Contradictions Presented at the Palace of WestminsterThe sculptures and carvings on the facade of the Palace of Westminster consist of many beautiful aspects of life, such as birds, flowers and trees. These sculptures linked to beauty contrast with the gargoyles adorning the tops of the walls (Foley 185-186). Gargoyles are ugly and vicious creatures considered to be a representation of evil within the Church and society. The stone sculptures on the facade of the Palace of Westminster are indicative of the contradictions present between the values, morals and actions of the Victorian upper class citizens. In Victorian society, people's beliefs were generally strict. They had a low tolerance for crime, good social ethics, and believed in sexual repression. Any criminal publicly convicted of a crime was severely punished and despised (Chesterton 3). Upper-class citizens took pride in looking and acting like royalty. The upper classes often threw parties, dressed only in the best possible way, and spent most of their time with other members of the same class (Wagner 5-8). Although they publicly shared these beliefs, crime, poverty, and prostitution were commonplace during most of the era (Gorman 325-326). The upper class tried hard to impress other members of the upper class; so much so that the lower classes lived in terrible conditions. They forced children to work, and men often showed little sexual restraint in their private lives. This is represented by one of the main sculptures in the Palace of Westminster. The palace is decorated inside and out with sculptures depicting countless people and animals. After the building burned down in 1834, a competition was held to design a new palace. Charles Barry would win (Foley, Mark). He was a well known architect middle of paper......and outwardly it was seen as a modest thing to do, it was a big part of the Victorian era culture among successful men. Charles Barry included many sculptures in his design of the Palace of Westminster. These sculptures all represent how the Victorians often had contradictions between their outwardly displayed values ​​and the actual actions that took place in private lives. Elements such as poverty, child labor and prostitution are depicted in the building's sculptures. Poverty is represented by small sculptures depicting many people, while child labor is represented by children holding royal objects and prostitution represented by the many lion sculptures on the palace. It was a clever and acceptable way for Charles Barry to show some of the difficulties of the times, which would not be the case if upper-class Victorians did not have contradictions between the values ​​they preached and the actions that they undertake..