It&#x27;s nice to enjoy the &quot;good ol&#x27;&quot; things of Victorian era and bash our &quot;hollow, heartless&quot; society, conveniently omitting the brutal inequality that allowed wealthy Victorians to enjoy that &quot;beautiful&quot; lifestyle.<p>They see the kerosene burning, but they don&#x27;t see the 5yo coal children dying lonely deaths miles underground. The workers burning their life away in 16h shifts without barely any rest, medical leave, right to strike, right to unionize, nothing but the might of their bare bodies exploited so a high class Victorian socialite could enjoy her life.<p>But even that same 19th century socialite couldn&#x27;t think of voting, or being a member of the parliament. She has strange looks around the city now? Imagine the looks, the back-turning and street-crossing she would get if she wanted to exert a life independently of a man in the conservative Victorian society.<p>Not to speak about access to culture, education (in 1840 only about 20% of the children in London had any schooling), information, and crucially, medical care. I wonder if this couple follows medical advice, procedures and pharmacopoeia of that era as well. Toothache? Cocaine drops. Surgery? Often without anesthesia or any asepsis. Tuberculosis? Horrific slow death sentence. Small infected wound? Too bad, no antibiotics in Victorian age.<p>Mind that as an engineer, I marvel at the boost of technology of that era, and the early marvels of engineering and construction. But  I cringe at this whitewashing articles that glorify &quot;simpler, truer times&quot; and bash our vastly more advanced, secular, open, just and equal society that so many lives and fights has required.