suffering in victorian period

• What was the crime rate in 1800?

  About 5,000 offences per year
• What was the crime rate in 1840?

  About 20,000 offences per year
• What did Victorians believe should be the punishment for criminals?

  They believed in punishment through prison
• What was the purpose of building new prisons during the Victorian era?

  To serve as punishment for criminals
• How did Victorians view the conditions of prisons?

  They should be unpleasant to deter crime
• What were common forms of hard labor for prisoners?

  Walking a treadwheel or picking oakum
• What was the purpose of the Poor Law established in 1815?

  To help the poor in each parish
• What financial burden did the Poor Law create by 1830?

  It cost about £7 million
• What change did the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 introduce?

  It limited financial aid to exceptional cases
• What was required for people to receive help after the 1834 amendment?

  They had to enter a workhouse
• What phrase did Scrooge use regarding the poor?

  “Decrease the surplus population”
• What does the term "surplus" imply in Scrooge's view of the poor?

  They are of no use to society
• How does Scrooge dehumanize the poor?

  By referring to them as numbers
• How are the gentlemen collecting for charity described?

  As "portly" gentlemen
• What does the term "misanthrope" mean?

  Someone who dislikes humankind
• How is Scrooge characterized in relation to being a misanthrope?

  He is not as mean-spirited as believed
• What does "misanthropic ice" symbolize in Dickens' writing?

  Society's coldness and bleakness
• What does Scrooge's lack of imagination signify?

  He cannot envision unreal things