What effects do the phrase "othering" and "reparation of one's identity" have in literary analysis of Victorian fiction?

Question

What effects do the terms "white Man's burden" and "Noblesse Oblige" ?

Answer 1

"Othering" and "Reparation of One’s Identity"

In Victorian literature, othering refers to excluding people who don’t fit society's strict standards, much like how someone might feel left out for not fitting in at school. For instance, just as characters in Victorian novels might be “othered” for not being wealthy or well-mannered, today, someone might feel “othered” based on their appearance, interests, or background. Think of Mean Girls, where certain characters are labeled as “weird” or “outsiders” simply because they’re different. Victorian writers used this idea to highlight how painful exclusion can be and how it pressures people to conform.

The idea of reparation of one’s identity is seen when someone is forced to change who they are to gain acceptance. In Victorian times, this often meant giving up cultural or personal identities to fit in with British norms, especially for people in British colonies. Today, it’s similar to how people sometimes feel they need to act a certain way on social media to get approval or be “liked.” Characters in Victorian novels, and people today, experience the pressure to change themselves to belong, showing how societies then and now can push individuals to lose their true selves.

2. "White Man’s Burden" and "Noblesse Oblige"

The idea of the "White Man’s Burden" in Victorian times was the belief that the British had a “duty” to “civilize” other cultures, often ignoring or harming those people in the process. This can be compared to the way certain groups today try to impose their views on others, claiming it’s for their “own good” without respecting individual differences. In Victorian novels, this burden is often revealed as harmful, showing that acting superior or forcing “help” on others can do more harm than good.

Noblesse Oblige, or “nobility obliges,” suggests that people with power have a duty to help those without. A modern example would be how superheroes like Spider-Man use their powers to protect others. When Uncle Ben says, “With great power comes great responsibility,” he’s emphasizing the idea that those who have advantages should use them to help others, not just themselves. In Victorian literature, however, this sense of duty is sometimes shown as hypocritical; the upper class might say they’re responsible for the poor but fail to truly help them, highlighting the difference between words and actions. This connects to today’s idea of “performative activism,” where people sometimes say they support a cause just for appearances, without taking real action to make a difference.

Answer 2

Noblesse Oblige simply means Nobility Oblige, and it was a phrase particularly popular during the French revolution where the people were crying out for the nobility to serve the purpose that they said they would which is to protect their people. I am not sure that I completely understand this questions. Victorian fiction is in large part obsessed with the idea of strict social norms and how one deviates from or upholds them. The idea of "othering" is something that would come up frequently during this time period because anyone who failed to meet the norms of the time would be ostracized by their culture and peers.

Answer 3

The phrases "othering" and "reparations of one's identity" effect Victorian literary analysis in that they highlight the social pitfalls of the Victorian period as seen in the era's literary characters and their relationships. Othering is when characters ostracize, or leave out, other characters, and this was popular in 18th century literature which focused heavily on social interactions and mannerisms like Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. Next, "reparations of one's identity" means that a major social crime has been committed and now has to be repaid and publicly apologized for such as colonialism, when Britain and then other countries tried to take over developing regions of the world in order to profit. The era's societal pitfalls, exposed by these analytical concepts, deal with manners (White upper class rules for dressing, eating, and conversing), progressivism (industrial revolution, crazy scientific experiments), and colonialism (taking over poorer countries for profit). These three things show Victorians aggrandized themselves (to make something or someone see larger than life), when it fact, they left a devastating mark on the world and their own people because they could actually be selfish and insensitive to other people all over the world.

First, Victorian literature is rife with prose about the restrictions of one's manners and the othering of those who do not exhibit these elitist manners characteristic of those born into the upper echelons (ranks) of their society, effectively keeping people of other races, manners, and class out. If a society is truly selfless and social, they would not seek to "other," ostracize those who do not exhibit these subjective demands which leave those who have been "othered" to live in squalor and poverty. They would not need to make reparations, apologies and restitution for their world crimes, either. This is seen in works colonialists works like those of Aphra Behn.

Second, the Victorian era saw themselves in this elitist way because of their industrial revolution (Charles Dickens and Pamela) and other progressive ideas (H. G. Wells) when this industry is mostly known for their abuse of children and mass pollution (Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, etc.). Again, while seeking to protect their own way of life and their own position in class, they destroyed their nation's air and future in their treatment of their country's children.

Lastly, while Victorian's thought of themselves as proper, well-mannered people, they were in fact, merely pompous and selfish as one's dress, manner of speaking, and class do not make a person or society better or worse (Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen, Tom Jones). They used a set of rules to keep other races, classes, and sexes from obtaining their wealth and privilege, in other words. While the Victorian period kept strict rules for being in society; they, in contrast, left a devasting mark on their own country and the world and many innocent people just trying to better their lives because they weren't born into this exclusive, "world class" group of people.