Final answer:
High culture in the late nineteenth century was defined by the elite class as a set of cultural experiences and practices indicating wealth, political power, and prestige. It included engagement with the arts, exclusive education, and a lifestyle distinct from that of the lower classes, whose 'low culture' was represented by more accessible forms of entertainment.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the second half of the nineteenth century, intellectuals and members of the elite societies defined high culture as a pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that were enjoyed, understood, and accessed primarily by the upper or elite classes of society. This sense of culture was strongly associated with political power, social prestige, and often extensive wealth. High culture typically involved engagement with the refined arts, such as attending ballets, plays, live symphony performances, and having an appreciation for and access to distinguished educational institutions.
The understanding of high culture during this time was marked by a distinction from what was considered 'low culture'—the cultural experiences of the working and lower classes—which included more accessible entertainment such as amusement parks and baseball games. For example, in New York, the construction of Carnegie Hall in 1891 symbolized the apex of high culture with its focus on classical music performances. A trend of constructing cultural sites such as museums and concert halls was witnessed, as the upper class sought to distinguish itself amidst the rapid urbanization and industrialization taking place.
The era also saw the Victorian culture predominate, named after Queen Victoria, which emphasized bourgeois norms and the triumph of a bourgeois lifestyle. Intellectual movements such as romanticism, which valued emotion and the natural over the industrial, also originated in response to industrialization. As cities grew and class divisions sharpened, high culture became a way for the elites to both define their social status and create a buffer between themselves and the stark realities of urban industrial life.