Commodity Culture in Victorian England

In his discussion of the commodity culture of Victorian England, Thomas Richards (22) focuses on what he calls the "Great Exhibition of Things" which occurred at a point in Britain's history when industrialization and mass production were accelerating in tandem with the growth of a more affluent and materialistic middle class. In the Crystal Palace in 1851, Richards (28) states that the Great Exhibition presented visitors with an almost unlimited assortment of new consumer goods, many of which were extremely exotic and reflected Britain's growing capacity to draw upon its overseas colonies for raw materials as well as a design aesthetic.

Richards (30) says that "the Crystal Pala

Related Essays

Canada's Identity Problem .... ours an Anglo-oriented, high-culture, non-violent culture? .... 19th Century ended with the Victorian Age reluctantly .... easy-to-acquire entertainment commodity to the .... (1900 8 )

Blondes in American Society .... India in the early millennia of that culture: a light .... the blonde is a Princess." The Victorian middle class .... Leisure time became a valuable commodity, a symbol of .... (2806 11 )

Women on the Comstock, 1860-1880 .... same gender roles as any other Victorian town. .... sexuality into nothing more than a commodity that could .... and economically most powerful members of this culture. .... (5611 22 )

Category: History - C