Hello all! My name is Elizabeth Gruhl, I’m a senior majoring in Early Childhood Education with a concentration in English.  This past summer I was fortunate enough to spend a month studying abroad in London. I was even able to take a course about literature in London and was able to take field trips to many of London’s great writers’ houses and places of inspiration (i.e. Dicken’s house and 221b Baker Street from Sherlock). I am so excited to go even more in depth into Victorian London and the literature that came from the time period.

From the readings I have learned that Victorian London was a continuously growing place. The city grew outwards from the Thames taking over bits of countryside and making them into a booming city. London was under continuous construction with new buildings and technology being added constantly. The unprecedented train system of London was born. These additions to London changed it forever.

Along with London’s growth out and up, the growth between the rich and the poor grew larger. As people with even some money moved into the city, the poorest of the poor were left in the slums with a reputation of violence and crime.