Mouring in the Victorian Era
The actions of Victorians upon a death is a intricate web of rituals and etiquette. In Vanity Fair, William Thackeray gives modern readers a brief glimpse into deep mourning through Amelia Sedley-Osborne.
The idea of deep mourning was introduced by Queen Victoria upon the death of her husband, King Albert, who died of typhoid in 1861. At that time and for forty years after(the time of her death), the Queen mourned the loss of her beloved husband. She commanded her court to dress in mourning with her for the first three years post-mortem. Because of the Queen's extreme actions, the Victorians elected to mimic her ethics. After her death, the world came out of mourning and began to change fashion, which began the Edwardian Period.
Death
Death was a commonplace occurrence in the Victorian Age. "Three of every twenty babies died before their first birthday, and those who survived infancy had a life expectancy of only forty-two years" (Douglas) Death would take place most often in the home. When a death occurs, the entire house stops and takes up deep mourning. Windows are closed. Clocks are stopped. Mirrors were covered. Mirrors were covered because it was believed that a mirror, or reflective surface, could because trapped in it. Bodies would be stored in homes until they were buried. Poor families in their small houses would have to kept the dead in the same quarters as the living until the time of the funeral had arrived. Even children were not sheltered from the deaths around them. They were instructed at all ages on the meaning of death and its rituals. As the Industrial Revolution developed, Middle Class and proper etiquette were defined. Rules and regulations of what was proper was decided...
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...ictorianflair.net/VictorianMourning.html
http://www.datavista.co.uk/ctic/thread.asp?threadid=39
http://www.gbacg.org/mourning98.htm
http://www.msu.edu/user/beltranm/mourning/mourning.htm
http://www.victoriaspast.com/LadyinBlack/ladyinblack.htm
Works Cited
"Death: the Last Taboo." Victorian Era. Australian Museum. 2004. .
Douglas, Anne. Victorian Mourning Customs. Pagewise, Inc. 2002 .
Hell, Kyshah. "Victorian Mourning Garb." Morbid Outlook. .
"Victorian Mourning." Webster Dictionary. 1931. .
Weston, Pauline. Mourning Fashion History. Fashion-era. .
In the essay “On the Fear of Death” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross focuses on dying and the effects it has on children as well as those who are dying, while in Jessica Mitford’s “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” focuses more on the after fact when the deceased is being prepared of their last appearance. Both authors, point out that the current attitude toward death is to simply cover it up. A successful funeral is when the deceased looks “Lyf Lyk” in Mitford’s Essay, but in Kubler-Ross’ it is dying at a peace with oneself, no IVs attached. Both authors feel that the current views of death is dehumanizing. Mitford points this out with the allusion that the funeral parlors are a theatrical play, while Kubler-Ross comments “I think there are many reasons
According to the Middle Class Victorians, less was definitely not more. In fact, in the case of the Victorians, the more ostentatious and packed a house was, the higher the status of that family. A house in the Victorian Era would most likely be cluttered until nothing else could fit. Not only was there clutter, but the rooms were "quite dark with busily patterned wallpaper (Victorian Home Life Changes)" and lots of gold garnishments.
McKenzie, Eleanor. “Funeral Rites & Customs in Elizabethan England” Classroom.synonym.com/ Demand Media Web 20 Jan 2014
In Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party” and in D.H. Lawrence’s “Odour of Chrysanthemums,” two women were in a situation where death was literally at their feet. In “The Garden Party,” Laura finds herself contemplating the dead body of Mr. Scott, a man of lower class who lived at the bottom of the hill from her house. In “Odour of Chrysanthemums,” Elizabeth finds herself contemplating the dead body of her husband, Walter. Although the relationships these women shared with the dead men were completely opposite, they both had striking similarities in the ways that they handled the situation. Both women ignored the feelings of the families of the deceased, failed to refer to the deceased by name, felt shame in the presence of the deceased and both had a life and death epiphany. Although Laura and Elizabeth were in two similar yet very different situations, they both had contemplated the dead men, acted in similar ways, felt similar emotions and both ended up having an epiphany regarding life and death at the end of the story.
In Sandy Hingston’s “The death of the funeral business”, the story motivates people into moving into different sets of values or beliefs that weren’t acquainted in their previous ideas. I feel the understanding of change in culture is motivating the author. The time that she is living a time and era in which we as the people search for many ways to have freedom. This includes freedom of choice from the restraints of our own minds such as culture and beliefs we are so accustomed to. Hingston is seeing as a change on how we perceive our body because of the time and era it occurs in. One of the the biggest change in history is the since 1884 which introduced the use cremation. This later rose in popularity overtime in which it finally reached
The author's thesis is that by examining the plight of widowed middle-class women a better understanding of Victorian era beliefs can be had. Victorians believed that there were separate spheres for the sexes, men had the public arena and women had the home. Victorians also believed that thrift was essential and poverty was always the fault of the poor individual, the poor could choose to better their situation. Not only is Curran looking to further the understanding of middle-class Victorian values but she is also trying to argue against the historical view that middle class women were cared for if widowed through either family generosity, their late husbands life insurance, or remarriage.
In the Victorian Britain there was 88 minors were killed from the start of 1851 to the end of 1851 from many, many different things. I am talking about deaths in Victorian Britain and what I think the deaths mean is that the people who died, died cruelly. There may be some people who die of accidental deaths but most people die of a cruel death. The Victorians viewed death as a sad time because the deaths caused a great deal of sadness and pain to the person's family mates and friends.
Victorian Mourning was referred to by many as the “cult of death.” This type of mourning existed as early as 1800, but it was popularized by Queen Victoria in 1861 after the death of Prince Albert (“Victorian Days: Victorian Death and Mourning”). Queen Victoria mourned for her husband until she died, and most of England mourned with her for the whole 40 years (Mitchel 163). If one did not follow mourning customs to a tee, it was seen as an enormous sign of disrespect, and they ran the risk of being ostracized. While Victorians did not fear death, they did fear not being properly mourned (Flanders 378). Most mourning customs were based on primitive superstition, but even as the world advanced, the traditions stuck with families. Although there are some slight similarities between current mourning customs and Victorian mourning customs, Victorian mourning customs were radically different than ours today.
Emily Bronte’s Remembrance is about one who is reminiscing a lost love who had died. It is an elegy poem which is “a poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful.” Remembrance is also a lyric poem in which “expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet.” The poem reflects the historical context of the 18th century and expresses the romanticism of the Victorian era. Bronte has influenced her 18th century audience and 21st century audience to connect to the tone and mood of the poem through the literary devices she has used, such as imagery and repetition. Through her use of these literary elements, Bronte has created a sense of heartache and remembrance for those who have experienced similar loss to the loss present in the poem. For me personally, these elements, along with the romanticism she has included, make me appreciate my life in that I have not yet experienced this heartache, and encourages me to realise how fortunate I am to have people in my life in which have a similar love for me as the speaker has for their lover.
During the early seventeenth century, poets were able to mourn the loss of a child publicly by writing elegies, or poems to lament the deceased. Katherine Philips and Ben Jonson were two poets who wrote the popular poems “On the Death of My Dearest Child, Hector Philips”, “On My First Son”, and “On My First Daughter” respectively. Although Philips and Jonson’s elegies contain obvious similarities, the differences between “On the Death of My Dearest Child” and “On My First Son” specifically are pronounced. The emotions displayed in the elegies are very distinct when considering the sex of the poet. The grief shown by a mother and father is a major theme when comparing the approach of mourning in the two elegies.
The Victorian Era is a remarkable time in history with the blooming industries, growing population, and a major turnaround in the fashion world. This era was named after Queen Victoria who ruled United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 1837 until she passed away 64 years later in January 1901.When Victoria received the crown, popular respect was strikingly low. The lack of respect for the position she had just come into did not diminish her confidence. Instead she won the hearts of Britain with her modesty, grace, straightforwardness, and her want to be informed on the political matters at hand even though she had no input. She changed Britain into a flourishing country. She also impacted how women interacted during this era based on her personality.
Imagine that the person you love most in the world dies. How would you cope with the loss? Death and grieving is an agonizing and inevitable part of life. No one is immune from death’s insidious and frigid grip. Individuals vary in their emotional reactions to loss. There is no right or wrong way to grieve (Huffman, 2012, p.183), it is a melancholy ordeal, but a necessary one (Johnson, 2007). In the following: the five stages of grief, the symptoms of grief, coping with grief, and unusual customs of mourning with particular emphasis on mourning at its most extravagant, during the Victorian era, will all be discussed in this essay (Smith, 2014).
The Victorian Era started when Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837 and ended roughly the day she died in 1901. Victorian England “was a strictly patriarchal society” (Yildirim 2). It is common knowledge that during the Victorian era men and women had their own specific roles. It is also common knowledge to know that men had complete legal and economical control over the women (Mitchell 1, 142). Women were expected to stay at home to keep house and take care of the children.
The Victorian age and the Modern Literature era are two very different times for the literature world. Each era had a big impact through literature, politics, and economics. The Victorian era was a time of change during the reign of Queen Victoria between 1837 to 1901. The Modern Literature era also known as the Twentieth Century and After increased popularity in literature due to the rise of industrialization and globalization from roughly about the 1910 's to the 1990 's. Even though, both of these eras made an impact towards the way people see literature, their literature work is very different in terms of themes, subjects, purposes, and techniques.
The Victorian Era is marked by Queen Victoria’s reign in England from 1837-1901 (Eras of Elegance). It is known for its attention to high morals, modesty, and proper decorum, which was inspired by the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert. Importance was placed on civic consciousness and social responsibility, including equality towards all. Science, technology and Christianity thrived. Humanitarian and religious organizations, such as the Salvation Army, reflected the Victorian concern for the poor and needy. The Church was wealthy and powerful. Only the rich could afford education, so most were left uneducated, unable to think critically. The people believed the word of the Bible and that was all that mattered. However, growing industrialization led to numerous challenges to Christianity. Education became available to all, so they had the ability to form opinions. Urbanization took effect. Problems included growing trends on materialism, nationalism, communism and higher criticism of the Bible (Eras of Elegance).