XIII. Victoria and Her Sisters

1830–1910. As the Victorian era began, the massive advance of technology and industrialisation was rapidly reshaping both the landscape and the social structure of the whole country. To a much greater extent than ever before women would take a centre-stage role in shaping society.

	Queen Victoria becomes Queen at the age of 18
	The first postage stamps (Penny Post) came into use
	Mines Act ended child labour
1845 - 1849	Ireland suffered the Great Potato Famine when entire crops of potatoes, the staple Irish food, were ruined. The famine was a consequence of the appearance of blight, the potato fungus. About 800,000 people died as a result of the famine. A large number of people migrated to Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia.
1850s	The first post boxes were built
	The Great Exhibition Census showed just over half of Britain's population (of 20 million) lived in towns
	Crimean War
	A cholera epidemic led to demands for a clean water supply and proper sewage systems in the big cities
	Britain defeats Russia in the Crimean War
	The first public flushing toilet opens
	Death of Prince Albert
	London Underground opens The foundation of the Football Association
	Joseph Lister discovers disinfectant
	The last public hanging
	The first Sainsbury's shop open in Dury Lane, London
	Education Act means school for everyone
	Queen Victoria opens the Albert Hall
	Alexander Bell invented the telephone Primary education was made compulsory
	The first public electric lighting in London
	First electric railway
	The invention of the gramophone
	Free education for every child
	Population of Britain 40 million

Task 1. Who were the following people: Victoria, George IV, William IV, Lord Chamberlain, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Melbourne, King Leopold, Prince Albert, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Carlyle, Augustus Pugin, Dickens, Chartists, Fergus O’Connor, John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor, Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole, Elizabeth Garrett, Julia Cameron, Tennyson, G.B.Shaw, Annie Besant, suffragettes, viceroy?

Task 2. What do you know about the following events and places: Chrystal Palace, the Great Exhibition, Babylon, Jerusalem, Isle of Wight, Osborne House, Reform Act, the Crimean War, Windsor?

Task 3. Answer the following questions:

1. How did Victoria’s reign contrast with those of George IV and William IV?

2. Describe Victoria’s coronation and the first years of her reign

3. What impact did Prince Albert have on political and social life of Victorian Britain?

4. What were the standards of life of the low classes in Victorian Britain? What factors helped to improve it towards the end of the reign?

5. Describe the origin and the progress of the Chartist movement

6. What was the position of women in Victorian Britain?

7. Describe Victoria’s family life and its impact on the family values of the 19^th c. Britain

8. What major events of Victorian reign are described in the film?

Awe- благоговение

Showcase – выставка

Turnstiles – турникеты

Prophets of doom – предсказатели несчастий

Magic wand –волшебная палочка

Ogres -людоеды

Mrs. Average – типичная замужняя женщина

Small hours – ночные часы

To do homage – приносить присягу

Regalia – символы королевской власти

Whistleblower- первопроходец

Unitarian – унитаристский (член протестантской секты унитариев)

To be clammed- голодать

Contrivance – выдумка, затея

Conversion – обращение (в христианство)

Thrift- бережливость

Charter – хартия, политический документ

Mob- толпа

Funfair – парк развлечений

Rally – собрание, митинг

Sellout- предательство

Unleash – выпускать, освобождать

Self-sufficient- самодостаточный

Brainchild –замысел, детище

Slums- трущобы

Compel- принуждать

Tormentor- мучитель

Property transaction – передача собственности

Renounce – отрицать, отказываться

T.b.- туберкулез

Refectory- столовая

Eminent- выдающийся

Paroxysm – приступ, взрыв

The Almighty – Всемогущий (Бог)

Distraught – смятенный, обезумевший

Exuberant- обильный

Spinster – незамужняя женщина

Conscript – призывать на военную службу

Lavish- щедрый

Bestow -даровать

Domesticity – семейная домашняя жизнь

Cloister –монастырь, уединение

Effigy– изображение