Victorian time
An interview with Josephine Lane, a well- known historian.
Good morning, Josephine, I´m Belinda Jones and I´m reporting for “BBC NEWS”. I would really like to ask you a few questions about the Victorian time, is that possible?
J: Yeah sure !
B: Well, Josephine, you have already said to me that you know everything about the Victorian time. The people are very interested in the question how the life of the children in this time looked like. So let me begin by asking you to tell me about the children´s life. Did they go to school or did they had to work ? Please explain us a little bit.
J: Sure, okay , poor children in Victorian time as young as five worked for a living. The children were made to work long hours with very little pay. It was very hard for them, because many of the jobs they did were unpleasant, dirrty and dangerous. Many children fell ill or had bad accidents, which left them with injuries. Some worked in coal mines pushing trucks of coal to the surface. They had to work in dark with only the light of a candle to help them see. Other children worked in factories. Children in the country also worked. For example, they had to climb up narrow chimneys in big houses to clean them. This job was very dangerous and dirrty and sometimes the hours were long and often the weather was wet and cold.
B: Oh, how horrible ! And they didn´t go to school ?
J: Only a few children attended school at the beginning of Queen Victoria´s reign. Most poor children worked, because of the money. If they went to school, their families would lose this money. But in 1870 a new law was passed which said there had to be a school in every town and village, so all children had to attend school. The schools were very strict. Pupils were hit with a cane or ruler if they didn´t listen to the teacher or they were punished for making inkplots on the paper.
B:This sounds very hard. Were boys and girls together taught in one class ?
J: For some lessons boys and girls were taught seperately. They had different subjects. Boys learned Woodwork, Maths, Technical drawing and girls things like needlework and housework. In Victorian time boys were taught to be more important than girls.
B: This is very unfair. Now to my next question. Did the children had toys to play with ? How did they spent their freetime ?
J: Children often played in the street with toys, which they had make themselves. They shared toys like hoops, marbles and skipping ropes, with friends in the same street, or in the school playground. They made footballs from old rags,and bats from pieces of wood. Rich children had expensive toys like rocking horses, toy trains, dolls and dolls houses. And at weekends, families often went in the park to hear a band play.
B: Well, so the last question to you. When did the Victorian time started and ended? Which changes took place ?
J: Queen Victoria´s reign started 1837 and ended 1901. It was a period of intensive industrialisation, urbanisation ans social change. Women played a central role in all this. The ideal of femininity was the idea of a “woman`s mission”, which was that of playing a model mother, wife and daugther. Women were also seen as moral and spiritual guardians. The Victorian age was not one, not single,simple,or unfied, only in part because Victoria`s reign lasted so long that comprised several periods. Above all, it was an age of paradox and power.
B: Josephine, thank you very much for the interesting interview. You gave us a lot of informations about the Victorian time . I wish you a nice day !
J: Thank you too, Belinda ! Bye, bye !
