The Demoralization in London’s Culture

By Alberto F. Monegro

            The culture of London degenerated in spite of its economic growth, culminating into a society desensitized with its internal miseries up to the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the Victorian Age. London’s commercial importance predestined its culture to bloom in theater, clubs, coffeehouses, music, art, and literature, from alluring a mass population that would enrich the upper classes. However, while capitalism produced great wealth and contributed to London’s rise to world pre-eminence, it also produced social disparities, exploitation, and moral decline. 19^th Century London saw a birth of modern urban ills produced by the inequalities of capitalism: Prostitution, alcoholism, crime, and hopelessness. Charles Dicken’s Hard Times, described this capitalistic (capitalism) era as concerned with only economic self-interest, devoid of pity for the impoverished that are trampled upon.

            The upper class’ economic ambitions that curbed the working class to an economic misery that found temporary solace in immoral activities as prostitution, alcoholism, and a loss of faith. The in balance of wealth was the fountain by which the spring of culture emerged. With the wealth, acquired from the starvation and sweat of the working class, London’s leaders maintained a luxurious image with their social life, and an overabundance of food, materials, and servants. Meanwhile, most of the population struggled to survive under the suppression. A rioter in London once said, “no gentlemen need to be possessed of more than $1000 a year; that is enough or any gentleman to live upon” (Mitchell, pg. 212) Capitalism was without a doubt, a factor that led to the disintegration of morality in London.

Working women were the most burdened by poverty. From an early age, many were victims to rape, being too poor and mis-educated to prosecute; they had to settle for lower wages than men, and when margined to starvation sometimes prostituted for survival (footnote). Most had become disease-ridden with sexually transmitted diseases and were thrown into the streets to die. Not surprisingly, impoverished mothers who were not able to sustain themselves were left with the ultimatum to abandon their children. Infant Mortality rate was very high during this period. Statistics show that “more than 75 percent of children born in London died before they reached the age of five” (Mitchell, pg 207). Poor women had no dignity for themselves because of their conditions.

            Women coped with poverty by either prostituting or abandoning their children, but overall the working class habitually escaped their misery by getting drunk of Gin. Men and women would use up most of their earnings to intoxicate themselves. This further drowned them into poverty, but it made no difference because most were already in debt. On the issue of drinking, Jonathan Swift, in Gulliver’s Travel (1726) summarized the depravity in London’s drinking through Guilliver, a fictional English traveler. Gulliver discusses how “wine…was a sort of liquor which made us merry by putting us out of our senses…although it must be confessed, that we always awakened sick and dispirited and the use of this liquor filled us with diseases, which made our lives uncomfortable and short” (Swift, pg 263). Alcoholism hints to the extent of the hopelessness most workers felt. Alcoholism was their immoral means of coping with the degradation of their dignity. They weren’t even considered humans by industrialists, rather they were “hands” as Charles Dickens coined.

            Due to the scarce resources of the lower class, some resolved to survive through crime. Gangs formed from the lower classes, which survived from pilfering, braking into houses, and then selling all the stolen goods on the market. All of the people of London were somewhat paranoid over their goods, but it was not uncommon for victims to regain most of their goods through the market. Among all the chaos, the notorious Jonathan Wild became the ringleader during the 17^th century for the lucrative business of organizing crime and then selling to the victims their own possessions (Footnote).

            Murder was common in London among the lower classes. Their masters physically abused apprentices in London: the worst case of abuse took place during the 19^th century, when Sarah Meteyard and her daughter, were found to have murdered a girl apprentice (Footnote). Another famous murder occurred in the late in the 17^th century, where a dismembered headless corpse was found in Parker’s Lane; some human remains were found in a boat lying at Bull Stairs on Bankside. The violence was horrendous. Unquenchable mobs would spontaneously rise and destroy streets out of no solid purpose, usually from the effect of alcohol and misery. Killing and stealing became a natural part of life (footnote).

Sir Thomas More, a writer and undersheriff of London from the 15^th century hypothesized London’s outburst in theft and murder as a result of the government. “You [city] create thieves, and then punish them” Sir Thomas More acknowledged capitalism for influencing London’s immorality on the issue of theft and also murder. Moreover, he says “If a thief knows that a conviction of murder will get him into no more trouble than a conviction for theft, he’s naturally impelled to kill the person that he’d otherwise merely have robbed. It’s no worse for him if he’s caught, and it gives him a better chance of not being caught” (Utopia, pg. 51). He challenged London’s believe that crime could be halted or at least diminished by increased severity. Even while punishments ranged from whipping, hanging, to disemboweling, and beheading, in a hundred years the number of crimes “increased from sixty-seven to one hundred and fifty-six” (Mitchell, pg. 200). In fact, few government officials, such as Henry Fieldings and John Fieldings, actually took incentive to attack the root of problems as prostitution, high infant rates, and alcoholism; therefore, crime continued to increase. In Thomas More’s perspective, both the people and the government have no respect for life, the people because of their inhumane crimes and the government because of its apathy towards misery. Thomas More and Charles Dickens would agree that London is as depraved in crime, prostitution, alcoholism, and poverty, not because the workers are irresponsible and lazy, but because the sumptuous industrialists influenced this growth of immorality. Charles Dickens, makes clear in “Hard Times” that the Industrialists have no right to blame the lower classes for their own misery, because they too are part of the problem.

            The upper class also partook in acts of immorality, but just more discreetly. Violent entertainment took place among the many social activities in clubs, parks, and coffeehouses. The upper class seemed to enjoy watching animal and human blood-fights. When news of murder or capital punishment spread around the city, young aristocrats were among the first to come and see the gore. For instance, in the banquet given by James I, at Whitehall Palace on 18 August 1604, his guests enthusiastically watched fights between bears against dogs, bulls against dogs, and men against other men till death. Other butchery sports, such as cockfights and dogfights, were amusements as well (Footnote). To the upper class, torture and death of animals and humans were a form of pleasure; they did not value the life of those who were inferior to them.

            Even while London was famous for its many churches, especially St. Paul, it did not hold tightly to its Christian ideals. London was a city of pleasure seekers not of Godly reverence. Bishops and Deans of St. Paul were powerless to enforce a religious London. There was very little respect for the church; it was robbed, it’s statutes broken, horses and mules passed through the sacred building, businesses were discussed at St. Pauls, books were sold in the church, and markets were held outside the church. Evidently, morality was not as important as the issue of commerce.

            London’s immorality took speed at the birth of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19^th century. Both the lower and upper class engaged in immoral acts, conveying disrespect for humanity and life in general. The lower class mostly partook in prostitution, alcoholism, crime, while the upper class engaged in subtle exploitation, and murder. Up to the Victorian Age, however, the crimes of the upper class were more evident. With the economic spur of the industrial revolution, morality was of subordinate concern. Capitalism had no restraint on the economic detriment and hopelessness it produced on the workers living in the slums of London.