Praed Street Station (Paddington Station) is a metro station located in the City of Westminster. It is a relevant location in a number of ways. It is a railroad station, and stations were a point of departure. This could be representing the point, in the narrative, where Gertrude, Lucy, and Phillis are all departing from their previous ways of life, never to return. Lucy, at this point, believes that Frank is dead, and she has gone to Cornwall to visit his parents. She has come to accept that Frank has died, and is seeking closure to the situation. Gertrude has dropped Lucy off at the Station, and returns to the apartment to find two things: Phillis’ note, and Lord Watergate. These two set off a chain reaction that send Gertrude down a certain path. Lord Watergate eventually marries Gertrude, and Phillis’ letter sends them on a rescue mission. Phillis has set herself to marry Mr. Darrell, and go with him to Italy. This course of events eventually lead to Phyllis’ death. The symbolism of the Station is that it is the starting point for the women’s separate journeys into the unknown. Gertrude’s journey leads her to discover more about both herself, and life in general. Lucy struggles to find peace in lieu of her dead fiancee, and when he returns finds the joy of married life and love. Phillis journeys into the unknown darkness that every human being must eventually face. These separate journeys all depart form the same train station, and they all steam out in differing directions. Sadness, joy, and uncertainty are normal characteristics of the start of new journeys, and these three sisters become symbolic of these three emotions.

Marble Arch has a twofold meaning; the actual Arch is a famous monument, and the area surrounding the relocated arch took up the name. The Arch was originally intended to be a grand entrance way for Buckingham Palace, but it was relocated after Queen Victoria moved in and the palace was reconfigured. The Arch was relocated to Hyde Park, and served as an entrance into the park (in the modern time, it sits on a traffic island). The area surrounding the Arch took on the name Marble Arch. Marble Arch is located in the City of Westminster, and therefore was dominantly well off individuals. This map shows the area was mainly middle and upper middle classes.

The actual Arch was located at a major crossroad, and therefore most likely a hot spot for attracting the attention of carriages or omnibuses. The Marble Arch was also based off the Arch of Constantine, in Rome, and the structural similarities can be seen in the following pictures.

221B Baker Street, the infamous apartment of Sherlock Holmes, is a location many are aware of. The location features prominently in the story A Scandal in Bohemia. The street is nestled in the west end of London in a place called Marylebone. Marylebone is located in the borough of Westminster, the location of Parliament and Big Ben. This area was home to a large population of the middle, and upper middle classes, therefore it was considered a nice place to live. The Baker Street location is situated near two parks: Regents Park, and Hyde Park. These parks are yet another way to distinguish the appeal of this neighborhood. The University of Westminster is also a short distance from Baker Street. The labs of this particular Establishment could have been used, by Holmes, to pursue experiments, and use the equipment on the premises.

One might ask, how does this location add depth to the story A Scandal in Bohemia?  The location of Sherlock’s apartment would have been a reflection of his status in life, and based on the description of Irene Adler’s apartment they seem to be in the same class. That being stated, the fact that the two of them are equals not only intellectually, but also in the social structure would say a lot. Women, at this time, were seen as inferior to their male counterparts, but not Irene Adler. Not only does she outwit Mr. Holmes, but she also seems to have a better apartment, and a better geographic location of said apartment. While Holmes lives in between two parks, Adler seems to live right across the street from a park. It is also suggested the two of them live very close to one another. She follows him to Baker Street, alluding that it wouldn’t pose a problem for her to follow him.

The location of the infamous Baker Street shows how important Class was to the Victorian Era society.

In “A Lost Masterpiece” the speaker is an individual from the country, who came to London with an idea that would positively impact multitudes of people. As the story progresses this individual passes through different points of London and becomes distracted, eventually losing his grand idea, causing him to become distraught. I researched the final point this traveler passed through, where his idea eventually eluded him; the location was Charing Cross. Charing Cross Road became a redevelopment project in the late eighteen hundreds, and was an ugly droll place. the following passage details the demeanor, “The east side of the northern part of Charing Cross Road is lined with buildings of various styles, heights,and materials, although red bricks predominates and a general level of mediocrity prevails” (Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road). The overall melancholy of the appearance of the buildings may have had something to do with our protagonist losing his grand idea. the story also mentions a woman that, through no fault of her own, infiltrated his mind and forced his grand scheme to vacate. This woman may have been one of the many who were moved into housing projects that were reserved for the working class. these moves are described as such, “In December 1884 the Home Secretary certified that the Board had provided artisans’ dwellings for upwards of two thousand persons of the laboring classes” (Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road). These individuals were all displaced due to the restructuring of the streets on which they lived. The overall depressive state of Charing Cross mirrors the depression of the speaker, after he loses his wonderful idea.

Work Cited

‘Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road.’ Survey of London: Volumes 33              and 34, St Anne Soho. Ed. F H W Sheppard. London: London County                      Council, 1966. 296-312. British History Online. Web. 9 September 2015.                   http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols33-4/pp296-312.

In the late nineteenth century London was held in the grip of fear. The murders of Jack the Ripper were headline news, and people were using these grisly murders for their own personal gain. In large vaudevillian shows one could pay a penny and see such oddities as bearded women, large waxwork figures, and photos of Jack the Rippers victims. Massive crowds gathered, and caused relative hysteria for the surrounding communities. One particular show took place in the Whitechapel District, a location of several murders attributed to Jack. The large crowds attracted many undesirable individuals. The author mentions a few of these individuals in the following passage, “…many known thieves loitered among the crowd and gathered outside the premises, and a large number of persons were arrested near the spot for pocket-picking and larceny “(A Penny Show).  It is slightly ironic that these thieves committed crimes at a showing of photographs of some of the most brutal murders of all time.

The article describes a court case between the arranger of the showcase, and the members of the community that it disturbed. Some were disturbed by the photographs of the murder victims, while others were disturbed by the large crowd blocking the main road. Crime in Victorian London was for many an average part of everyday life, be it the nuisance of an inappropriate crowd, a pickpocket stealing ones coin, or the brutal murders of several women. All of which could cause quite a commotion in a tight, overcrowded space.

Works Cited

Jackson, Lee, ed. “A Penny Show.” The Era [London] 9 Feb. 1889: Dictionary of Victorian London. Web. 26 Aug. 2015. <http://www.victorianlondon.org/index-2012.htm>.

Hello Professor Swafford and fellow classmates. My name is Kevin Cronin. I am currently a junior, and an English major. This is my first semester at New Paltz. I recently graduated from Orange County Community College in Middletown New York. Victorian era London has always held a significant fascination in my mind, due to the works of Charles Dickens. His detailed descriptions of the class based system, in the Victorian era, breath life into a period of time dominated by heavy industrialization, poverty, and technological advancement.

One aspect of Victorian era London that I was intrigued by was the rapid population growth. As Bruce Robinson states “In 1743, Bethnal Green had a population of 15,000; by 1801, 22,000 people lived there, making it as large as Oxford and Cambridge combined”. This boom in population helped London become the booming city it is today however, it also created slums and miserable living conditions for the lower classes. Victorian era London, like many other major cities from history, was a double edged sword producing both positive, and negative outcomes.

Works Cited

Robinson, Bruce. “London: ‘A Modern Babylon’” BBC News. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Aug. 2015.