New
New
Year 2

Victorian society

I can describe some of the features of Victorian society that are shown in the painting 'Work' by Ford Madox Brown.

New
New
Year 2

Victorian society

I can describe some of the features of Victorian society that are shown in the painting 'Work' by Ford Madox Brown.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. During Victoria's reign there were very clear groups of people, called classes, in society.
  2. Ford Madox Brown's 1865 painting called 'Work' shows some of these alongside many other aspects of Victorian life.
  3. In the middle of the painting are a group of workers called 'navvies', who are digging up the road to build a tunnel.
  4. Around them are both rich and poor men and women, a group of orphaned children and some sleeping unemployed men.
  5. At the top of the painting are two wealthy figures on horseback whose progress has been stopped by the work.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that classes in society are small groups, like classes at school.

Classes are groups of people, but classes in society include thousands, sometimes millions of people and they are not age related like school classes, they depend on other factors like wealth or profession.

Keywords

  • Society - society is a large group of people who share the same ruler, laws and resources

  • Classes - classes are groups of people based on the job they do or how much money they have

  • Wealthy - If you have a lot of money and own many expensive things then you are wealthy

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Queen Victoria wrote that babies looked….
Correct Answer: ugly
Q2.
How many children did Victoria and Albert have together?
3
5
7
Correct answer: 9
Q3.
Victoria and Albert's first child was a girl who was born in…
1740
Correct answer: 1840
190
Q4.
Which of Victoria and Albert’s children became king after Victoria died in 1901?
Victoria
Correct answer: Albert Edward
Beatrice
Leopold
Q5.
What was chloroform?
one of Victoria’s dogs
something Victoria liked to eat
Correct answer: something used to help with pain
Q6.
True or False. Chloroform became quite popular because Queen Victoria used it.
Correct answer: True
False

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the word to the correct meaning.
Correct Answer:society,a large group of people who share the same ruler, laws and resources

a large group of people who share the same ruler, laws and resources

Correct Answer:classes, groups of people based on the job they do or how much money they have

groups of people based on the job they do or how much money they have

Q2.
What was Ford Maddox Brown’s job?
a teacher
a doctor
Correct answer: a painter
Q3.
True or False. Wealthy means someone doesn’t have much money.
True
Correct answer: False
Q4.
Who was the ruler of the United Kingdom when Victorian society existed?
Correct answer: Queen Victoria
King Charles III
Queen Elizabeth II
Q5.
Select all the people that can be seen in the painting called ‘Work’.
Correct answer: a flower seller
Correct answer: children
the queen
Correct answer: navvies
Q6.
A painting called ‘Work’ was painted in...
1665
1765
Correct answer: 1865
1965

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