked like. They based their information off a programme from the original production that is now being displayed in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It was first produced in the St. James Theatre in West End, London. At the end of the article, they also discuss the history of the St. James Theatre.