VI CTORI ANENGLI SHLI TERATURE I SSUEFALLSEMESTER201 6
acr ashcour seonpover t y i nVi ct or i anEngl and
Aspeci alt hankyout oPr of essorChenChungj enf ort heoppor t uni t yt owor kont hi sexci t i ngďŹ nalassi gnment .
FOREWORD Thi szi nei savi suali nqui r yoft hepover t yi ssues i nVi ct or i ansoci et y.I ssuescover edwi l li ncl ude soci alst r at i ďŹ cat i on,l ai ssezf ai r eeconomy,ut i l i t ar i ani sm,andt hewor khousesyst em.Thezi ne wi l li ncl udeexcer pt sf r om t hewor ksofVi ct or i an wr i t er swhohaver espondedt ot hesei ssuesi nl i t er at ur e, f eat ur i ngoneoft hemostout spokenVi ct or i anaut hor sont hi ssubj ect —Char l esDi ckens, andhi snovelOl i verTwi st .Thi szi nei st opr ovi de abasi cunder st andi ngofhow pover t yi sshaped i nVi ct or i ansoci et y.
THEBEGI NNI NG “ I twast hebestoft i mes, i twast hewor stoft i mes. ” Ami dt he whi r l of economi c pr osper i t y and sci ent i ficadvancesoft he Vi ct or i an er a,t her e wassqual or ,di seaseandpover t y.Ast heBr i t i sh Empi r eunder wentt heAgr i cul t ur alandI ndust r i al Revol ut i ons,t he st at e saw an unpr ecedent ed gr owt hi npopul at i on.Fer t i l i t yr at esi ncr easedi n 1 ever ydecadeunt i l1 901 ,andbet ween1 841and
1 901 t he popul at i on i n Engl and and Wal es expanded f r om 1 5. 9 mi l l i on up t o 32. 5 mi l l i on 2 per sons. Thi ssubst ant i ali ncr easei npopul at i on
meantt he gr owt h oft he nat i on’ sl aborf or ce, whi chcont r i but edt ot hest at e’ sover al l economi c pr osper i t y.Butwhatwasbenefici alt ot hest at e di d not necessar i l yi mpl yt he same f or t he i ndi vi dual .
monSzr et er ,Fer t i l i t y,cl assandgenderi nBr i t ai n,1 8601 940 Si ( Cambr i dgeUni ver si t yPr ess, 2002) . 2 Banks,J .A." Popul at i on Change and t he Vi ct or i an Ci t y. " Vi ct or i anSt udi es1 1 . 3( 1 968) :27789. Web. 1
Popul at i onDensi t yi n Engl andandWal es1 851 Popul at i ondensi t y sq. mi l es 5001-51 0300 2501-5000 1 001-2500 750. 1-1 000 500. 1-750. 0 250. 1-500. 0 1 75. 1-250. 0 1 00. 1-1 75. 0 50. 01-1 00. 0 ≤50 nodat a
POPULATI ON DENSI TY 3 CHANGE1 851→1 891 Popul at i onDensi t yi n Engl andandWal es1 891 Popul at i ondensi t y sq. mi l es 5001-475600 2501-5000 1 001-2500 750. 1-1 000 500. 1-750. 0 250. 1-500. 0 1 75. 1-250. 0 1 00. 1-1 75. 0 50. 01-1 00. 0 ≤50. 01 nodat a
HOUSI NGPROBLEMS Such dr ast i ci ncr easei n popul at i on overaj ust hal facent ur yr esul t edi nanumberofhousi ng pr obl emsasmenandwomensur gedi nt ogr owi ng t ownsandci t i es. Thoughci t i eswer eexpandi ngi n si ze,t hepopul at i ondensi t yi nt hem r oseaswel l . Thi smeantt hatmor epeopl ehadt oshar el i mi t ed space.Houseswer er ent edoutast enement st o f ami l i esandi ndi vi dualoccupant s,wi t ht enant s somet i mest aki ng even t hebackyar ds.London, especi al l y,wasi nt ensel yover cr owded.I n1 81 0, London al r eady housed 20. 9 per sonsperacr e; t hi s numberdoubl ed overt he hundr ed year s. ( Banks)I t was t he nor m f or houses i nl ess af uentdi st r i ct st o housemor et han 1f ami l y, and i n some cases as many as 3.I n1 897,t he numberoff ami l i es orsepar at e occupi er s per housei nLondonaver agedat13/ 5;i nSt .Anne, Sohot hi snumberwas31 / 5. Ont heot herhand, sl umsbecamet hedwel l i ngsof t hosewhocoul dnotaf f or dbet t erhousi ng.
Lai ssezf ai r e: “ A phr ase expr essi ve of t he pr i nci pl e t hat gover nmentshoul dnoti nt er f er ewi t ht heact i on ofi ndi vi dual s,esp.i ni ndust r i alaf f ai r sand i n t r ade. ” ( f r om t heOxf or dEngl i shDi ct i onar y)
LAI SSEZFAI RE I nt he1 9t hCent ur yt hegover n-
Thi seconomyal l owedbusi ness-
mentwassi gni ficant l ysmal l er
peopl et opur sueeconomi cac-
t hani ti st oday.Oper at i ngon
t i vi t yf r eel yandunhamper edby
t hepol i cyof“l ai ssezfai re, ”
gover nment alr est r i ct i ons.But
whi chl i t er al l yt r ansl at esi nt o
i nt hel abormar ket ,t hedown-
“l etdo, ”t hegovernmenti m-
side to this “end-justi-
posedf ew r egul at i onsandmi n
fiest hemeans”ment al i t ymani
i mi zedmarketi nterventi on.
fest edi t sel fi nt hatt he“ end”
Li beraleconomi stshel dthe
of t enmeantt hebot t om l i ne.As
bel i eft hat“ wel f ar egai nsmay
theamountofworkersrose
begener at edmostef f ect i vel y
dr ast i cal l y,wagesdr opped.La-
mer el yasabypr oductofeco-
bor er swer eear ni ngj ustenough
nomi cgr owt handt hatgover n-
moneyt osufficeforbasi cne-
mentpol i ci esshoul d, t her ef or e,
cessi t y,andsomeoft hem wer e
si mpl ybedi r ect edatmaxi mi z-
findi ngi ti ncr easi ngl ydi f ficul t
i ngeconomi cgr owt hal one”( Sz-
t omakeendsmeet ,whi l esome
r et er37) . I nshor t ,t heybel i eved
event ual l ydescendedi nt opov-
thatend woul dj usti fy the
er t y.
means.Subsequentl y,the mar ketdur i ngt heVi ct or i aner a becamel ar gel ygover nedbyt he l awsofeconomy,nott hel aws oft hest at e.
SOCI AL STRATI FI CATI ON
THEUPPERCLASS
THEMI DDLECLASS
THEWORKI NGCLASS
THEUNDERCLASS
SOCI ALHI ERARCHY Mor et oconsi der . . .
UTI LI TARI ANI SM Vi ct or i ansoci alval ueswer eheavi l yi nfluencedby ut i l i t ar i ani sm.Fi r stpr oposedbyJ er emyBent ham andl at eradvocat edbyJ ohnSt uar tMi l l ,ut i l i t ar i ani sm pr oposedt hatof fici ali nst i t ut i onsshoul d st r i vet oachi eve“ t hegr eat esthappi nessoft he gr eat estnumber . ”I twast hegover nment ’sr esponsi bi l i t yt obenefitt hemaj or i t yoft hesoci et y. Theut i l i t ar i angover nmentappr ovedofa“ l ai ssezf ai r e”economyt oi nsur ef r eedom ofact i on f oral li ni di vi dual swhower ecapabl eofusef ulor i nt el l i gentconduct .I nshor t ,t heywer efr eet o compet e. However ,t hi seconomyal soi mpl i edt hat t her ewasnosaf t eynetf ort heempl oyedort he poor .Theunder pr i vi l egedmi nor i t ywasof t enne gl ect ed.I twast wosi desoft hesamecoi n:Peopl e wer ef r eet ovent ur eouti nt ot hemar kett owi nal l t heycoul d,butt heywoul dl oseont hei rown.Thi s r esul t edi nawi denedweal t hgapbet weent her i ch andt hepoor . Meanwhi l e,ast hel ai ssezf ai r er ul eandut i l i t ar i an gover nmentcr eat edanunr est r ai ned,f r eeent er pr i sesyst em, i tal socal l edf ort her est r ai nofcr i mi nal s,l unat i cs,degener at esandt hepr ot ect i onof womenandchi l dr enandpauper si nt hei nt er estof awhol esomesoci et y.
Ut i l i t ar i ani sm Lai ssezf ai r e
GOVERNMENT
f r eecompet i t i on wi nnert akesal l nopr ot ect i onf or t he‘ l oser s’
↓ POVERTY
har dl abour l i t t l eenj oyment nocomf or t =noi dl eness encour age wor ker st ogetout ofsyst em sooner
-abur dent osoci et y -l ackofdi sci pl i ne -l ackof MORALI TY
↓
↓ WORK
t oi nst i l lasenseof ‘ mor al i t y’ Ut i l i t ar i ani sm emphasi zed“ ut i l i t y”asameasur i ng sti cktodetermi newhethersomethi ngwasof “ val ue. ”What evert hathadval uewoul dhavehadt o be“ ofuse”t osoci et y.I twasagui di ngpr i nci pl ef or manyoft heVi ct or i angover nment ’sdeci si ons.Thi s i deawasappl i edt oar t ,t ocol l egeeducat i on,t o member soft het opoft hesoci alhi er ar chy,and downbel ow t ot hepoor .
THEPOORLAW ( AMENDMENT)ACTOF 1 834 I nanactt osl ashexpendi t ur eonpover t y,t he PoorLaw ( Amendment )Actof1 834,al soknown asthe ' New'PoorLaw,establ i shed the wor khousesyst em.Theol dpar i shpoor houses andal mshousescoul dnol ongergi veoutany form ofcash support–regardl essofthe har dshi port heseason-andevengi f t s,suchas f ood,shoes,andbl anket s,whi chcoul dhel pa f ami l ysur vi ve,wer enow di sal l owed.Pover t y wasnow consi der edamor alf ai l i ng,ar esul tof one’sown“ i dl eness,di sor der l y,ort hr i f t l ess habi ts, ”and therewoul d beno rel i effor abl ebodi edi ndi vi dual si nneedexceptthe wor khouse,wher et heywer esubj ectt of or ced, har dl abor .Ther e,of fici al sbel i eved,t hepoor woul dfindt hei rwaybacki nt omor al i t y,woul d maket hemsel vesofsomeuse,andevent ual l y r ei nt egr at ei nt ot heut i l i t ar i ansoci et y.
THEWORKHOUSE The i dea oft he wor khouse wast o pr ovi de i t s wor ker swi t hasl i t t l ecomf or taspossi bl e,soas t ogi vet hem ar eason( t hatbei ngast r ongdesi r e t o getoutoft he wor khousessooner )t o wor k har der ,and event ual l y“ r i se out of pover t y. ” Si nce pover t y was consi der ed a mor alf ai l i ng, wor khousesal sodeemedi ti mpor t antt oi nst i l la sense ofmor al i t yi ni t swor ker st hr ough har d wor k. Att hewor khouse,f ami l i eswer esepar at ed,and chi l dr enwer esentaway.Wor ker sl i vedi nt hese wor khousesf ul l t i me,andt oi l edawayf orl ong hour s wi t hl i t t l e orno enj oyment .They wer e assi gneduni f or msandbeds.Anexactpor t i onof f oodwasdol edoutdur i ngmeal saccor di ngt oa fixedDi etTabl e4.
SeeRepor toft heSubCommi t t eeappoi nt edbyt heCommi t t ee of Management ,of t he Par i sh of St .Paul ,CoventGar den. Publ i shedi n1 831 . 4
“ Tot hosewhosement alorbodi l ypower sr emai n i nsuf fici entvi gourt oenabl et hem t osecur et hei r l abourbyt hemeansofsuppor t ,butwho f r om i dl e, di sor der l y, ort hr i f t l esshabi t s, haver educed t hemsel vest o mer i t ed i ndi gence and di sgr ace, yourWor khouseshoul d bef orsuch apl aceof whol esomer est r i ct i onanddi sci pl i ne,whi ch,by enf or ci ng or der l y behavi our and i ndust r i ous habi t sandf ur ni shi ngsuchmeasur eoff oodand cl ot hi ng as may be necessar y f or nat ur e’ s suppor t ,shal lyetconvi nce such i ndi vi dual sof t hepr opr i et yofpr ovi di ngt hemeansoft hei rown suppor tbyt hei rowni ndust r yel sewher e. ”
( Excer ptf r om Repor toft heSubCommi t t eeappoi nt edbyt he Commi t t eeofManagement ,oft hePar i sh ofSt .Paul ,Covent Gar den,f ort her evi si onoft hei rwor khouse,et c.Publ i shedi n 1 831 . )
REFERENCES& WORKSCI TED
PUBLI SHED 25J UN201 6