Social Class in both Reality & "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
The society of the Victorian Era was pretty significant becuase it was known to some as the Second Renassance and it also marked the beginning of the Modern Societies that we know today. Throughout the Victorian Era men were held higher in society and in order to be considered a "gentleman" or a "lady" he or she had to have an education from a private school, this causing disruptions in the "working class." Reforms and changes were soon to be on their way.
This era also marked new scientific discoveries, such as modern Psychology with Sigmund Freud, Darwin's Theory of Evolution, and Karl Marx began a second reform of Marxism, socialism, and feminism started. The dress of the the "Upper class" was drastically different from that of the "lower class." Certain things showed people's different stances in society. The "richer" persons where able to not work and were able to throw lavish parties and buy expensive outfits to look "good." They were able to attain certain types of food and more jewlery whereas the working class wasn't able to have all these luxuries.
Most of the homes in the Victorian Era were very gaudy and showy becuase people had to show their stance in society and show that they had more money than the next person. Homes tended to be big with a lot of bedrooms and more "sitting rooms" than in a whole hotel. Each room had a different theme and most likely had very different funuriture. The men of that era were also very consistent when it came to having artists paint portraits of them and their wives, which were also displayed throughout these homes. This is another sign of wealth.
The Victorian Society in "The Picture of Dorian Gray," was depicted just so. The men were regarded more than the women, there were portraits being painted, there was lavish homes with tea parties. The men were well spoken individuals and very witty when it came to discussions about women. "I am analyzing women at present, so I ought to know. The subject is not so abtruse as I thought it was. I find that, ultimately, there are only two kinds of women, the plain and the coloured. The plain are very useful. If you want to gain a reputation for for respectability, you have merely to take them down to supper. The other women are very charming. They commit one mistake, however. They paint in order to try and look young. Our grandmothers painted in order to try to look brilliantly..." This quote represents Lord Henry's veiw and explanation of women.
I have realized that this era was one that was basis for our society today. It was intresting to see how the women were treated!!
The Role of Women
The roles of the women in both "The Picture of Dorain Gray," and in reality are extremely similar. Like I have said before, the men seemed to be regarded more as the "head of the household." Women seemed and appeared to be viewed as be somewhat ignorant and stupid. These women appeared to be more "prudish" becuase they weren't exposing their arms and legs and they dare not speak of their bedroom mannerisms in public. The women were more modest due to the strict laws they were to forbid by.
They were seen as being good for nothing other than eye candy, birthing babies, and throwing parties. The women wore corsets, ballonish sleeves and crinolines and eventually the bustle. They always wore dresses and had their hair all done up, they were made up most of the time too. They were in this world to look pretty. The women along with the men were also to have a "private school education." Yet they were still regarded as being ignorant and just wanting men. A quote from Dorian Gray says it all; "... When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. WHen a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Woman try their luck; men risk theirs... Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them they will forgive us for everything, even our intellects."
Some women did some charity work, they worked in hospitals as nurses and some were even used as domestic slaves. During the Victorian Era the role of women and what they did and how they were percieved was defined by their appearance and their intellect. The women were expected to be childlike, pale and indeterminate, passive, submissive, mindless, genteel and of course nice. They were basically supposed to be dolls.
The women that were presented in "The Picture of Dorian Gray," are also viewed the same as the women in the Victorian Society, they are being misrepresented and shown as men dependent, love hungry, crazy women. I disagree. The Victorian Era seemed to give women a bad name and Queen Victoria doesn't help the image of the Victorian women by sharing her expeirences with the world.
The Sole Structure of the Society
The structure of the Victorian Society was based off of Englands views, laws, and culture. The laws were close to those of the Renassance era but were modernized, making the basis of our laws today. Men were seen as the dominant model and were to be cleanly dressed at all times. They were to wear straight 'stove pipe' pants, ties, many styles of shirts, jackets, and of course hats. It was even stylish for men to have facial hair of different styles and shapes. The men were to have jobs and the women were supposed to nurse and look pretty. The "working class" men wore nothing that made them truely stand out, they weren't intrested in high fashion
The men and the "working" class were to work in the textile industry and until they passed the child labor law, a child at the age of nine was able to work in a factory. To show stance, modesty, and wealth, women wore gaudy jewelry and men had paintings of themselves done and hung up. Then of course after he was painted, came his wife and family. The population of the wealthy seemed to be high at that time also the industrial revolution was pulling a lot of money.
The men and women were expected to have the mannerisms and speech to match up to that of a King or a Queen. The Government was trying to be modled as a Parliament or an anarchy even. The people of this era appeared to be very religous and felt like they if they sinned they should repent. One character in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" explains it. "We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. . . . Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful. It has been said that the great events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also."
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