What Drives the Poor? What Drives Mahew? Examining "London Labour and the London Poor" through a New Historicist Lens

Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor (London Labour) provides a look at Victorian London’s working poor, but also provides a look at mainstream attitudes concerning class hierarchy and colonialist attitudes. While the book’s subject matter makes for exploration through a number of critical theories, new historicism provides an ideal examination at not only at contemporary history, but contemporary attitudes in Victorian-era London. London Labour’s tapestry of the Victorian Era’s w...