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Class and Status
What does it mean to hold a title with your name?
 

Class/Status

Both class and status play a huge role today and for the characters within the play. Often being hand in hand from one another, there are still distinctions that goes to show the divisions that how much money or power one may have. 

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During the Victorian Era in England, status and social class strongly influenced daily life for everyone. These class distinctions developed rapidly and shaped how individuals lived, worked, and interacted with one another. Even today, elements of these class divisions can still be identified. Each social class had its own defining characteristics, yet they also shared certain similarities.

Lower Class

  • Typically worked manual or industrial labor jobs

  • Earned low wages

  • Lived in poor conditions

  • Limited access to education and healthcare

Middle Class

  • Included the working class

  • Valued education, respectability, and financial stability

  • Experienced social mobility more than other classes

Upper Class

  • Consisted of aristocracy and wealthy landowners

  • Held significant social, political, and economic power

  • Lived in luxury and often seen with high status

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Status during the Victorian Era was largely predetermined and deeply reflective of one’s social environment. These factors demonstrate how an individual’s status was often formed without their direct involvement. This highlights the significant impact a family had on shaping not only who a person was, but also how they were perceived by society. One’s last name alone could largely determine social standing.

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To better understand this, social status was commonly defined by three main factors:

  • What your family did (occupation or profession)

  • How much you owned (money, land, or property)

  • Who you knew (social connections and influence)

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Pictured Left: "The British Beehive" - George Cruikshank 

An illustration from 1840s (not printed until late 1960s) 

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This piece of well known Victorian Era art still to this day, is depicting and showing all of the ranks and components that make up the Victorian Society working the way from the very bottom all the way up to the Queen. The depiction goes to show that all of the occupations that take full force in ways that different both should work together and independent of their own occupation. 

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