Katelynn Vyas Intro Post

Hello, my name is Katelynn Vyas. Please call me Katie. I am an Early Childhood Education major, with a concentration in English and a euphoric senior. I am pleased to be a member of the “Virtually London” class here at SUNY New Paltz. Although I visited Westminster Abbey as a child, watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and toured the Tower of London, I remember little. However, with my newfound knowledge I intend one day soon to be a groundling at the Globe Theater, tour the birthplaces of British authors and afterward return to Piccadilly Circus in order to savor pasties once again.

From the reading, it is extremely interesting to note that throughout the history of London prosperity and change in the monarchy brought about hardship to its inhabitants (Robinson). Ironically, as an imperialistic nation the empire was known internationally for causing the social, economic, religious and political change in the nations it conquered. It is sad to learn Londoners also lived in extreme poverty, in utter filth and with daily threats of violence while the empire did little to improve the lives of its constituents. None the less, London became a thriving seaport with a growing population and a prosperous financial center (Robinson). It was clearly poised to experience the first industrial revolution in the world. The reading clearly states the Thames River was a geographical land mass that served to delineate the north from the south, the haves from the have-nots (Robinson). In the 1700’s the south became the area in which heavy industry was located and in which the working class poor were situated. Author and social commentator Charles Dickens wrote about poverty, disease, vice and the general lack of empathy of the monarchy toward the working class poor in 19th century England (Robinson). I am looking forward to walking through Adelphi, the location of Dickens’ lodgings and where David Copperfield lived (Perdue .Map 1). Virtually visiting London’s historical stomping grounds and places such as Covent Garden (Perdue. Map: D-6), Charing Cross (Perdue.Map: E-5), and the British Museum (Perdue.Map: B-5) will greatly enhance my understanding of Victorian London.

Perdue, David. “David Perdue’s Charles Dickens Page – Dickens’ London Map.”  David Perdue’s Charles Dickens Page – Dickens’ London Map. Davd Perdue. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.

Robinson, Bruce. “London: ‘A Modern Babylon’” BBC News. BBC, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Aug. 2015.

Daniela Velez

 

Hey everyone, My name is Daniela Velez and this is my senior year. I am an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. I was on track to study abroad at Middlesex this semester so taking this class is sort of bittersweet, but I don’t really regret it because I would’ve been crying over my loan debt after graduation. I’ve always been a little obsessed with London because I love the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde’s A Picture of Dorian Gray. Most of what I know about Victorian London comes from fiction I’ve read and classes I’ve taken surrounding the economic aspects of industrialization and the social/cultural consequences of it.

Robinson accurately described the attitude taken towards these consequences. He states, “The grinding poverty of Dickensian London was real and vicious, yet in many ways the city was improving.” In general it was improving – much like technology in the twenty first century has improved our lives – yet it was only benefiting the upper classes and wealth seems to always be built on the backs of the lower and middle class. I have a feeling repetition throughout history will be a prevalent theme this semester. I was surprised to learn about the development of government and public works, like the establishing of parks, museums, and slum clearance. However, this occurred in the 1850s but, “south London was smelly and – with its prisons, asylums and dodgy taverns – it had a bit of a reputation,” since the 1700s.

 

 

Works Cited

Robinson, Bruce. “London: ‘A Modern Babylon’” BBC News. BBC, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Aug. 2015.