Victoria's Secrets: Sex and Class in Nineteenth Century Britain

3 Credits

Queen Victoria, Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, Oscar Wilde, and Charles Darwin--all of them were "Victorians" yet just what did that word mean and what values did it encompass? This course will examine the social and cultural life of Great Britain from 1830 to 1900, and encompass the worlds of the elite upper classes to the slums of London's East End. We will pay particular attention to the various meanings of Victorianism and the myths and practices of progress, morality, reform, and imperial conquest that defined the era. We will focus on the "Two Nations" residing within Britain and how government and moral reformers addressed conditions of social inequality, poverty, and crime. Victorian medicine and science and their intersection with empire will be covered. We will also address Victorian notions of class, race, gender, and sexuality and how they were shaped by and influenced the politics and culture of everyday life.