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Lush:I'm not out to demonize the Victorians or anything (lest I want the future generations to demonize me), but my original point was that they were not any better or worse than we are today; my discontent lies with the glorification of the good ol' days that simply never existed in human society (note I am placing a limit on my theory).
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In my worldview (in the Christian vein), you are correct that men have the same fallen nature throughout history. I disagree, however, that the outworking of cultural and religious influences have not made "days" (or eras) that could be labeled as worse or better than today. Hence, my rebuttal of your Victorian hypocrisy reply.
Practically, the Victorians made major effect in change for the positive. Perhaps the literature you are reading from that era would give you a different picture. But authors fantasize. Else, 150 years from now, people might think our era was full of vampires and aliens, and our mythology ran toward people being batteries for a machine-world.
Likewise, human nature has been, and remains, a curious mixture of good and evil. We can easily label the 1930's and 40's as "dark days," because so many people gave in to the evils of fascism and totalitarianism. If not for the influence of Churchill, we might still be in those dark days--or worse. Yet, the evil influences of the era were not uniform, for the British people did stand, even alone, until the US woke to the crisis and joined the fray.
I think cultural and religious influences on the English speaking people (Britain and America) caused them to act completely differently than their counterparts on the European continent during that time. Though all possessed the same sinful nature.