Throughout the Victorian era, merely walking down the street would be a very different situation than what you would see in today’s times. There was a lot of value placed on having proper etiquette regardless of whether you were lower or upper class. All people were held to a very high standard of requiring classy etiquette in their day to day lives.
Victorian conversation etiquettes
One of the biggest differences you may notice while walking down the street during the Victorian era would be how quiet it is. During this time, it was considered rude to speak loudly or in any way that might draw attention to yourself. Therefore, all conversation was relatively low in volume.
Conversation Etiquettes In Victorian Times: Guide to social manners during the Victorian era.
Victorian dining etiquettes
The dining experience held the same standard of having quiet conversation. But one rare thing you may observe in the Victorian era is that all of the ladies would be seated before the men. It was very rude for any man to sit down before all of the ladies had been seated. Therefore, you may see them standing for a brief period of time.
The men who wore gloves were required to remove them before being seated. However, the women would not remove theirs until after they had been seated. Therefore, the picture you might see would be a group of men standing and removing their gloves while ladies were already seated and removing theirs at that time.
Victorian manners for women
The ladies were also taught to be very respectful to men, as men were taught to treat women with extreme care. It would have been considered rude to use a man’s Christian name in the everyday regular speech.
This name is what we consider to be referred to as the first name. Therefore, they would always refer to them with a salutation such as Mr. and then their Family Name. It was a sign of respect and gratitude and was not meant as a way of being degrading or trying to show the inferiority of women.