'In late vicorian Britain despite many critical comments, Poverty was still regarded as the fault of the poor and deserving of punishment.'Discuss the appropriateness of this judgment by reference to the four extracts.

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‘In late vicorian Britain despite many critical comments,

Poverty was still regarded as the fault of the poor and deserving of punishment.’

Discuss the appropriateness of this judgment by reference to the four extracts.

Poverty in Victorian Britain remained a problem throughout the 19th century and the need to provide help and assistance to those that could not help themselves still remained essential at the end of this period. The provisions made through the ‘poor law’ gave the absolute minimum relief with basic accommodation, food and help in order to keep costs to a minimum and encourage self-help. This also had the effect of discouraging many decent self-respecting people from seeking assistance even when their circumstances were dire.

Extracts A, B and C confirm that poverty was regarded as the fault of the poor, caused by their own laziness, weakness and lifestyle. In extract A, a cartoon published by Punch in 1883, the ‘house-jobber’, a well clothed and fed man who appears to be taking 50 per cent of the rent money as his wages, has arrived to collect the rent but the man does not have the money to pay. This is met with little sympathy as the man tells him he ‘Can’t have a ‘ome without payin’ for it’. Confirming the attitude of many people in Victorian Britain that the man should be working to provide for his family and if he is not then they must face the consequences in the workhouse, even though they are trying to earn some money by selling matches. The cartoon in extract C titled ‘Wasteful Dick’ also confirms this attitude. The man is walking with a stick and was probably unable to obtain work because of his disability but even his wife believes that it is ‘his waste and improvident habits’ that had led to them having to go into the ‘work house’. The extract from the satirical journal Punch in 1868 brought to light many of the conditions suffered in workhouses by those seeking help, but it confirms the attitude that the poor were to blame. A girl that was scorched severely by hot bricks ‘was so weakminded as to die in consequence’, therefore blaming the girl’s weakness rather than the institution she was in.

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In contrast the attitude of George Lansbury in 1892 showed a completely different attitude. He sympathized with those that were unfortunate enough to find themselves in the workhouse and was aware that there were many people including those that were ‘mentally deficient’ and ‘babies and children’ had no control over their situation.  He also acknowledged that decent people would endure any suffering rather than turn to the workhouse for help, and after his visit to a workhouse could understand why.    

Those people who found it absolutely necessary to go into a workhouse were met with ...

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