Victorian Entertainment

The Victorians were really good at looking for different ways to be entertained. Among the most popular ones were:

• Reading for pleasure. During the Victorian period, many great writers emerged. Their works are still studied nowadays. Among the most famous ones are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, The Brontë sisters, Lewis Carroll or Oscar Wilde.

• Music. Thousands of people played musical instruments at home for pleasure.

• Dancing.

• Going to the theatre.

• Sports. Among the most popular were horse racing, tennis or roller skating.

• Fairs and circuses.

• Opium dens. Opium was widely prescribed as a painkiller for everything, from headaches to tuberculosis. Opium was particularly popular among the Romantic poets (Lord Byron, Shelley and others).

TASK

4B and 4C. Victorian Tea Party. For the last week of term we are going to organise a Victorian Party:

• Some students are going to be reading aloud.

• Others are going to be playing musical instruments or dancing.

• Those who choose to read aloud will need to have chosen their texts by the end of November. The texts must be in English.

• You can get dressed up. Don't forget to bring your fans!

Students' work:

Irene playing the clarinet

Yaiza reading "Invictus" by William Henley

Tamara, Nerea and María reading

Shakespeare, E.A.Poe and Lord Byron