Leisure in Victorian and Edwardian England - Essay Example

? number This paper shall analyse the emergence of the novel as the main form of literature during the Victorian era and its consolidation in later ages, including the Edwardian era. Apart from this, the emergence of department stores and their significance in the new disposition shall also be analysed in the paper. Travel and tourism as a form of entertainment shall also be looked into. The perspective that shall inform these readings shall be that of class and its ramifications, its importance in shaping the consciousness of a society and communities within it.  Leisure in the Victorian and Edwardian Eras Forms of leisure in most societies are an important indicator of the class identities of the people who practice them. Access to certain forms of leisure is denied to people of the lower classes and this serves to demarcate them from the upper classes. In popular representations of the Victorian and the Edwardian eras, this demarcation is clear and is used, on most occasions to distinguish between the upper and lower classes. Conversely, this also affects the way the class consciousness of a particular community is formed. The activities of leisure that a community indulges itself in is something that is formed by its class consciousness, but at the same time, also forms the class consciousness of that community. The Victorian and Edwardian eras in England were marked by an opulence that was based on the wealth earned through the imperial endeavours of the British state. This paper shall seek to analyse the development of the consciousness of communities belonging to different classes, through an analysis of different social institutions. The different institutions shall be analysed in different paragraphs. The rise of the novel as the main form of entertainment during the Victorian age says a lot about the changing social structures of this age. Social mobility was a major feature of the Victorian age. This came about as a result of the increase in trade during this age and the dismantling of the social hierarchies that privileged the gentry, to a certain extent. This was partially a result of the French revolution that questioned the sanctity of these class-relations (Hobsbawm). This mobility gets reflected in the features of the novel of this period. Not only was the novel considered a means of entertainment for the lower and the middle classes, they were also considered as the suitable form of entertainment for women, thus being a proof of the social turmoil that was characteristic of the period. The novels of this period showcased the rise of men and women from positions of social inferiority to high ranks within the society. This was a result of the readership of the novel which consisted mainly of the emergent bourgeoisie and also the larger context of the novel, the upwardly mobile lower and middle classes of England. For instance, in Jane Austen’s famous work, Pride and Prejudice, apart from the heroine’s rise from a lower position in the society to that of a high ranking lady, it is also interesting to note that case of the Bingleys. Having acquired wealth through trade and commerce, Mr. Bingley is an extremely eligible bachelor and a nice ‘catch’ even for the Bennets, who essentially belong to the aristocracy. The social mobility of Mr. Bingley is one of the most interesting features of this book and forms a part of its significance for a study of the Victorian age (Austen). Not only does the novel talk about social mobility, it also influenced the way people thought about themselves and their position on the social ladder. The ideas given in novels also resulted in a lot of people of the middle classes actively trying to improve their lot. The situation was thus, one where the emergence of the novel influenced the bourgeoisie and vice-versa. This proves what leisure historians like J.A. Mangan has argued, where they talk of the “ways in which differential types of leisure and the values embodied in them are linked to social class and class consciousness” (Mangan 14) The discoveries of the ‘new world’ and the impact of colonialism greatly increased the curiosity of the average Englishman, who took to travelling as an activity that he would engage in for the purpose of leisure. With more money flowing into the economy as a result of the industrious middle classes who sought to enrich the coffers of the state through their imperial conquests, people of this age had more money for travel as a means of entertainment. Harry Robinson points to the increase in the amount of travel that occurred during this age and the adventurous spirit of the middle classes that fuelled it to an extent (Robinson). The age of the bourgeoisie, the activities of this age represented their aspirations and their views about life. Travel as a means of broadening one’s horizons had also an effect on the way people perceived themselves. A great knowledge of different places, acquired through travel was considered necessary for a position in the middle classes and to possess the worldview that the middle classes of the age possessed. It is this very spirit of the bourgeoisie that fuelled the rise of departmental stores that gave rise to the first instances of consumerism in the world. Frequenting these places became a popular pastime for women who had the money and the time to shop. The money would essentially come from the men in the family or from family wealth and since women of the upper classes were not encouraged to work, they had all the time that they needed for indulging in the pleasures of consumerism. Like other activities of leisure, this too helped create a class- based consciousness for the middle classes and the departmental store came to be associated with the new age and the new classes. With the progress in time of the Victorian era, trade and commerce gave rise to new cities that had centres of leisure both for the upper and lower classes, both of which would sometimes overlap. The opium dens of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray indicate the emergence of new forms of leisure that could not be discussed in respectable circles of the time, but was practiced widely. The novel is significant for the purpose of this paper since it seems to legitimize murder as a form of leisure, but only for the lower classes, who, according to Wilde’s opinion, since they do not have access to any other form of art as a means of leisure, may practice murder in an artful manner (Joyce, 409). This was a part of the movement in art that was called aestheticism, which valued beauty over all other aspects, in the field of art. Wilde’s theory is one that places activities of leisure squarely within the brackets of class. It also indicates his ideas regarding the lower classes, who he thinks are more prone to violence. The consciousness of class, by the end of the Victorian era and the beginning of the Edwardian era, had seeped into the different classes completely, and this is made amply clear by Wilde’s statement (Wilde). Activities of leisure in the Victorian and Edwardian eras in England underwent changes that were of a massive scale, due to the changing social and topographical landscape of the age. However, the choice of activity for each class remained confined to those activities that were assigned to them by their classes. These served to demarcate the classes and mould the social consciousness of each. Overlapping of these activities was essentially something that was a transgression and led to expulsion from the community. An analysis of the activities of leisure and the associations of leisure that it carried is thus, a suitable entry-point to an analysis of the Victorian age. Works Cited Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Revolution. New Delhi: Abacus, 2009. Print. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New Delhi: Penguin, 1996. Print. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Michael Patrick Gillespie. New York: A Norton Critical Edition, 2008. Print. Joyce, Simon. “Sexual politics and the aesthetics of crime: Oscar Wilde in the nineties”. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Michael Patrick Gillespie. New York: A Norton Critical Edition, 2008. Print. Mangan, J.A. A sport-loving society: Victorian and Edwardian middle-class England at play. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. 14 Read More