Victorian Language Essay examples -- Victorian Era

puritanic addressThe fact of the matter Nobody speaks at all worry the characters in any novel, play or film. Life would be impermissible if they did and novels, plays or films would be intolerable if the characters spoke as people do in life (Abercrombie 1965).So what was the real way of diction? fiction was generally thought to be an accurate portrayal of reality professedly life (Chapman 1). It was unfavorable if it stressed credulity too far. Therefore, fiction is our main(prenominal) source of information it is our main source to the reality of speech for the Victorians. great mobility and expansion of communication of the Victorian era brought together regional groups, olibanum increasing the complexity of the variations in the English phraseology. Consequently, pronunciation evolved as an exponent of social prestige (Chapman 6-8). Two categories of speech developed Standard and Non-Standard speech. composition of Standard talking to vs. Non-Standard SpeechThe Educa tion Act of 1870 established the drill as a melting pot for upper and middle folk children and the speech boundary had to be resolved. Thus a uniform set phrase (Standard speech) was created and pupils who refused to accept this refreshed accent or who could not adapt to this new way of speech were severely punished. Peer pressure was also an veer because the new boy would have to adapt to the new form of speech in order for his peers to accept him or to merely avoid bullies (Chapman 12).Non-Standard SpeechThis type of speech was also synonymous with lower class slang, cockney or the way in which the uneducated communicated, specific to the East cease (Chapman 19). The infamous cockney was native to the East End, as remains today. cockney dialect allowed spelling and ... ... word affidavit, yet Rogue Riderhood mispronounces it as an Alfred David (Dickens 12). Therefore, language in the Victorian era was important in ranking members of classes and occupations. Language had the potential to assess and reflect upon ones regional, educational, occupational and family background.The distinctions in speech amongst three different social ranks are evident in the following excerpt from an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskells North and South.Episode 1, sentence 3. http//www.bbc.co.uk/drama/northandsouth/episode1.shtmlWorks CitedChapman, Raymond. Forms of Speech in Victorian Fiction. juvenile York Longman, 1994.Dickens, Charles. Our correlative Friend. 1865. Introduction and notes Adrian Poole. New York Penguin, 1997.Phillipps, K.C. Language and Class in Victorian England. Ed. David Crystal. New York Basil Blackwell Inc, 1984.