Interview

Interviewer:
Hello. I am very glad to speak to you Prof. Smith. You are one of the most popular Professors from our University and your mats are history and geography and your special topic is Victorian age. That’s the reason why I have some questions to you because I have to write an article for our school-magazine “Bob” about the Victorian age.

Prof. Smith:
Thank you for your invitation I am really looking forward to give you interesting encouragements to your questions.

Interviewer:
One thing I ever want to know is: What are the most important changes in this time?

Prof. Smith:
The Victorians created astonishing innovations and changes in ideology, politic and society. Really new for the 19th century was democracy, feminism, unionization of workers, socialism and other modern movements. It was the time of Marx and Engels, Darwin and Freud.

Interviewer:
How did the Victorians fare?

Prof. Smith:
For the most people, no matter if they were young or old, the life was not easy. It was normal to work seven days a week and child-work was a matter of course. They had to work in mines, as servants and in factories since they are five or six. Later in the 19th century there came a rule which said: children have to be more than ten years old in order to be allowed to work in a mine or a factory. But when Queen Victoria died in 1901 there still were children working so hard under ten. It did not exist a pension, a health insurance or any other social security. The payment was really bad. For hard work they got nearly nothing. Often they had to live like beggar. For the poor children something like childhood or a good education did not exist, they even had no toys to play. On the other side, the rich social stratum had every thing. The children had very much toys, nurses, private schools and they did not have to work.

Interviewer:
Today it is normal for us to get a good education. How was it in the Victorian age?

Prof. Smith:
Less people were able to go to school because it was too expensive. But in 1870 in every country and village had to be a school and all children had to go to the school. It was very strict with hard punishments. Girls and boys where separated. They had different doors to get into school and they also had different mats.

Interviewer:
Thank you for your detailed answers. That’s exactly what I want to know about this age.

Prof. Smith:
You are welcome and I hope I could help you with your article.

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