Context

Question 1

Fin-de-siecle fears

Answer 1

At the end of the 19th century, there were growing fears about: migration and the threats of disease; sexuality and promiscuity; moral degeneration and decadence

Question 2

Victorian Values

Answer 2

from the 1850s to the turn of the century, British society outwardly displayed values of sexual restraint, low tolerance of crime, religious morality and a strict social code of condu

Question 3

Darwinism and evolution

Answer 3

The implications of Darwinism and evolution haunted Victorian society. The idea that humans evolved from apes and amphibians led to worries about our lineage and about humanity’s reversion to these primitive states.

Question 4

Physiognomy

Answer 4

Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) theorised that the ‘born criminal’ could be recognised by physical characteristics, such as asymmetrical facial features, long arms or a sloping forehead.

Question 5

Victorian London

Answer 5

the population of 1 million in 1800 to 6.7 million in 1900, with a huge numbers migrating from Europe. It became the biggest city in the world and a global capital for politics, finance and trade. The city grew wealthy.

Question 6

Urban terror

Answer 6

as London grew wealthy, so poverty in the city also grew. The overcrowded city became rife with crime. The crowd as something that could hide sinister individuals became a trope of Gothic and detective literature.

Question 7

Robert Louis Stevenson

Answer 7

Robert Louis Stevenson was born and raised in Edinburgh, giving him the dual identity of being both Scottish and British. Edinburgh was a city of two sides - he was raised in the wealthy New Town area, but spent his youth exploring the darker, more sinister side of town.

Question 8

Deacon Brodie

Answer 8

a respectable member of Edinburgh’s society and town councilor, William Brodie lead a secret life as a burglar, womaniser and gambler. He was hanged in 1788 for his crimes. As a youth, Stevenson wrote a play about him.