The Harsh Reality Behind Victorian England’s Powerful Class System

The Harsh Reality Behind Victorian England’s Powerful Class System

I want to take a look at the class system in Victorian England. When we think about the Victorian age, we imagine the grand, elaborate houses, the elegant dresses, and the powerful British Empire. But underneath all of that was a society that was deeply divided. Victorian society had a very clear class system. Where you were born could and did shape almost every part of your life. Everything from the way you spoke and dressed to the opportunities that were available to you right down to the people who you were expected to marry.

At the beginning of the Victorian period in 1837, England was still hugely influenced by the old order. The aristocracy and landed gentry was at the very top of society.  Families that had titles, estates, and had inherited wealth saw themselves as the natural leaders. Many of them had political influence and social power that had been handed down for generations. Underneath  them was the fast growing middle class. They were made up of businessmen, factory owners, merchants, doctors, and lawyers. Then there was the large working class, they included factory workers, servants, miners, dock workers, and labourers.

Industrialisation had begun to change society extremely fast. Factories, railways, and trade was creating opportunities for people that had not existed for them before. Some people who had been born into poverty were suddenly able to build businesses and to make their own fortunes. Men like George Hudson who was a railway entrepreneur, rose from a modest background to become incredibly wealthy and influential. Self-made industrialists could now earn more money than some of the old aristocracy. This started to slowly blur the traditional boundaries of class.

But money did not bring people acceptance. Victorian society was extremely rigid. Old aristocratic families looked down on “new money,” even more so if it came from trade or industry. A wealthy factory owner might buy a grand country house, but some members of high society still viewed them as their social inferior. Their accent, manners, education, and family connections was clearly different and frowned on. Some people even tried to change the way they spoke or behaved in an attempt to fit in.

Compared with some other countries, Victorian England’s class system was clearly visible. In parts of the United States, wealth could sometimes create faster social acceptance because the country did not have the same deeply rooted aristocracy. In France, the old nobility had lost much of its formal power after the French Revolution, although social divisions still remained. England continued to value inherited status throughout much of the nineteenth century.

Despite this rigidity, change was possible, albeit difficult. Educational reforms, expanding industries, and the growing cities slowly allowed some families to improve their position in society over several generations. A labourer’s son might be able to become a clerk, and his own son might attend university. But for many working-class families, poverty was still a trap. It would have been incredibly hard to escape it. Long working hours, overcrowded housing, illness, and low wages could keep entire generations stuck in poverty.

 

Do you think that todays society still has class divisions?