DEHUMANIZATION OF THE WORKING CLASS AND THE SILENT SCREAM OF A VICTORIAN WOMAN AGAINST THE INDUSTRIALISING ENGLAND: THE FACTORY LAD BY JOHN WALKER

Authors : Tuncer Yilmaz

Pages : 99-110

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Publication Date : 2020-12-18

Article Type : Research

Abstract :The invention of steam engine was one of the turning points in British industrial history. It is also considered as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, with which the modes of manufacturing had changed forever. In this period, many factories are opened, large industrial cities are established; and due to the need of workforce, millions of people migrated to these cities. These people formed a new social class with many problems. They had to live and work under very difficult conditions. Moreover, as a result of rapid mechanization in production, they faced the danger of losing their jobs. In this study, the class distinctions which occurred during and after the Industrial Revolution, and the problems it caused in the society have been examined within the context of John Walker’s The Factory Lad, a melodramatic factory play which is one of the first examples of realist theatre in the nineteenth century English Dramatic Literature. The dehumanization of the working class and their families by the industrialization are depicted by making references to the play.
Keywords : Dehumanization, Factory plays, workers’ theatre