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The epigrams are a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way.

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Oscar Wilde created the story The Importance Of Being Earnest along with other stories during his lifetime.

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Author Oscar Wilde was known for his acclaimed works including ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ as well as his brilliant wit, flamboyant style and infamous imprisonment for homosexuality.

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In the Victorian era Many Aesthetics such as birds, plants, and paintings were apart of the aesthetic movement

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Aestheticism is the term which was used in a movement to emphasize the aesthetic value of art.

What was the objective of aestheticism movement?

This movement took place in the 19th century England. This movement was usually meant to give importance to the aesthetic value more than the social and political themes in literature as well as other forms of art.

The Victorian era aestheticism played a great role in shaping the society as well as the portrayal of the society in literature. The impact of the aesthetic movement was huge and almost every form of art started changing due to this movement.

Aestheticism movement characteristics

Motifs used were: sunflowers, peacock feathers, lilies, paisley, flowers, leaves, Japanese forms, insects, butterflies and birds.

Architecture and Buildings: Queen Anne style (both American and English styles) are typically linked to it, although there was no architecture style associated with the Aesthetic Movement.

Interiors: the interiors architecture arrangement and composition pattern is important and usually layered on top of one another. Muted primary colors. Tertiary colors (ie: blue-greens), old gold, olive, terra-cotta, drab or khaki, accented with Japanese colors like yellow, gold, and reds.

Floors started out as wood planks with area rugs. Reformers stated that carpet was not only wasteful, not reusable, and hard to clean but also that it was unhealthy due bacteria build up. If wood floors are not desirable to the client, then parquet floors were the next solution. Unfortunately, parquet flooring is too expensive for homeowners.

Other floors were tile, linoleum, and kamptulicon. Typical walls had a tripartite design followed by three horizontal divisions. most people chose wallpaper. Mantles are the focal point of the room. they decorated the cabinets, shelves, brackets, etc with niches in design. Most of the doors are paneled and may be stained or painted to match the rest of the woodwork.

Lighting during this time was primarily auxiliary lighting. gas and electric lighting was available but they were unreliable.

Aesthetic movement furniture pictures

Aesthetic movement was not only popular in England but was also popular in France and Italy. Aesthetic literature provides a great value to the work of art emphasising the need of beauty. The Victorian age was the age of reason and logic.

There was no place for imagination, romanticism as well as adventure. The lack of the ideal of beauty in the forms of art was found in this period. During this period art used to carry a moral and a sentimental message.

This became quite obvious and there were lots of people who started losing interest in this form of art. This is one of the major reasons for the Victorian era aesthetic movement. There were certain writers who wanted the aesthetic value to be added to literature and other forms of art.

The artists and writers who supported this form believed that art should be used to offer a refined sensual pleasure to the readers as well as the writers. The aesthetics themselves developed a cult of beauty for their literature and they wanted to use that cult for their work.

According to them, this beauty would make their work more attractive and wanted. These people were even against the didactic form of art. They only wanted to make art beautiful. There were certain characteristics of writing found during the Victorian era aestheticism movement.

These characteristics were the use of symbols, suggestions instead of any firm statement, music, and sensuality. Words equalled to music in the works of these artists. They created an aesthetic effect with the help of music, word and color.

The value of aesthetics was taken up by the poets and Keats and Shelley became the predecessors to follow this movement in the world of logic and reasoning. The similar style was maintained in visual arts as well.

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Aestheticism is the term which was used in a movement to emphasize the aesthetic value of art. This movement took place in the 19th century England. This movement was usually meant to give importance to the aesthetic value more than the social and political themes in literature as well as other forms of art.

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Victorian social classes were set up in three stages or statues. irst was the upper class were the royals and the rich families were located. Second the middle class was were the shop keeping families were found. The last class is the working class. this class consisted of poor laborers with skill and some without work skills.

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What was the change in the Victorian society in England after the Industrial Revolution? Read on..

How was the Victorian society structure?

The Victorian society was divided into nobility Upper Class, Middle Class, and the Working Class. The Victorian Upper Class consisted of the Aristocrats, Nobles, Dukes, other wealthy families working in the Victorian courts.

The Upper Class was in a powerful position giving them authority, better living conditions, and other facilities. Read more about the nobility titles in Victorian Britain.

The hereditary aristocratic families by the early 19th century had taken a keen interest in the industrial sector. Due to the changing nature of the basic standard of living of the people, the traditional families were now slowing disappearing and instead, a new combination of nobles and the steadily growing wealthy class comprised of the Upper Section of the society.

Life of Victorian Upper Class

The Upper Class was by inheritance a Royal Class. Many Aristocrats did not work as for centuries together their families had been gathering enough money for each generation to live a luxurious life. However, there were a number of aristocrats who managed large industries like mining or shipping, etc.

In terms of education also those belonging to the rich families got the best tutors to provide education. The fact that they represented the royal class gave these people an advantage at everything.

They could buy expensive clothes imported from Europe, or afford other riches of life that was beyond the scope of others.

Victorians Middle-class life

The Middle class was the next in social ranking. The Victorian period was very prosperous for the middle class. Middle-class people also owned and managed vast business empires. The middle-class population at the very start of the Victorian era was limited to a few.

The Industrial Revolution in the mid-century of the era brought about drastic changes in the standard of living of the Victorian Middle-Class people. These revolutions opened the doors for more job opportunities and earn a decent living. This, in turn, had a positive impact on the education of children.

Victorian Working class

The lowest among the social hierarchy were the working class. This class remained aloof to the political progress of the country and was hostile to the other two classes. This working class was further categorised as the skilled workers and the unskilled workers.

Due to the revolution, the industrial workers got jobs thus improving their living conditions. However, the unskilled workers who were placed below the skilled one remained unemployed and were vulnerable to the exploitation.

The working class was the worst affected class in the Victorian times. Lack of money resulted in a negligible food supply. For some working families, the living conditions were so pathetic that they required their children to work in order to bring home some extra income to survive.

The death of their father meant that there is no income to the family and they eventually were forced to live on streets or some public housing. There were some families which would reside in a single room just to have a shelter over their head. The conditions were so brutal for the working class that at times children were forced to work away from their parents.

Status of the Women in Victorian society

Industrial Revolution attributed to the change in the status of women. According to the traditional family pattern, the women were supposed to look after the household chores and take care of children while the men would earn money. There was a strong presence of male dominance in the society. Women were to obey what men told them to do.

The revolution gave women an opportunity to work and earn money, thus changing the old beliefs. Working women not only shared the burden of earning money but it also gave them a sense of security.

Their lives were no longer restricted to the house and children. The segregation of large families into nuclear ones also added to the change in the women's lives.

Child Labor in Victorian society

Child labor was rampant throughout the Victorian period. A major reason attributing to it was the fact that the families did not earn much and the food prices had increased for certain duration. This made it difficult for the earning members to earn enough to buy food and satisfy the requirements of the family.

Also, the family structure comprised of grandparents, parents, children, aunts, uncles etc. The number of family members living together was burdensome. Thus, parents were forced to send their children to work and bring some more money. However, despite working for long hours, the children were underpaid and as such their living conditions hardly improved.

Victorian era society: Politics

The English government under the rule of Queen Victoria was a monarchy which also comprised of a Parliament. The Parliament was a Bicameral legislature which consisted of The House of Lords and The House of Commons. The said houses would meet separately and passed a bill as law by majority votes.

However, for the bill to passed, it was necessary that both the houses accent to it. The members of the House of Lords not elected by public voting and Lord Chancellor was appointed to supervise its activities. On the other hand, the members of the House of Commons were elected by public voting.

In the initial years of the Victorian period, there were two strong political parties, The Whigs and the Tories (Conservatives). These were the first political parties in England who dominated the political field throughout the Victorian reign.

The Whigs were in favor of growth of the Parliament and wanted to restrict the royal power. Towards the end of 1850, the Whigs became Liberals. They were of the opinion that Parliament should all the decisions and all men should have a right to vote and elect members.

In 1858, Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister of England resigned from his post after the Orsini plot against Napolean III, the French emperor fell out. Tories, the other dominant party was in favor of monarchy.

Many rich officials belonging to high posts were members of this party. Their view about voting was exactly opposite to that of the Whigs. Tories believed that only those men who were rich and owned large plots of land should have the right to vote.

How do we know about Victorian society?

Victorian era was not too long ago and the printing press was already invented. As a result of that, we have several authors and their popular books that describe life in Victorian society accurately.

Works of popular authors like Charles Dickens and Bronte sisters has already produced several popular plays and have been turned into movies and TV series.

Besides that, several Victorian painters and artists have their work carefully preserved in museums. These also depict the landscapes, battles and life in general in Victorian society.

Several buildings constructed during Victorian era are still standing tall and are masterpieces of beauty and elegance. London still has several of Victorian structures intact.

Museums in London like V&A museum, Tate modern have several artifacts that show the art and fashion in Victorian England.

Many railway tracks, train stations are from the Victorian era.

All these aspects make research about Victorian society much easier.

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Victorian society social structure. Various classes and their lives

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The Victorian era Society Facts: Upper Class, Middle Class, Working Class, Child Labour, Women's Role. Evidences from Victorian times

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In the Victorian era they would wear an evening dress with a shawl. A shawl would also be worn to cover their revealed flesh. They would wear hoop skirts and tight corsets.

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Early Victorian Costume History 1837-1860

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Early Victorian fashion history 1837-1858 and dating of the Victorian silhouette. Victorian era fashion innovations.

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The corps of the dead usually stayed in the home until burial. This was during the time of Queen Victoria's reign.

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When people died during the reign of Queen Victoria the corpse usually stayed in the home until the burial. The body was surrounded by family and friends where viewing and touching the deceased were commonplace. Even children were not spared from viewing the dead, and in poor homes they may have had to share a room or even a bed with a dying sibling.

There were rules of etiquette written about funerals regarding the planning, flowers, services and mourning of a loved one. Some of these rules were probably less strict in rural areas.

Etiquette dictated certain lengths and stages of mourning as well as colors and fabrics. Each family member, or servant living with the family went through a period of mourning. Women were expected to mourn for two years. They adopted a wardrobe of black crape without lace or decorations. No ornaments were worn, except jet, for the first year. To appear fashionable during times of mourning women of lower class would dye their clothing black. Gentlemen wore black cheviot suits with broad crape bands on their hats, and black gloves. Children also wore black, and babies were dressed in white garments trimmed with black ribbons.

Postmortem photography of the deceased often served as mementos of families who could not afford a painted portrait. Having a photo of the deceased, especially of children, was particularly important when no other photos already existed. The invention of the Carte de Visite, which enabled multiple prints to be made from a single negative, meant that images could be sent to distant relatives, or used on memorial cards announcing the child's death. The deceased were commonly represented as though they were peacefully sleeping rather than dead, although at other times the body was posed to look alive.

Mourning jewelry such as lockets, brooches and rings, usually containing a lock of hair and/or photograph, functioned as tangible reminders of the deceased. While not exclusively for mourning, hair art was a natural way to remember a deceased loved one.

"Hair is at once the most delicate and lasting of our materials, and survives us, like love." -Godey's Lady's Book, May 1855.

Godey's Lady's Book and Peterson's Magazine introduced the craft of making mourning jewelry, which soon became a popular pastime. Preparation was important. First the hair was boiled in soda water for 15 minutes. It was then sorted into lengths and divided into strands of 20-30 hairs. Most pieces of jewelry required long hair. For example, a full size bracelet called for hair 20 to 24" long. Sometimes horse hair was used because it was coarser than human hair, and thus easier for a beginner.

Godey's reminded readers that while mourning etiquette dictated only jet jewelry as being allowed during the first stage of mourning, during the second stage of mourning one could wear a brooch or bracelet made of hair detailed with a gold and black enamel clasp. Even a watch chain or plain gold belt buckle was permissible for widowers to wear if it was made of hair, or if it enclosed hair. The fashion for all mourning jewelry came to an end at the turn of the 20th century with the death of Queen .

Further information can be found on the following websites: A Lively Look at the History of Death
(Jet Mourning Jewelry Photo Source: www.timedancesby.com)

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When people died during the reign of Queen Victoria the corpse usually stayed in the home until the burial. The body was surrounded by family and friends where viewing and touching the deceased were commonplace. Even children were not spared from viewing the dead, and in poor homes they may have had to share a room or even a bed with a dying sibling.

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Queen Victoria was queen of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain between 1837 to 1901. She also served as empress of India from 1877 until her death in 1901.

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Queen Victoria was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901-the second longest reign of any other British monarch in history.

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One of the greatest differences in the Victorian age is how quiet the streets were. It was considered rude to take loudly in the streets because it might draw attention to that particular person.

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In the victorian Era a woman could not go alone on any dates without a man to be with her. The woman had to act like a lady and marry to a wealthy or royal family.

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The Victorian period is also regarded as the era of Romanticism. In those days, courtship was considered to be a tradition and was very popular. Queen Victoria and her family were the idols of the Victorian society, even in the case of courtship. The society had laid down some stringent rules for courting and these had to be followed.

Social rules in the victorian era

The primary method of knowing prospective suitors were Balls and dances. Society would know young Victorian ladies through a ball or dance. This was called "coming out" and was an indication that a young woman was interested in finding potential suitors.

During Victorian era, a couple which dated would normally get married. After marriage, the property of the woman was automatically transferred to her husband. The Victorian girls, from the very beginning, were well trained and groomed to become the perfect wives and mothers.

A woman was never permitted to go out alone and meet a gentleman. She was always accompanied by some elderly person and it was necessary for the girl to take her mother's permission before going out. Thus, some or the other kind of supervision was ensured when the couples were meeting.

A woman was never allowed to go out at night with a gentleman. There were many rules in respect of dating which were to be complied with.

Some of the rules of victorian courting

1. A single woman never addressed a gentleman without an introduction.

2. No impure conversations were held in front of single women.

3. A woman could not receive a man at home if she was alone. Another family member had to be present in the room.

4. There was no physical contact between the woman and the gentleman until marriage.

5. Victorian etiquette for men courting dictated that a man could offer the girl his hand if the road was uneven. That was the only touch, which was accepted between a man and a woman, who was not engaged to him.

6. A woman was allowed some liberties, however. She could flirt with her fan, as this behavior was within the protocol of accepted behavior.

7. An unmarried girl would never date a man at the night. A man could not stay for long in a girl's home. This was considered extremely impolite.

8. Even if the girl entered the stage of courtship, she could never walk with the gentleman.

9. Women were restrained to ride alone in the closed carriage with a man, expect for a close relative.

10. The girl should not be invited by any gentleman at his place.

11. If engaged, the gentleman could not turn back to see any other girl.

12. Even after an engagement, the couple was not allowed to have sexual behavior.

13. In the relationship, intelligence was not at all required, neither any interest in the politics.

Victorian era marriage customs
Step 1 - courtship
The Victorian people were very cautious about courtships. The dating would firstly begin when the couple would speak to one another. The next step was to go out for a walk and then lastly by keeping company. The upper class socialized at social events while the lowers classes socialized at events like Sunday Service or Church suppers.
Step 2 - engagement
After the couple had developed mutual affection, the next step to strengthen their relation was marriage. The second stage of the courtship was engagement. After getting engaged, the couple could get hold hands in public, go for walks alone, and take unchaperoned rides.

The engaged couple was allowed to meet behind closed doors but had to be dutifully separated by nightfall. The men while dating a woman were discreet to never break an engagement as it tarnished the woman's reputation.
Step 3 - marriage
In Victorian courtships, marriage was the final stage. However, marriage between two persons was permitted so long the couple intending to marry belonged to the same class. After marriage, the woman played the role of a dutiful wife and mother. The dating during the Victorian period was thus very different from what it is today.

Victorian courtship gifts

As you might expect, there were many rules regarding courtship during the Victorian era.

A lady who maintained the rigid strictures of Victorian society wasn't allowed to accept lavish or expensive gifts at the hands of a gentleman not related or engaged to her.

According to one etiquette expert of the 1870s - 1890s, Professor Thomas E. Hill, there were four items she could accept from a gentleman while still maintaining propriety.
Books, confectionery, flowers, sheet music.
Usually, gentlemen were not supposed to give gifts to ladies unless that lady was their fiancée or a relative. Even then, as per Mrs. Houghton:

"A costly gift from a gentleman to a young lady would be indelicate, as having the appearance of a bribe upon her affections."

Instead, etiquette demanded that a gentleman gifts flowers, fruit, or candy. These gifts were perishable and therefore left no obligation upon the lady receiving them.

Christmas gifts

Extract from 1879 edition of Harper's Bazaar

"Gentlemen do not care for the pretty trifles and decorations that delight ladies; and as for real necessities, they are apt to go and buy anything that is a convenience just as soon as it is discovered."

However, as a general rule, smoking caps, sleeping caps, and house slippers were popular gifts for gentlemen relations, as were handkerchiefs and tobacco pouches.

Books about courtship etiquettes

Several books were published explaining the rules of etiquette to both genders. Here are names of some of those:

Godey's Lady Book, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, Manners for Men by Mrs. C.E. Humphry, The Laws of Etiquette: or, short rules and reflections for conduct in society, by a gentleman, and Manners and Social Usages.

These books explained several rules for social behavior and those in the Victorian times closely practiced them.

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Victorian era courtship rules and marriage facts

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The Victorian period is also regarded as the era of Romanticism. In those days, courtship was considered to be a tradition and was very popular. Queen Victoria and her family were the idols of the Victorian society, even in the case of courtship.