Comparing The Cry Of Children By Elizabeth Barrett Browning And John Ruskin

The Industrial Revolution transformed the way societies lived and thrived throughout the world. In many ways, this transformation was prosperous and brought about good renovations and change. However, with this transformation there also came plenty of consequences and hardships for those involved in this modernizing world. During this time, there were those who stood opposed at the dark side of these massive renovations in technology and how they affected society. In Britain, the writers of the Victorian period were among those who were haunted by the dark realities of this new world and how they affected people involved. For example, some of these writers included Elizabeth Barrett Browning and John Ruskin. These writers used their platforms

Not only did families actively send their children to work in factories, but orphanages would also “apprentice” children in factories in order for them to learn a particular trade (). However, the reality of child labor during the Industrial Revolution is disturbing. Children worked twelve hour shifts amid dangerous high-powered machines and were often mistreated with “punishments” (). Elizabeth Barrett Browning specifically addresses this oppression of the children of the Industrial Revolution who were forced to work in these terrible conditions in her poem “The Cry of the Children.” In this poem, Browning attempts to exhibit the perspective of the children working in the factories by portraying what could be their inner dialogue. In doing so, Browning starkly contrasts the industrial image of the children as mere components of a machine with the idea that they are young human beings with souls that deserve a childhood free from the chains of industry. Another way in which Browning illustrates this idea is through the use of comparison. Several times throughout the poem Browning compares the tragedy of a child’s life confined to the factory with other examples of how life is lived in a way that establishes the harshness of a working child’s reality during that time. For example, in the beginning of the poem, Browning compares the sorrow of a young child chained

In the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, slavery played an important role in supplying farmers with the necessary workforce needed to supply the higher demands of agriculture for industrial cities, and in the lucrative business of the slave trade overseas that gave Britain the ability to afford the machines that powered the revolution (). However, despite the “success” of slavery in Britain, there came about a movement against slavery that sought to abolish the practice altogether and bring social and political reform to the issue. During this time, a painting was produced by J.M.W. Turner called “The Slave Ship” that depicts the “throwing [of] dead or dying slaves overboard” for the purpose of “claiming insurance money” (). In his critique of the painting, John Ruskin writes that the painting is the “noblest ever painted by man,” and he says this not only because of Turner’s exquisite portrayal of nature, but also because of his portrayal of such a difficult subject matter with such honesty. The painting in and of itself openly showcases the true horrors of slavery and how little the practice held sanctity for human life while in the pursuit of wealth. The painting also demonstrates Turner’s opinion on slavery and the need for social reform of slavery during that time. As a writer, Ruskin emulates this idea, writing that it