We are often told that the Victorians were far less violent than their forebears: over the course of the nineteenth century, violent sports were mostly outlawed, violent crime, including homicide, began to decline, and bodily punishments, including hanging, were increasingly hidden from public view. They were also much more respectable, and actively sought orderly, uplifting, domestic and refined pastimes. Yet these were the very same people who celebrated the exceptionally violent careers of anti-heroes such as the brutal puppet Punch and the murderous barber Sweeney Todd. Violent...
We are often told that the Victorians were far less violent than their forebears: over the course of the nineteenth century, violent sports were mostl...
We are often told that the Victorians were far less violent than their forebears: over the course of the nineteenth century, violent sports were mostly outlawed, violent crime, including homicide, began to decline, and bodily punishments, including hanging, were increasingly hidden from public view. They were also much more respectable, and actively sought orderly, uplifting, domestic and refined pastimes. Yet these were the very same people who celebrated the exceptionally violent careers of anti-heroes such as the brutal puppet Punch and the murderous barber Sweeney Todd.
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We are often told that the Victorians were far less violent than their forebears: over the course of the nineteenth century, violent sports were mo...
