Social Classes in the Victorian Era

Three primary social classes: Aristocracy, Middle Class, and Lower Class.
Class significantly influenced one's lifestyle, job opportunities, living conditions, and education; social mobility was very limited.

Composed of the wealthiest members of society who did not engage in paid work.
Lifestyle included reading, socializing, and leisure activities.
Access to elite education through private tutoring in advanced subjects.
Ownership of lavish possessions such as large homes, fine jewelry, and abundant food and servants.
Entry into this class was facilitated by titles associated with spiritual and temporal lords, royal families, and significant state offices.

Comprised skilled workers who had received training or education (e.g., doctors, lawyers).
Divided into Lower Middle Class and Upper Middle Class based on wealth and job prestige.

Included less wealthy individuals with jobs perceived as lower value, such as small-scale businessmen, shopkeepers, merchants, and civil servants.

Consisted of more affluent individuals engaged in esteemed professions, such as factory owners, bankers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, clergymen, and teachers.

Represented the most impoverished segment of society and was closely associated with poverty.
Further categorized into the Working Class and the Poor.

Comprised unskilled factory workers who earned low wages; included roles like laborers, seamstresses, and miners.

Often homeless or unemployed, many lived on the streets or in inadequate community housing.
Viewed with disdain by society and faced significant stigma.

Aristocrats lived in mansions and palaces in suburban areas, seeking to escape the industrialization-related sanitation and air quality issues.
Middle Class residence varied widely, often in suburbs, the country, or cities, depending on income levels.
Lower Class resided in cramped, unsanitary apartments in urban areas, with high disease rates and crime due to poor living conditions.