The Victorian era stretched through the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1837 to 1901. It was an extraordinarily complex era that is sometimes called the Second English Renaissance.

Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, the social classes of England were newly reforming. There was a churning upheaval of the old hierarchical order, and the middle classes were steadily growing.

There continued to be a large and generally disgruntled working class, wanting and slowly getting reform and change. Though the conditions of the working class were still bad, three reform bills passed gradually throughout the century, gave the right of vote to most males over the age of twenty-one.

There existed, however, the horrible reality of child labour which persisted throughout the period. When a bill was passed stipulating that children below nine could not work in the textile industry, this was not applied in other industries, nor did it in any way curb rampant teenage prostitution.

Spiritualist churches and 'home circles' began appearing in Britain in 1865, and several spiritualist organizations were founded. New ideas about science mingled with philosophical theories. Victorian philosophers believed in positivism, an optimistic creed hostile to metaphysics and respectful of science, ever eager to extend scientific methods to study society. Philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), advocated the importance of science. One of Spencer's most influential phrases is 'survival of the fittest', which later formed the basis of Social Darwinism.

The Victorian era was a time of tremendous scientific progress and ideas. Naturalist Charles Darwin undertook his Voyage of the Beagle, and posited the Theory of Evolution first published in his book on the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859). The Great Exhibition of 1851 took place in London, lauding the technical and industrial advances of the age, and strides in medicine and the physical sciences continued throughout the century.

Men like Sigmund Freud put forth new ideologies in modern psychiatry towards the end of the era, while Karl Marx and his associates developed radical economic theories of Socialism and Communism in mid-century.

Culturally, the literature, art and music underwent a radical change. Novels continued to thrive through this time. Some of the great novelists of the time were Sir Walter Scott, Bronte Sisters, George Eliot, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Charles Dickens.

Poetry thrived with the works of the Browning, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the verses of Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling. The Pre-Raphaelite art movement indicative of this period included artists like William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, and John Everett Millais. Also during this period were the Impressionists, the Realists, and the Fauves, though the Pre-Raphaelites were distinctly famous as being a completely English movement.

Thus, the Victorian Era was a tremendously exciting period when many artistic styles, literary schools, as well as, social, political and religious movements flourished. It was a time of prosperity, broad imperial expansion and great political reforms. It was, without a doubt, an extraordinarily complex era that is sometimes called the Second English Renaissance. It marked the beginning of modern times.