ABSTRACT
The Victorian age did not come to a sudden end with the death of the queen in 1901. Some aspects of Victorianism had already faded in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, others only came to full fruition later. Historians have usually seen 1914 as a more significant date than 1901, with the outbreak of the First World War marking the end of an epoch. The Edwardian epilogue provides contrast and similarity, change and continuity with what had gone before. By the end of the century the changes outlined in Part Four had effectively undermined the confidence and cohesion of mid-Victorian society. The balances betwen various conflicting elements which had been precariously maintained in the third quarter of the century were no more: the age of equipoise was ended. 1 In its place came the unsettlement of the late 1880s and 1890s, continuing until 1914. The jubilees of 1887 and 1897 presented a façade of national unity; but underneath, the nation was divided on the nature of the eternal social, religious and political certainties.
