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1、Oneofthesilliestthingsinourrecenthistorywastheuseof“Victorian”asatermofcontemptorabuse.IthadbeenmadefashionablebyLyttonStracheywithhisclever,superficialandultimatelyemptybookEminentVictorians,inwhichhedamnedwithfaintpraisesuchVictorianheroesasGeneralGordon
2、andFlorenceNightingale.Strachey"sdemolitionjobwascleverbecauseitridiculedtheVictoriansforexactlythosequalitiesonwhichtheypridedthemselves—theirhighmindedness,theirmarkedmoralintensity,theirdesiretoimprovethehumanconditionandtheirconfideneethattheyhaddoneso
3、.Yetonesaw,evenbeforethe100thanniversaryofthedeathofQueenVictoriathisyear,thatthereweresignsthesesneeringattitudeswerebeginningtochange-ProgrammesonradioandtelevisionaboutVictoriaandtheagethatwasnamedafterhermanagedtohumblethemselvesonlyabouthalfthetime.Pe
4、oplewerebeginningtorealizethattherewassomethingheroicaboutthatepochand,perhaps,tofearthattheVictorianagewasthelastageofgreatnessforthiscountry.Nowanewbook,WhatTheVictoriansDidForUs,aimsfurthertoredressthebalanceandremindusthat,inmostessentials,ourownageisr
5、eallyanextensionofwhattheVictorianscreated.YoucanstartwiththelistofVictorianinventions.Theyweregreatloversofgadgetsfromthesmallestdomesticonestonewwaysofpropellingshipsthroughoutthefar-flungEmpire.Inmedicine,anaesthesia(developedbothhereandinAmerica)allowe
6、dsurgeonsmuchgreatertimeinwhichtooperate—andhencetoworkontheinnerorgansofthebody—nottomentionreducingthelevelofpainandfearofpatients.TotheVictorianswealsoowelawntennis,anationwidefootballassociationunderthemodernrules,poweredfunfairrides,andtheatresofferin
7、gmassentertainment.And,ofcourse,themodernseasideisalmostentirelyaVictorianinvention.Thereis,ofcourse,adarkersidetotheVictorianperiod.EveryoneknowsaboutitmostlybecausetheVictorianscatalogueditthemselves.HenryMayhew"swonderfulsetofvolumesonthelivesoftheLondo
8、npoor,andofficialreportsonprostitution,ontheworkhousesandonchildlabour—reportsandtheirstatisticsthatwereusedbyMarxwhenhewroteDasKapital—testifytothesocialconscieneethatwasatthecenterof"Victorianvalues”。Butnow
