Number 19, exercise 44B.0:11
Listen to the text about Victorian family life and prepare an artistic reading.0:17
Following the pattern given in the recording, Queen Victoria ruled the UK from 1837 to 1901.0:22
This period in the history of the country is called Victorian.0:34
It is marked by great change.0:39
During this period, the country became one of the richest and most powerful in the world, as a result of the growth in industry and trade and the development of the British Empire.0:43
At the same time, in Victorian England, the gulf between the rich and the poor became wider and Victorian factories were notorious for using children's labour.0:56
When people think now of the Victorian period, it is often seen as a time of strict moral standards, when people were very serious and often pretended to have better moral principles than they actually had.1:08
Marriages were always permanent and sex was never mentioned.1:24
This way of life and many of the Victorian ideas may seem strange to us and often rather hard, but the Victorians were contented and they were satisfied with few pleasures.1:29
In a Victorian middle class family, Father, known as Papa, with his beard or side whiskers, was the head of the house and the breadwinner, and everyone, especially the children, treated him with the greatest respect.1:43
His word was law for all the household, his wife, children and servants.2:01
He sat at the head of the table and carved the joint of meat.2:08
The youngest members of the family were not supposed to talk unless spoken to by a grown up.2:14
Mama kept her large family in order and used a cane if necessary.2:21
With 8, 10, 12 or more children, she was a very busy mother, for there were no vacuum cleaners, washing machines or electrical gadgets in the house.2:28
Tinned goods and foods prepared in packets were unknown.2:40
Clothes were mostly made at home or at a dressmaker's in the town.2:46
After she was 30, Mama was considered quite middle aged and often took to wearing a little lace cap in the house.2:52
At the end of the day, Papa took family prayers when everyone, including the servants, knelt down in the dining room or study.3:01
He also led the family to church on Sunday.3:12
Sunday was a very solemn day and as little work as possible was done.3:16
No shops were open and there were certainly no amusements.3:22
Everyone put on their best clothes, which were usually stiff and uncomfortable.3:26
On Sunday afternoons, the family often went for a walk that no games were allowed.3:33
Even picture books were forbidden on Sundays.3:40
Sunday reading included the Bible and certain books about the saints.3:44
Although there were no radio sets, television cinemas or motor cars.3:50
The Victorians did not find life dull.3:55
People worked longer hours, often 12 or 14 hours a day.3:59
Amusements were simple and the family often gathered round the piano to sing the latest popular songs or entertained each other by reciting or playing the piano.4:05
Public readings from Dickens and recitations were popular and drew large audiences in London and the large towns.4:17
The music halls were not considered quite respectable, but the theatre was sometimes visited.4:26
Children very rarely went to any entertainment, except perhaps to the circus or to a pantomime.4:34
They had their parties with many of the games which are still played, like Blind Man's Buff.4:42
Children had plenty of books.4:49
Many of the best children's stories were written in Victorian days.4:51
Alice in Wonderland, the Water Babies, Thom Browne's School Days, Black Beauty, Little Women, and Treasure Island.4:57
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