1. Upper class: The royal/ wealthy/ powerful families dominated the upper class, which include nobility such as kings, queens etc who lead great social influence. This class also includes those who lived luxuriously and who frequently apply royal values, influencing the cultural and political situation at that time.

2. Middle class: There are the upper middle class which includes rich professionals, industrialist and merchants, who wanted to achieve the upper class status, by living well and actively participating in social activities. The lower middle class includes clerks, small company owners, who wanted stability and respectability while working hard to advance their positions of careers through their education journeys.

3. Working class: the working class is divided into 2 categories which included the skilled workers who had specialised skills and receives higher salaries. For the unskilled labours such as factory workers etc who works in harsh environment/ condition and received often low salaries, lower chances for advancement.

4. Under class: includes the homeless, criminals, they lived in a poverty situation with terrible conditions in the slums (crammed living space), while criminals, prositutes, beggars were oftenly criticised and discriminated.

The poor:

Life was quite difficult during the Victorian era as people worked for very low wages and if a worker lost his job, he could've lost almost everything if he couldn't pay for it. Poor people lived in cramped and filthy homes and was common for a whole family to live in a room.

The roles of men and women during the victorian era was sharply defined as men worked more than women, women mostly stayed at home and took care of the family and did not work alongside the men

The sanitation during the victorian era was quite bad, the poor individuals during the victorian era could not afford indoor toilets and shared toilets with other random people and many had to use open cesspits(poop in a hole on the ground).

The rich:

The wealthy during the victorian era lived a lavish life mostly consisting of hiring the poor to do their daily chores for this for example: cooking, cleaning and sewing for them. They lived in homes with gas lamps instead of candles and lavishly decorated their homes to flex their lifestyle

Victorian times lots of rules like how to act ladies stayed home kids good men worked broke rules bad no friends respectable important not rich strict some people questioned rules big changes later

• The objective of keeping women and a family safe at home ( called the head of the household )  and also providing comfort is the success of male during the Victorian times . Hence , having the ability to work through hardships and taking care of family is the ideal for male which eventually made him respectable by his peers and other men in society

Women:

• Women in the Victorian Era were systematically assigned to  1 singular role. To marry the men and partake in whatever their business were, and whatever interested them. Before marriage, women from the middle class  were expected to be taught to clean the house, wash the dishes, cook meals, etc. Otherwise, the wealthier women were not expected to do these, as they had maids at home.   The women were expected to marry, have children, and keep a nice household. Those were the only acceptable roles for women during that era.

This is referred to by historians as "separate spheres," and it indicates that a woman was a trophy (a physical display)  of the house, while men belonged in the realm of businesses and economy.

Impact of "Separate Spheres":

• In addition to defining gender roles, the idea of seperate spheres helped maintain social norms that minimized women's contributions outside the house. Women's accomplishments were frequently disregarded while males took leading roles in business and public life. As women started to question these limitations at the end of the Victorian period in an effort to gain greater power and social acknowledgment, this split influenced the larger conversation on gender equality.

-morality: aside from the law, Victorian society held strong moral values within religious beliefs, deeming homosexual relationships as immoral and unnatural, the societal norms dictated that such relationships went against the natural order and were seen as a threat to traditional family structure.

- literary and artistic expression: as a homosexual, Oscar Wilde has subtly expressed his opinions on same sex relationships in a more secret way as society at the time was disapproving same sex sexuality and would hate on people who were homosexual, making the author Oscar Wilde talk about these problems under the score. other artists of the aestheticism movement also explored themes of homosexuality in their books, but they were often encoded in metaphors or symbolism to avoid censorship.

these facts illustrate the oppressive and challenging environment that individuals in same-sex relationships faced during the Victorian era, highlighting the deep-rooted legal repercussions they encountered.

There was a loophole in the 19th and early 20th century, when the only expected path for women was to be good homemaker for one’s husband and produce as many children as possible, which enabled some society ladies to eschew traditional marriages and marry their female friends, finding financial security, companionship, and safety, independent of men. These same sex unions, generally between wealthy and well-educated women, became termed “Boston Marriages”. Boston Marriages were especially common in academic settings, since women who were married were expected to give up their prestigious positions in order to be a wife and mother at home. 

Grace: There were four main classes during Victorian Era, which consisted Upper Class, Middle Class, Working Class and Lower Class. In the Upper Class, it concluded earls, dukes, nobility and wealthy landowners. They lived in large estates and their lives were marked with luxury and social events. In the Middle Class, it concludes professionals, merchants and factory owners. The Middle Class focused on education, morality and etc. In the Working Class, it included Factory Workers, Manual labourers and Domestic servants. Living conditions were often poor, especially in urban areas, characterized by overcrowded housing and lack of sanitation. Many worked long hours for low pay. Lastly in the Lower Class, They were the very poor, often referred to as the "submerged tenth." This included the unemployed, homeless, and those in dire poverty. They faced extreme hardship, lacking basic necessities. Many depended on charity or the workhouse system for survival.

Fiona: The victorian society during the writing of the Dorian Gray was Characterized by a rigid social hierarchy. There was a clear distinction between upper, middle, and working class. During this period moral standards were strict, they emphasized greatly on modesty often reveling a hypocrisy in private behavior. Then the aesthetic movement emerged, celebrating beauty and art, while tradtional gender roles were also changing and there was visible beginning of woman's rights movement. Rapid industrialization transformed urban life and labor, accompanied by significant scientific advancements that challenged old beliefs. During this period there was also a flourish of literature and arts, this is how the author of this book shaped his work.

Men ; For men, on the other hand, were the independent ones in the family, as they belonged in the public sphere, having to participate in politics and other paid work. They were also expected to work all day, earning enough money to pay rent and provide for the family. They were also known as “bread winners” as they were responsible for providing bread ( a staple food for all classes ) for his wife and children. Men also played a high role in Victorian society, as they valued pride in their hard work and aptitude for good social behaviour. 

The Victorian society also share similar values as the Feudal Japanese Society, which is also known as the Edo Period, as they had a rather rigid class system, since men were expected to have jobs such as samurais, farmers, artisans or merchants, which also shows the reminiscent of the Victorian expectations in men. Similarly, women also had alike limitations, as their duty was mainly confined to domestic spheres and taking care of family members and children. 

• women:Before the Victorian era, though women were always responsible for childcare and domestic labour, most women still chose to work alongside their husbands. The wives and daughters of a family would still know what was happening in their world of work and offer support to their husbands  despite their duties. 

• men: Men were expected to be the main source of income in a family, which still reflects on our modern society, most men worked from home as parts of a trade like blacksmiths or agricultural labourers

victorian era

• women: The main goal for women in the Victorian era was motherhood. It is regarded in society as the highest achievement. A woman wasn't expected to have an education, she was expected to learn sewing, cooking, time management etc. most women were to learn to be wives and mothers from their own families, Victorians believed deeply in the importance of family and the job of keeping home and family together was down to the woman along with keeping the house clean and tidy, cooking meals and bringing up children 

• men: Men were seen to be the main breadwinner of a family, they were expected to work all day to provide enough money to pay for rent, food and other essentials. Young boys were expected to have an education starting from a young age, and once education had finished, they were expected to have full time jobs, to prepare themselves for raising a family

i like my current life cuz its very convenient and itll be more comfortable than the vicotrian era

Hong Yiu: I would not want to live in the Victorian period, because the society back has strict rules to what men and women should and should not do, and the people were treated very unequally due to the different social classes that they are split to.

also, living in the victorian era would also mean technological limitations. i would much rather be in the modern world with more advancements in healthcare, technology, and social progress.

Grace: No, i would not because i wouldn't wanna live in an era where women could not do things on their own and are expected to get married without completing university and had very few rights and were often confined to domestic roles. The ideal of the "angel in the house" meant that women were expected to focus solely on homemaking and child-rearing, with little opportunity for education or employment. I don't see myself being able to survive in Victorian Era.

Fiona: Personally was a woman I would not want to live in the Victorian Era since at that time there was still not equal rights for both genders and woman were required to raise children and stay at home. I feel like it would feel like I am confined to a cage and have no reasons for living except for bearing a child.