The Victorians practically invented ghost stories, they loved them and were very good at telling them. Ghost stories were a lash back at all the new scientific discoveries and technologies, medicine, building etc.
They loved the terror and were fascinated with death and what happened after. The stories aimed to surprise and unsettle the audience.
These days only 18% of the British population die at home, the rest die in hospital or a care home so we aren't used to seeing death and dealing with it ourselves, however the Victorians would have experienced death closely, this was before medicine progression and sanitisation. When people were ill they would die at home and the whole family would see and experience everything, it was completely normal to them. If someone was dying everyone would rush to the bed side to be with them when they finally passed
Infant morality and child birth:
It was very unlikely that you would live very long, especially as a young baby. Women died of blood loss or bacterial infections during child birth and also the baby too.
Fatal diseases
If you survived childhood this was the next thing that would probably kill you.
Small pox - those who survived were often left blind and with scars.
TB - Which is on the rise again in Britain. Their lungs deteriorated and they died coughing up lungs and blood.
Cholera
A product of over population at the time. People raced into the city from the countryside to work which caused over population and slums began. There were no sewers so the city was left covered in animal and human feces and it went into the water supplies so people washed in it and drank it. Gross?!
People were filthy and malnurished in the slums.
60% of children survived
If you were working class labourer you had 20% chance of surviving
Most people died by 22
The factory workers suffered from excruciating injuries caused by the dangerous machinery but they didn't have the medicine to help
The hours they worked were awful and people fell asleep at the machines
Queen Victoria
Known for mourned prince Alberta death by wearing black for 40 years
People would lay out his clothes everyday, clean his chamber pot and make his bed as if he were still alive
Queen Victoria wore a locket with his hair attached and in most of her portraits his portrait was somewhere visible
She was a trendsetter in how she mourned, looked after and raised her children, how she dressed
She introduced Xmas trees, Xmas cards, presents. Christmas wouldn't be the event and tradition we know it without Queen Victoria
Momento mori (Reminder of death) - Objects made to reminds someone of the death of the loved one. Eg death masks and lockets with hair in.
Death masks were created in wax and sometimes bronze.
Cemeteries became a place to think and reflect, they were almost treated like a park.
Graces were very elaborate and extravagant because they were so important to the families of the dead.
People would come with their families and bring a picnic, particularly the middle classes with flowers and tend to the graves.
The unknown woman of the Seine - an unknown woman who drowned in the Siene river in the late 1800's death mask appeared on the walls of artists homes after 1900. A pathologist at the Paris morgue was so taken with the peacefulness and beauty of the young girl that he had a mould made to create a death mask. Her eery smile has been compared to the Mona Lisa. The identity was never discovered and as no signs of violence were found it was suspected that her death was caused by suicide.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Inconnue_de_la_Seine#mediaviewer/File:L%27inconnue_de_la_Seine_(masque_mortuaire).jpg
Photography and death:
Photography was invented in 1839
Most people couldn't afford a photography session, only when someone died they would be able to afford a shoot as a keepsake for their lives. They would pose the dead in normal positions in bed or on a sofa or in the arms of a loved one and this would happen a few weeks after they died so all the relatives could come and attend the funeral. This is called Momento mori photograph.
The body is rigid for a few days and then after it becomes is flexible again.
This would often be the only photograph of the person ever so it would be cherished.
Victorian spirit photography
They discovered double exposure to make the alive and dead appear in one image job a really creepy way
They were been excited about this
Jewellery
They would cut a lock of the dead loved one and wrap it or arrange it really nicely and put it in jewellery or a locket. As this was mainly for people with more money poor women would try alternative method by wrapping hair around things like hair pins and create something similar for themselves.
A black market began of people knocking on doors claiming to have a lock of the persons dead loved one and try to sell it, saying they had been close or old friends of theirs.
Mourning etiquette and traditions
- People in mourning would not attend social events or places of amusement to respect their lost loved one for up to a year
- Condolences were made about 10 days after the death to give the close family time to grieve in peace
- They wrapped the door handles in black material tied with a white ribbon to let people know not to ring the doorbell as not to cause further upset to the mourners
- Curtains were drawn
- Clocks stopped at the time of death
- Mirrors were covered with fabric to prevent the spirit getting trapped in the looking glass
- The body was watched at all times until buried "wake"
- Funeral cards/invitations were made and given out
- They paid for mourners to attend the funeral, you paid for someone to cry at the funeral
- Corsets were largely used and people would faint so women had a fear of fainting and appearing dead and being burried alive. They attached a bell above ground on the grave with a little cord into the coffin so if someone was alive they could ring the bell for help.
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