Victorian Etiquette Lessons

            http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/17

            Do you think you know enough Victorian Etiquette in order to avoid becoming a social faux pas? During the Victorian Era, social etiquette was of highest importance. Victorians were quite the social butterflies, holding balls, dinners and gatherings for different occasions. An individual’s reputation was dependent upon how they acted in these social situations.

            The McCord Museum’s interactive online game tests your knowledge of Victorian Social etiquette. It takes you through 4 different social scenarios and asks you questions depending on your gender. Here we can see the differences in the social expectations of men and women of that time period.

            The Four scenarios in this interactive game are An Evening Dinner at Home, A Fancy Ball, A Voyage By Train and depending on the gender chosen, A Promanade In the Park for females or At the Gentleman’s Club for males. Each scenario begins by asking what the appropriate dress for the occasion is. If you pick the correct answer, the people in the questions move and do the correct action. If you pick the wrong answer, the people in the game do humorous things. You cannot move on to the next question until you answer it correctly.

            After you have chosen the appropriate clothing for your scenario, you are given scenarios in which you must pick the right social action. For women, their behavior is dependent to their relationship with men. If they wanted to greet others in society, they could not do so without the proper introduction or escort by their husbands or an appropriate gentleman. They were also to be modest in clothing and supposed to excel in the art of listening, conversation and entertain guests by playing on the piano. They were to be polite and altruistic to others in society.

            Men were expected to behave in a different way. They were to be chivalrous in their relation to women. If a woman requested something of a man that was within reason, he should be able to comply. If a woman were to politely decline his invitation, he would take the rejection and not hold any ill will towards her. Men had a bit more freedom than women in terms of being able to do things on their own. However, if they were guests, they were still subject to their host’s prompts. For example, if they wished to smoke a cigar in the parlor, they would have to wait for the hostess to take them there.

Final Pros and Cons

Pros: Educational, Humorous, Accurate portrayals of social etiquette for each gender, Portrays how the genders are dependent upon each other, Gives reason for why a question is wrong.

Cons: Flash player constantly crashes