The Burden of Social Convention in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and The Professor

The industrial revolution generated many literary works in the 19th-century Victorian age. When Queen Victoria came to power in 1837, England underwent an economic progress. But this industrial revolution could not be achieved without any consequence. Indeed, the reform bill of 1832 gave the middle class the political power and economic position it needed to consolidate its influence. However, while the afluence of the middle class increased due to the existence of industries and commerce, the lower classes were thrown off their land. They created a great urban working class and lived ever more wretchedly. As a matter of fact, the industrial revolution split the English society into two classes: the middle class and the lower class. The social changes were so swift and brutal that many people thought of social reform in order to lighten the suffering of the poor.