Stupid Victorians
From characters in Dickens and George Eliot through education reforms to Francis Galton's ideas of hereditary genius. New Generation Thinker Louise Creechan looks at 'stupidity'.
From "dull" to "feeble-minded" - the qualities associated with stupidity altered during the Victorian period alongside changes to schooling and education policies. Dr Louise Creechan, from Durham University, looks at the findings of the 1861 Newcastle Commission and at a range of characters in novels. We hear about the sibling rivalry of Maggie and Tom Tulliver and different ideas about male and female capabilities expressed in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss (1860) and ideas about education and teaching in Charles' Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1864-65) and Hard Times (1854).
Producer: Luke Mulhall
New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to turn research into radio. You can hear Louise Creechan discussing her research in episodes of Free Thinking called How We Read /programmes/m001cgks and Teaching and Inspiration /programmes/m00169jh
Last on
Broadcast
- Wed 12 Apr 2023 22:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
Death in Trieste
A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.
Watch: My Deaf World
Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.
Download The Essay
Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.
Podcast
-
![]()
The Essay
Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
