Rich vs Poor kid
What is a nanny (or governess)?
The primary person who cared for and raised an upper-class child, often instead of the mother.
What is a chimney sweep?
One of the most dangerous, cramped jobs often held by small children in urban areas.
What is a boarding school?
The location where wealthy boys (like Pip) were often sent for their formal education
What are the Factory Acts?
The general term for laws passed to regulate the minimum age and maximum hours children could work.
What is Victorian morality?
The moral code that dictated strict public conduct, often concealing private problems.
What age was most common for childern who had to work for their parents?
Ages between 5-6 where many poor childern had to start working to supplement the family income
What was the typical working hours per day for a child laborer in a factory?
12 or more hours
What is sewing (or embroidery/ needlework)?
The three main skills wealthy girls were taught to prepare them for marriage (music, French, and this skill).
Who is Charles Dickens?
This famous author and social critic used his novels to expose the harsh reality of child poverty and factory life.
What is a moralistic book?
The type of book, common in children's libraries, designed to teach lessons about right and wrong behavior.
What is childhood?
This specific stage of life, considered innocent and sheltered, was an ideal promoted throughout the Victorian era that only the rich could afford
What is a factory
A type of large, dangerous industrial site where children were employed to crawl under machinery
What is labor (or work)?
The primary reason poor children often had no time for reading or writing.
What is the Public Health Act?
The act that was eventually passed in 1875 to improve city life by requiring better sewers and water supplies to combat disease.
What is deference (or respect)?
The expected behavior of a respectable child toward elders, which was highly valued by parents.
What are slums?
A term for the large, impoverished, and dirty areas that children in cities like London were forced to live in.
What is economic necessity (or survival)?
The main reason poor families relied on their children to work.
What is the Education Act?
The law enacted in 1870 that began the process of making elementary schooling a right for children across England
What is Chartism?
The key political movement of the era that demanded rights for working-class men, highlighting the lack of political voice for the poor.
What is alcoholism (or intemperance)?
The common vice that Dickens often criticized by showing children drinking in taverns or slums.
What is the Industrial Revolution?
This technological development created immense wealth for factory owners while contributing to pollution and crowded cities.
What is working in a coal mine?
This dangerous underground job employed children to haul coal carts and open ventilation doors.
What is the workhouse
The system where children who lacked parents were housed and given minimal education in exchange for hard labor.
What are Women's Rights (or gender equality)?
The social issue that began to change in the latter half of the era, resulting in new property rights for women and some educational access.
What is hypocrisy?
The central contradiction: the period promoted high moral ideals while failing to eliminate poverty, demonstrating this key societal flaw