Child Labor

Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution
- 20% of children were educated in 1862
- Majority of prostitutes were ages 15-22, children in our eyes
- Children in orphanages were purchased in order to have more labor in the factories
     - Many would die due to the poor conditions in the factories
     - High injury rates
     - Began working at age 5
     - 6 days a week, 18 hours a day
- Children were seen as replaceable parts of a machine so little to no care was given to the children working
- Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

"A Voice from the Factories" - Caroline Norton
- People typically don't use poetry as a medium for such serious issues
- Poetry is the language of emotion, however
     - Yet she doesn't go into deep detail of the negative aspects
- Wants to open society's eyes to what is going on

Theological Approach
- Physical vs. Body
- "Poetry is the language of emotion, therefore should be the language of the multitude"
- Validates emotion as the thought of correct thinking/ decision making
- She brings in the idea of slavery by comparing it to child labor
- Written in response to the government report - Barret report

This piece is written to open the eyes of society to a vision of truth about what was happening around them. Poetry is the language of emotion, yet she doesn't delve deeply into the aspects of child labor, just explains the commonalities of the Victoria Era and that it's bad.

Picture from Google Images found HERE.