Essay - The Victorian London & The Victorian England

Compare and contrast images of Victorian London with those of other industrial cities in Victorian England.
 
The Victorian period, which began approximately with the Queen Victoria’s coronation and ended before the first World War, was a very prosperous period for England.  London was particularly in the spotlights during this period. Indeed, its population increased spectacularly because ofthe new works’ opportunities given by the industrialization of the city : the Victorian period corresponds in effect to the Industrial Revolution. But the capital isn’t the only one to change and many cities became more important and powerful in the Victorian England, such as Manchester. We are going to see to what extent these cities look like each other and in where they are different, thanks toseveral pictures. Firstly, we are going to see this new industrial face of these cities. Secondly, we’ll see one of the consequences of this industrialization with London’s growing poverty. Then, we will compare Manchester and London in terms of population : indeed, if both of them saw their population increased, it’s on a really different level. Finally, we will contrast two important Englishevents of the Victorian period : The Great Exhibition of London and the Art Treasure exhibition of Manchester.
 
As said in the introduction, the Victorian period is synonymous with the peak of the English industrial revolution. As the communication means improved, trade and industry are developed. London is in the centre of this new surge and will inaugurate its tram in 1860, followed by thefirst underground that the world would know, in 1865. London is therefore a very active city. Gustave Doré illustrated it in several ways, especially in “London : A Pilgrimage” : one illustration could be analyzed particularly. Named “Lambeth gas works”, it shows workers in a factory. Lambeth was a London’s part known as a smoky and dirty place, full of factories. We could focus on Doré’s picture onfour things. Firstly, in the foreground, there’s a man, pushing a trolley full of coal. His muscles and his veins bulge and he is topless : it’s easily imaginable that his work is hard and requires lots of energy and strength. Behind him, in the background, a large opening in the wall let us see others men who are working. Some flames spurt out the machines : it could be another reason to explainwhy workers are topless. Back to the foreground, there’s a group of men : the majority of them are standing but several are sitting on a trolley. They seem to rest and some look particularly old and tired. A man is on a scale behind them and some tanks are above him : there’s surely another place to work upstairs. In a way, there are two sides in this picture : the first one is an energetic industrial city, in turmoil, the second is the “consequences” of it with a very hard and tiring work. This illustration could be compare with W. Wylde’s painting, “Manchester from Kersal Moore” (1852). Nature is very present on this picture : trees, bushes, grass,… are painted in all the foreground. The sky has also a big importance in this illustration : almost half the painting is consecrated to it.The green of the vegetation contrasts with the orange and pink of the sky. In the background, there are lots of factories : it’s interesting to link up it with the nature. Indeed, if we were to show someone only the picture’s bottom and ask him what could be painted on the top, he surely answers “a forest” or, at least, some other trees and grass… And in fact, there’s nothing but a “forest offactories” : it could be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, we could consider that industry is going to erase all the vegetation and the nature. On the other hand, we could see it as a communion between nature and industrialization. I would say that the second hypothesis may be the right one because this painting is really positive. Indeed, the factories’ smoke isn’t grey and suffocated : it’s...