The Victorian era is a significant period in history, primarily because the British Empire passed through key transitional stages during it. If we want to study the Victorian era, looking at Victorian London would give us insights into the monarchy.
Arguably, there are no better archives to study Victorian London than to read Charles Dickens’ books. Charles Dickens rose to fame in the 20th century because of his close-to-reality description of Victorian London, his profound observation of society, and realistic characters. The then critics did not take long to acknowledge him as a “literary genius,” and rightly so because his work remains relevant to date.
But as we thought, there couldn’t have been a better way to visit Victorian London than to read Charles Dickens’ novels, V3 released. V3 is an interactive game with VR simulation and a hyper-realistic depiction of Victorian London. The cooler part is that the simulation is just in-line with Charles Dickens’ work, so one gets to experience the history through V3 instead of just imagining it.
Facts About Victorian London:
1. Extreme Financial Gap:
As the Victorian London suddenly grew in population, Charles Dickens describes that it soon started to see poor administration. As a result, a huge financial gap and two extremes of the societies could be seen in London. You will get to experience it in V3; because what kind of a game it is if it only focuses on the storyline and the characters do not have their inherent problems.
Dickens also talks about the properties that the riches of London maintained just for an event called “London Season,” a period in summer when the elite would visit London only to socialize. The socializing would often happen at events like the races at Epsom and Ascot and Trooping of the Colors.
On the other hand, you could also see slums everywhere, even in the elite areas. Referring to Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit, “a place where there was a mighty theatre, showing wonderful and beautiful sights to richly-dressed ladies and gentlemen” but also “miserable children in rags.. like young rats, slunk and hid, fed on offal huddled together for warmth and were hunted about…”
V3’s VR simulation precisely captures the essence of this contrast in Victorian society. You will not only see the gap, but you will also experience how it affected the life of the people.
2. The Dosshouse:
Continuing on the financial gap, Charles Dickens also wrote a great deal about the Dosshouse, something so horrible that many refuse to believe it existed.
The Dosshouse was sort of a budget hostel meant for those who could not even afford the bare minimum. It was primarily just one large room where the poor could pay for a little space on sharing basis for the night, and the hostel would accommodate as many people in the Dosshouse as possible.
The most interesting fact about the Dosshouse is the “hangover,” an alternate form of accommodation for those who couldn’t even afford a cot. As described, there would be a bench against a wall. A person would pay to sit there, and a rope would be tied to the front of his body, keeping him from tripping down while sleeping.
In V3’s VR simulation of Victorian London, you can see many such things that would allow you to experience how the poor tip-toed around their budgets to survive.
3. Noisy, Shabby, Chaotic, and Polluted:
If you aren’t familiar with Victorian London, V3’s VR simulation might surprise you about how noisy, shabby, chaotic, and polluted it was. Even if you find it hard to believe, you will be shocked to know that it is an accurate depiction and just in line with Charles Dickens’s work.
As mentioned earlier, the population growth London experienced in the Victorian Era made it noisy, while the poor administration made it shabby and chaotic. To top that, the coal pollution made the visibility poor and air quality unfit to breathe. The pollution was so bad that many people opted to wear black clothes to keep the coal smoke showing on their clothes.
4. Alcoholism:
When you come across the local characters in the VR simulation of V3, you might find them to be a little “loose and foggy,” making the game more fun and entertaining. If these characters look overdramatic to you, know that it is a hyper-realistic depiction because the British drank heavily in Victorian London. In fact, they would use mild alcoholic drinks such as beer as an alternative to water.
There was an issue of freshwater supply in Victorian London despite the attempt to install water pumps in the 18th century, so people opted to rely on beer and gin. Reportedly, a person consumed 10 liters of gin a year in the 1840s.
Being a social critic, Charles Dickens had an opinion on such extreme alcoholism as well. According to him, “If temperance societies would suggest an antidote against hunger, filth, and foul air… gin-palaces would be numbered among the things that were.”
5. Diversity:
The diversity in the population you get to see in V3’s VR simulation is by far my favorite feature of the Victorian London’s depiction.
As it is no secret, London served as the global trade hub back in time, and people from all origins could be seen roaming around on the streets, engaging with the locals as well as other nationals.
The more exciting part is that people drank and partied together, often leading to romance and fights. Being a gamer, you can imagine how much fun such scenarios would be.
But how close is it to reality? Let me introduce another genius of the Victorian era, George Cruikshank. Cruikshank was a satirical cartoonist and often collaborated with Dickens. His sketches and cartoons have captured several real as well as imaginary scenes on the streets of Victorian London.
Having seen some of them, I can vouch that V3s VR simulation exposes you to the same culture Cruikshank and Dickens showed through their work, and the culture is worth seeing.
Conclusion:
People know V3 for the fun, entertainment, and close-to-reality experience it provides but very few know the amount of research behind making the game close to reality.
Considering that we are neither historians nor literati, the best way to experience the Victorian era is to play V3 and experience the socio-political culture through its hyper-realistic VR simulation.
