The literature of the Victorian age entered in a new period after the romantic revival. The literature of this era expressed the fusion of pure romance to gross realism.

Overview of Victorian Age

Victorian literature was produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Often considered a bridge between the romantic-era works of the previous century and what would become the literature of the newly industrialized world of the twentieth century, Victorian literature is characterized by a strong sense of morality, and it frequently champions the downtrodden. It is also often equated with prudishness and oppression, and while this is sometimes true, Victorian literature is also known for its attempts to combine imagination and emotion with the neoclassical ideal of the accessibility of art for the common person. Some of the best-known authors of this period are Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre), Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights), and Charles Dickens (Great Expectations).

Essential Facts of Literature During the Victorian Era One of the enduring authors of the Victorian era is George Eliot

(a pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans). Virginia Woolf called Eliot’s novel Middlemarch “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people.”

Charles Dickens was a self-made man. He published his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, in 1836. It made him an overnight success, and he was popular all his life. Dickens is still the most widely read novelist of the Victorian era.

All three Bronte sisters—Charlotte, Emily, and Anne—were writers. For a number of years, however, they all published under the male pen names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

Literature for children, often with a strong moralistic tone, became wildly popular during the Victorian era. Authors like Lewis Carrol (Alice in Wonderland) and Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book) were especially favored.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton is widely regard as the worst writer of the Victorians (although he was immensely popular in his day). Bulwer-Lytton is responsible for this infamous sentence: “it was a dark and stormy night.”

Characteristics of Literary Works in the Victorian Age1. Literature of this age tends to come closer to daily life

which reflects its practical problems and interests. It becomes a powerful instrument for human progress.

2. Moral Purpose: The Victorian literature seems to deviate from "art for art's sake" and asserts its moral purpose. Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle, Ruskin - all were the teachers of England with the faith in their moral message to instruct the world.

3. Idealism: It is often considered as an age of doubt and pessimism. The influence of science is felt here. The whole age seems to be caught in the conception of man in relation to the universe with the idea of evolution. Tennyson's some immature works seem holding doubtful and despairing stains but his In Memoriam comes out as a hope after despair.

4. Though, the age is characterized as practical and materialistic, most of the writers exalt a purely ideal life. It is an idealistic age where the great ideals like truth, justice, love, brotherhood are emphasized by poets, essayists and novelists of the age.

Notable Figures of Literature During the Victorian AgeNineteenth-century English writer Charlotte Brontë is best known for her novel Jane Eyre (1847), which tells the story of an orphaned girl who falls in love with a married man. The main protagonists of the book, Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester, are portrayed with a complexity uncommon in fiction of the time. Although their literary output was relatively small, Charlotte and her two younger sisters, Emily and Anne, are noted for writing works that transcend Victorian conventions.

Emily BronteEnglish writer Emily Brontë wrote only one

novel, the highly acclaimed Wuthering Heights (1847). Initially criticized for its violent nature, this story of uncompromising passion gained recognition as an astute look at the nature of romantic love. An actor recites this excerpt from the book.

George EliotGeorge Eliot, pseudonym of

Mary Anne Evans, was, for a significant portion of the 19th century, considered the greatest living English novelist. While her reputation has since declined somewhat, her realistic novels set against the backdrop of rural England were an influence upon the development of French naturalism, and she remains a significant figure in the development of women's literature. Among her staunchest admirers and defenders in the 20th century was Virginia Woolf.

Charles Dickens English author Charles Dickens

ranks as one of the most popular writers in the history of world literature. Although Dickens typically weaved social criticism, strong character development, and powerful detail into novels about contemporary 19th-century society, the same revealing qualities go into A Tale of Two Cities (1859), one of his infrequent ventures into historical fiction. A Tale of Two Cities takes place during the French Revolution. The book’s opening lines, recited by an actor, set a tone of ambiguity for the story of a man’s discovery of his own conscience in the midst of tumultuous historical forces.