The Victorians we meet in this volume range from the capitalists in the top tier of the bourgeoisie, eager to be recognized as gentlemen, to the clerks and craftsmen fearful of sinking into the proletariat. Peter Gay's aim throughout this sweeping work of cultural history is to widen our perception of Victorian bourgeois life, to replace monochromatic generalizations with revealing portraits of men and women in all the colorful complexity of their lives.