Victorian literature
Transcript of Victorian literature
What is Victorian
literature?Victorian literature refers to the literary works
written during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-
1901).
It was the transition between the Romantic
period and 20th century literature.
It can be divided into two periods:
High Victorian literature (1830-1870)
Late Victorian literature (1870-1901)
Common themes
Critique of industralization
Critique of the deterioration of
the rural lifestyle
Celebration of the past
(including chivalry)
Conflicts between classes
Women´s rights
MoralityMost works were written to teach moral lessons to
readers.
Hard work and strong virtue are always romanticized
and rewarded, and poor behaviour is punished at the
end.
Literary works are full of passion and characters are
often tempted by evil, but they show restraint against
wild emotions (as opposed as during the Romantic
NovelsNovel was the dominantgenre during the Victorianperiod.
High Victorian novels tendedto be edifying moral storiesthat portraited difficult lives,and where hard work, loveand perseverance werealways rewarded.
Late Victorian novels weremore complex, as theyreflected an inner struggle toconquer the flaws of humannature through effort andvirtue.
Some novelistsCharles Dickens is probablythe most widely read authorfrom this time.
His novels achievedimmense popularity duringhis lifetime and there wereeven spin-offs andmerchandise made of them.
Most novels criticized societyand represented its poorest,but in line with the literatureof the era, there was a verystrong moral element to thetales.
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are the mostoriginal novelists of this period.
The sisters published their works under the malepseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Ashton Bell, as it wascommon practice for female writers that wanted to betaken more seriously.
Their novels include some unconventional themes forthis era, such as violence, a deep desire for freedom, awilderness of spirit, feminism and even the supernatural.
Their work was considered controversial but theyeventually achieved the success they deserved.
Some of their works:
Charlotte: Jane Eyre
Emily: Wuthering Heights
Anne: The Tennant of Wildfell Hall
William Makepeace
Thackeray began as a
parodist and satirist but later
started to write novels with a
very strong satiric component.
He enjoyed great success
during his lifetime but today
his best known work is Vanity
Fair.
In it, he satirizes British
society of the 19th century,
although it is set during the
Napoleonic Wars.
There have been several film
adaptations of this novel and
it is still one of the best loved
by the British public.
Poetry
The most famous poet of
the Victorian period was
Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
His poetry mostly retelled
classical myths, although it
also covers religious
dilemmas and scientific
discoveries.
Although he experimented
with metric, he mostly
followed a strict pattern, a
reflection of the formality of
the era.
Husband and wife Robert and
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
enjoyed great popularity
because of their love poems
to each other.
Elizabeth Barrett was already
a successful author before
she met her husband, and
was also an involved activist
in social issues.
Her prolific work made her a
rival to Tennyson as a
candidate for poet laureate in
1850 after the death of
Wordsworth.
There was also a group of writers and artists, the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, of which Dante
Gabriel Rossetti and his sister Christina were
part.
Their aim was to replace the academic approach to
art with the more natural approach taken before the
Italian Renaissance.
Several writers joined this movement, echoing a
simpler, less formal approach to literature. The
Rossettis are the greatest poets of this movement.
Theater
Theater became an extremelypopular form of entertainmentfor all social classes during thisera and Queen Victoriapromoted it.
Plays usually had a strongcomedic element, both highand low, and the plots were fullof mistaken identities,coincidences and mistimings.
Oscar Wilde was the leadingdramatist of the late Victorianperiod and his comicmasterpiece The Importanceof Being Earnest is a satiricreflection of the time.
Nonfiction
The Victorian era was a period
of great scientific discovery
and the Victorians tried to
describe and classify the world
they lived in.
Among others, Charles Darwin
with On the Origin of Species,
Friedrich Engels with his
Condition of the Working
Classes in England and John
Stuart Mill with his
philosophical works, changed
the way the Victorians thought
about themselves and about
the world.
Supernatural and gothic
literatureGothic literature combinesromance and horror inattempt to thrill and terrify thereader.
Possible features in a gothicnovel are monsters, ghosts,curses, hidden rooms, madwomen in the attic andwitchcraft.
The plot usually takes placein monasteries, castles andcementeries.
They were hugely popular butpanned by critics.
Children‘s literatureThe Victorian period was the firstone in history where children weretargeted as readers.
This was a consequence of theevolution of social attitudes towardschildhood.
Literature became a popular way toteach children lessons and morals.They were only rarely enjoyableworks.
Later, when reading for pleasurebecame socially accepted, folk andfairy-tale compilations became verypopular
There were different types ofpublications written for boys andgirls. Girls stories were domesticand focused on family life, whereas
Victorian literature todayMany view it with scepticism because of the stereotypes
of the era: current readers may see it as prudish, rigid
and excessively formal.
However, many contemporary authors criticized these
same trends, and there were many brilliant works that
were considered unconventional even then.
Those works have passed the test of time and are today
considered masterpieces of classic literature.