The Victorians are known for their prudish and repressed behavior. But few are aware of their almost fanatical obsession with death. And no one was more fixated than the era’s namesake, Queen Victoria, ruler of England from 1837 to 1901.
What did the Victorians think about death?
While many didn’t fear death, they did fear not being properly mourned; it was an extremely common practice to hold a funeral at home and “it was customary to prepare the home for the ‘death watch’, the time between dying and the funeral”.
Why was the Victorian era obsessed with death?
Much of Victorian death culture developed out of subconscious reactions to wide-spread death, new scientific discoveries, and popular culture and these fears and anxieties were reflected in much of the Victorian era, which makes the time a perfect setting for a dark and creepy story.
Why was the Victorian era so grim?
The most familiar images of Victorian life are bleak indeed: impoverished children working long hours in factories and mines; blankets of smog suspended above overcrowded cities; frightening workhouses run by cruel governors; violent criminals lurking in the shadows.
How did the Victorians celebrate death?
Mourning In The Victorian Era
The mourning process was strictly kept in Victorian times. A wreath of laurel or boxwood tied with crape or black veiling was hung on the front door to alert passersby that a death had occurred. The body was watched over every minute until burial, hence the custom of “waking”.
How was death viewed in the 1800s?
To New England Puritans, death was an opening into another world, through which one’s soul passed into eternity. The body, the corpse – was only a memento mori (reminder or remembrance of death), a husk buried often without graveside prayer.
What are the three fears of the Victorian society?
The anxieties of the Victorian Era as they are represented in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, fears that include scientific growth, female empowerment, homosexuality, and foreign colonization, are not so different from the fears that American society has today.
What were people in the Victorian era addicted to?
opium
The Victorians took not just alcohol and opium but cannabis, coca, mescal and, with the invention of the hypodermic needle in the 1840s, morphine and heroin. The 19th century also saw the origins of drug control, and the medicalisation of addiction to these substances.
What did Victorians fear?
In the 19th century, the British feared invasion by the French, terrorists and even aliens. Mike Ashley explains how these concerns were reflected in literature.
Was life better in Victorian times?
Living in the Victorian era was exciting because of all the new inventions and pace of change and progress, but it was a hard time to live in if you didn’t have much money. Even very young children had to work if their family needed them to. However, life had improved a lot for people by the end of the Victorian era.
Did Victorian couples love each other?
Even where love was honored, it was often not over emphasized. “Couples were not to put their feelings for each other above more important commitments, such as their ties to parents, siblings, cousins, neighbors, or God. Victorian Couples, c. late 1800s.
What was taboo in the Victorian era?
The Victorian Era (Queen Victoria’s Reign 1839-1901) is still synonymous with social “restraint”, or, in more Freudian, “repression” . This is the era during which “cursing” or using swear words and any references to sexuality or, really, anything “distasteful”, became taboo in “nice” society.
Why was the Victorian era dark?
The dreadful working and living conditions of the early 19th century persisted in many areas until the end of the Victorian age. The dark shadow of the workhouse loomed over the unemployed and destitute.
Why did they put mirrors in coffins?
four different ways: 1.) to illuminate the tomb, 2.) to ward off in- auspicious influences, 3.) to accompany the dead as it did in life, and 4.) to convey the soul into the land of immortals.
Why did Victorians cover mirrors when someone dies?
Victorians carried the deceased out of the home feet first so they couldn’t look back and call someone else to follow them. Curtains were closed and mirrors covered until after the funeral so that the deceased’s image wouldn’t get trapped in a looking glass.
Why are mirrors covered when someone dies?
In parts of Germany and in Belgium, it was long customary to cover mirrors with a white cloth because it was thought that if a person saw his or her image in a mirror after a death in the household, that person would die shortly.
When did humans start fearing death?
ANCIENT TIMES
Archaeologists have found that as early as the Paleolithic period, about 2.5 million to 3 million years ago, humans held metaphysical beliefs about death and dying—those beyond what humans can know with their senses.
Why is death taboo?
Fear of the Unknown
Some people are afraid of dying alone. Others fear pain and suffering. Part of this also has to do with fear of the unknown. Many of us don’t know how or when it will happen unless diagnosed with a life-limiting condition.
How hard was life in the 1800s?
Life for the average person in the 1800’s was hard. Many lived a hand-to-mouth existence, working long hours in often harsh conditions. There was no electricity, running water or central heating.
What was the most common crime in Victorian times?
Pickpocketing
Common Crime in Victorian England
Pickpocketing was by far one of the most common types of crime, but there were other issues that dogged society far more than the ruthless and savage tales being published in the papers. Women were most likely to be convicted of crimes such as prostitution and soliciting.
What are the 3 fears we are born with?
Fear of the unknown is universal, but it seems to take form most commonly in three basic human fundamental fears: Fear of Death, Fear of Abandonment or Fear of Failure.