I recommend thinking a lot about where, when and who when setting a story in the past. It will help research, but it may be that a plot will emerge as you do so. If you already have a plot and are trying to find a setting this is also important. Where matters because places differed a lot. Germany was not like England, and in England London, the industrial towns like Manchester or Birmingham, and country areas differed much more than today. It may be easier to choose somewhere you already know a bit about and there should be more stories set in places other than England and the US at this period.
When. Victoria reigned from 1837 until 1901. Britain saw more changes in this time than between 1937 and 2001. Some parts of Europe also were transformed. Countries generally became more prosperous, and many more people started living in towns. Social attitudes changed and when speaking of Victorian times in England people are often thinking of the time around the 1860s. Before then social tensions were greater and the change from an agricultural society to an industrial one was difficult. In 1851 only half the population lived in towns. By the end of the century most men had the vote, women were agitating for it, and society had much more in common with the early 20th century than the 1830s and 1840s.
Who is obviously important because as you say society was stratified. In England the upper classes were small and typically much richer than anyone else. Money mattered more than birth. They would often have a landed estate but spend part of the year in London, but the money to afford this came largely from trade and industry. Especially later in the century titles were awarded for political reasons and in recognition of wealth so you could have somebody born poor who had a title as well as possessions. They would have a large staff of servants, and the house and garden would be the responsibility of the lady (wife or sister of the male owner, but a woman could also own property).
The middle classes consisted of professionals (doctors, clergy, doctors, all male) and their families, and business owners. They varied greatly in wealth. They would have at least one female domestic servant. Again, responsibility for running the house fell to a woman. Single men would have a female housekeeper or rent rooms in a house run by a landlady.
The lower, or working classes were often very poor but again there was a lot of variation. Some skilled tradesmen earned enough to have a servant. Their main interest here may be that domestic servants were drawn from the lower classes, and most were women. For a girl born into a poor family in an overcrowded house, a job as a servant in a good household could be very attractive because although wages were low she was also given accommodation, food and clothing to wear which could be much better than she was used to. Plus the chance to move to somewhere like London.
Men were responsible for discipline in their household. Corporal punishment was common. But for obvious reasons their wives would usually prefer that they did not carry it out on women themselves. Daughters would most often be punished by their mother or a governess. Female servants by either the lady of the house or by the housekeeper or cook (both female) or possibly butler (male). Only a husband, of course, could punish a wife. Many of the transgressions would be sexual. There was a constant fear of pregnancy outside marriage and the appearance of immorality by one person reflected badly on all members of that household.
Victorians were very interested in sex, though it was rarely discussed openly. In England women were expected to choose their own husbands however much their mother might wish to guide their choices. Foreign visitors were often shocked at how sexes were allowed to mix, and interpreted as prostitutes young women who may just have been seeking or meeting a boyfriend. Mothers in the upper and upper middle classes were reluctant to allow young women to go out unaccompanied by a trustworthy friend or older woman for good reason. Women in the lower classes were often pregnant at marriage.
This is very brief outline and in reality there as plenty of variety as there is today. The best sources are novels written at the time, of which there are very many, often written by women. They frequently surprise. The skill of the writer at any age is to weave a tale in which the described events might have happened even if it seems unlikely. |