Mr. Mill's Struggle

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Mr. Mill's Struggle The Victorian Age encompassed the fruition of the middle class due to the Industrial Revolution that was driven by the greed and hardworking efforts of a British society; this society had never seen so much material wealth. Unfortunately the strife and greed during the Industrial Revolution created a new human "mind set" that led to skeptical beliefs concerning all aspects of humankind's purpose and existence. This motivation flooded not only from the Aristocracy to the working class poor, but also influenced the art and creative literary of that time. In the book entitled The Longman Anthology of British Literature by Henderson and Sharpe, the work entitled " Autobiography, Chapter 1" by John Stuart Mill, reveals his social isolation and "nose to the grindstone" ethics that he discloses as leaving him almost barren of feelings inside. Mr. Mill definitely reveals through this writing, his personal and profound similarities concerning the "tunnel vision" of hard-working ethics and strict social structure created during the Victorian Age. The Victorian Age and its industrialization brought about great change in the values of its people, and influenced John Stuart Mill as well. The middle class in particular had abounding opportunities to create new wealth. They were prone to "vicious profiteering" (1033) of their fellow man which was created by their "immense ambitions" (1033), that brought about an empathetic but disassociation with the lower class laborer. Mr. Mill as well, had difficulty in personal relationships due to his hard working "habit of analysis" (1146), which he believed had tended to "wear away" his feelings (1146), toward personal relationships and others around him. Victorians including Mr. Mill were additionally influenced by the strict social rules of the era. Victorians believed in strict social conduct, almost puritanical to the outside world, regardless of the private "improprieties"(1035). By comparison, Mr. Mill had also been brought up during this era in a very strict social environment created by his father. Mr. Mill further carried on the "practices" learned during childhood and reveals his acknowledgment that his "character" is "irretrievably analytic" or lost without "associations or pleasure . . . of human desire"(1147). The Victorian Age influenced millions of people during a time of great change.

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