Similarities and Differences.

When researching the similarities and differences between the book and England in the 1800s, there are quite a lot more differences than similarities. This is because it is a make believe children's story book, it is not meant to be like real life. Here is what I picked out:

Similarities-

*The poor lived in small houses with around 10 other people, however in the book Sylvia lives in an average sized house with only her aunt Jane.

*Young poor children were constantly ill (like Sylvia.)

*There were trains in England at the time and also in the book.

Differences-

*Women had no power but Miss Slighcarp has quite a lot in the book.

*There were no wolves roaming England.

*Women were meant to have no ambition, stay in the house and tend to it. They were very beautiful and graceful (again, Miss Slighcarp was not.)

*Young poor children usually started work very young, yet in the book Sylvia does not.

*There is no war going on in the book but was at the time.

*There is no slavery in the book but a lot at the time went on.

I then looked into what the time was actually like in the 1800's and I found that they did have trains in England. Also, the rich ladies and girls wore puffy sleeved under skirted dresses and the men always looked well dressed in suits. Diseases were also a big thing at the time; many diseases swept the poverty stricken people of England during the 1800s. These epidemics included typhus, scarlet fever, measles, influenza, cholera, smallpox, and diphtheria. 

•The typhus epidemic struck London in 1800. Typhus is a disease with symptoms including fever, rashes, headache caused by infection with a microorganism called Rickettsia prowazekii. 

•Another disease that engulfed London in the year 1800 was scarlet fever. Scarlet fever is a disease caused by strep infections. Some symptoms include fever, sore throat, abdominal pain, headaches, muscle aches, and vomiting. Scarlet fever is also noticeable by the blotchy skin irritations and white infection of the tongue, 1803 

•Influenza, a disease caused by a contagious virus that is spread through respiratory functions, struck the people of London, Chester, and British troops in Ireland. Most people underwent body aches, headaches, coughing, and sore throats as a result of being infected with this disease. 1808-1815 
•A severe measles epidemic struck London in 1808. Many young children died because they were unable to fight off the disease due to the high fever, coughing, inflamed eyes, sore throat, and fat blotches that appeared on the skin. 1831-1834

•During 1831-1834 cholera, a highly contractible disease caused by a bacterial infection of the intestine, spread throughout Britain attacking all classes. Cholera is 
transmitted through contaminated food or water. The faeces of those who were infected by the disease entered the water systems, ultimately spreading it to anyone who drank or even bathed in the water. 1857-1859

•Diphtheria was the major epidemic spreading in 1857-1859. Diphtheria is a bacterial infection that affects the respiratory system or the skin. Often time’s people were unable to treat this, which led to a coma and/or death. The effects of disease in the 1800s not only included death but also fear, food shortages, and economic downfall. Many people became scared of the possibilities of contracting one of these many deadly diseases; this ultimately drove some people to panic. Food shortages were also a huge result because if people who normally cared for the crops were ill, how was the supply of food expected to reach its demand. Another result included economic downfall. With people unable to work, the supplies others needed could not be manufactured. Therefore, many were left unemployed because of the lack of work needed at this time.