Victorian London Essay

The Victorian Era, which lasted from 1837 until 1901, was one of the most prosperous periods of the British Empire. During the Victorian period, London became the world’s largest city. Because of the overwhelming growth of the city, inhabitants of London were beginning to feel anxiety, dullness and tiredness. The great city seemed to exhaust the people and thus resulted to the gloomy atmosphere of London.

The city of London plays a significant character in Conan Doyle’s novels. The city itself is active and capable of causing certain events to happen. London is capable of enabling and creating its own crime. The city has already influenced its inhabitants and it is most certainly capable of affecting the course of history.

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The first railway in London was built in 1836 and ever since then, London became the true center of Great Britain because of its accessibility. The arrival of the railways symbolized a new age of civilization for Victorian London [Jeffrey Richards, 1986]. Railway companies needed land for the expansion of railways, but since they cannot afford to buy the properties of the rich, it led to the demolishing of the houses of the poor that resulted to the displacement of more than 100,000 people. [Ackroyd, 2001 ] The railway system further expanded the city and created new living areas. Hence, the city grew larger in population and in area. London had around 40,000 street people around 1850 [Porter, 1994 ] and inhabitants during that period were more astounded by the rate of crimes than by poverty. The images of poverty are still one of the most remembered aspects of Victorian London until

Instead of diminishing while the sun rises higher, it often increases in density, and some of the most lowering London fogs occur about midday or late in the afternoon. Sometimes the brown masses rise and interpose a thick curtain at a considerable elevation between earth and sky. A white cloth spread out on the ground rapidly turns dirty, and particles of soot attach themselves to every exposed object.” [Russell,