197- ] English Literature

197- ] English Literature

Victorian Literature

 Victorian literature is the body of poetry, fiction, essays, and letters produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) and during the era which bears her name. It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the modernist literature of the twentieth century. The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era that the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society. The number of new novels published each year increased from 100 at the start of the period to 1000 by the end of it.[3] Famous novelists from this period include Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, the three Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Rudyard Kipling.

During the nineteenth century the novel become the leading form of literature in English. The works by pre-Victorian writers such as Jane Austen and Walter Scott had perfected both closely observed social satire and historical fiction. Serialized popular novels won unprecedented readership and led to increasing artistic sophistication. The nineteenth century is often regarded as a high point in European literature and Victorian literature, including the works of Emily and Charlotte Brontë), Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lewis Carroll, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, A. E. Housman, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Makepeace Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, and Oscar Wilde remain widely popular and part of the core curricula in most universities and secondary schools.

While the Romantic period was a time of abstract expression and inward focus, essayists, poets, and novelists during the Victorian era began to direct their attention toward the social issues. Writers such as Thomas Carlyle called attention to the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution and what Carlyle called the "Mechanical Age". This awareness inspired the subject matter of other authors, like poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning and novelists Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. Barrett's works on child labor cemented her success in a male-dominated world where women writers often had to use masculine pseudonyms. Dickens employed humor and an approachable tone while addressing social problems such as wealth disparity. Hardy used his novels to question religion and social structures.

Poetry and theatre were also present during the Victorian era. Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson were Victorian England's most famous poets. With regard to the theatre it was not until the last decades of the 19th century that any significant works were produced. Notable playwrights of the time include Gilbert and Sullivan, George Bernard Shaw, and Oscar Wilde.

This period was characterized by social, cultural, and technological changes, and Victorian literature reflected the diverse concerns and values of the time. It encompassed a wide range of genres, including novels, poetry, plays, essays, and non-fiction works.

Realism and Social Commentary:

Victorian literature often depicted the realities of everyday life, addressing social issues such as poverty, class divisions, industrialization, and the role of women. Writers aimed to provide a truthful representation of society and highlight the struggles and challenges faced by individuals.

Moral and Ethical Concerns: Victorian literature frequently explored moral and ethical dilemmas, emphasizing the importance of virtue, duty, and personal responsibility. Many works sought to teach and guide readers through moral lessons and present examples of proper behavior.

The Condition of Women: Victorian literature grappled with the changing role of women in society. It addressed the limitations imposed on women, their struggle for independence, and the societal expectations placed upon them. Writers like Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot portrayed strong female characters and advocated for women’s rights.

Gothic and Supernatural Elements: While Victorian literature was predominantly realistic, elements of the Gothic and the supernatural continued to be present. Writers such as Bram Stoker with “Dracula” and Oscar Wilde with “The Picture of Dorian Gray” incorporated elements of horror, the occult, and mystery into their works.

Social Satire and Comedy: Victorian literature often employed satire and humor to criticize societal norms, hypocrisy, and absurdities. Writers like Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde used wit and irony to expose societal flaws and provoke thought.

Expansion of the Novel: The Victorian era witnessed the rise of the novel as the dominant literary form. Serial publication became popular, allowing novels to reach a wider audience. The works of Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and the Brontë sisters are celebrated examples of Victorian novels.

Scientific and Technological Progress: Victorian literature reflected the era’s fascination with science, exploration, and technological advancements. Writers like H.G. Wells explored scientific and speculative themes in their works, reflecting the growing interest in evolution, industrialization, and the impact of technology on society.

Prominent Victorian authors include Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Emily Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, and Robert Browning, among others.

Overall, Victorian literature encompassed a broad range of themes and styles, reflecting the complexities and contradictions of the Victorian era. It addressed social, moral, and political concerns while exploring human emotions, relationships, and the individual’s place in a rapidly changing world. Victorian literature continues to be highly regarded for its depth, social commentary, and enduring storytelling.

In the year 1837, Queen Victoria ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland and succeeded William the IV. She served for a period of 64 years, till her death in 1901 and it is one of the longest reigns in the history of England. The period was marked by many important social and historical changes that altered the nation in many ways. The population nearly doubled, the British Empire expanded exponentially and technological and industrial progress helped Britain become the most powerful country in the world.

Victorian Prose:

Victorian age produced two great essayists like Carlyle and Stevenson. Carlyle’s major works include The French Revolution in 3vol. (1837), On Heroes, HeroWorship and the Heroic in History (1841). His prose style differs from other prose writers. He writes about people and events of the past. He has his own philosophy. He accounts great men as Hero. whereas Stevenson writes famous essays in this period A Night among the Pines, Walking Tours, An Apology for Idlers, A Plea for Gas lamps, El Dorado Familiar Studies of Men and Books and Crabbed Age and Youth. Stevenson’s essays are an attempt in the direction of Human welfare. He wishes to remove all that creates obstacle in human progress and happiness. For example in his famous essay An Apology for Idlers-he point out the importance of direct education based on selfobservation and self-learning. He puts stress on the quality of being happy for personal sake as well as social sake.

Prose fiction

Charles Dickens is the most famous Victorian novelist. With a focus on strong characterization, Dickens became extraordinarily popular in his day and remains one of the most popular and read authors of the world. Dickens began his literary career with Sketches by Boz (1833–1836) which were a collection of short stories published in various newspapers and other periodicals. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837) written when he was twenty-five, was an overnight success, and all his subsequent works sold extremely well. The comedy of his first novel has a satirical edge and this pervades his writing. While at the beginning of the 19th century most novels were published in three volumes, monthly serialization was revived with the publication of Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers in twenty parts between April 1836 and November 1837. Demand was high for each episode to introduce some new element, whether it was a plot twist or a new character, so as to maintain the readers' interest. Dickens worked diligently and prolifically to produce the entertaining writing that the public wanted, but also to offer commentary on social problems and the plight of the poor and oppressed. His most important works include Oliver Twist (1837–1839), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–1839), A Christmas Carol (1843), Dombey and Son (1846–1848), David Copperfield (1849–1850), Bleak House (1852–1853), Little Dorrit (1855–1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1860–1861). There is a gradual trend in his fiction towards darker themes which mirrors a tendency in much of the writing of the 19th century.

William Makepeace Thackeray was Dickens' great rival in the first half of Queen Victoria's reign. With a similar style but a slightly more detached, acerbic and barbed satirical view of his characters, he also tended to depict a more middle-class society than Dickens did. He is best known for his novels The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844) and Vanity Fair (1847–1848) which are examples of a popular form in Victorian literature: a historical novel in which recent history is depicted.

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë produced notable works of the period, although these were not immediately appreciated by Victorian critics. Wuthering Heights (1847), Emily's only work, is an example of Gothic Romanticism from a woman's point of view, which examines class, myth, and gender. Jane Eyre (1847), by her sister Charlotte, is another major 19th-century novel that has gothic themes. Anne's second novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), written in a realistic rather than romantic style, is mainly considered to be the first sustained feminist novel.

Elizabeth Gaskell produced some notable works during this period. Her most notable works include Mary Barton (1848), Cranford (1851–1853), North and South (1854–1855), and Wives and Daughters (1864–1866).

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) also produced some notable works during this period. Her most notable works include Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–1863), Middlemarch (1871–1872), and Daniel Deronda (1876). Like the Brontës she published under a masculine pseudonym.

Later in this period, Thomas Hardy published Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). Renowned for his cynical yet idyllic portrayal of pastoral life in the English countryside, Hardy's work pushed back against widespread urbanization that came to symbolize the Victorian age.

Other significant novelists of this era were Anthony Trollope (1815–1882), George Meredith (1828–1909), and George Gissing (1857–1903).

Victorian Novel:

It produced two great novelists like Charles Dickens and Hardy. The spirit of revolt is much more intense in the fiction than the poetry of this period. The most prominent novelists of the period are Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. Dickens is the great novelist. He makes the minute study of the whole mankind. He presents lively picture of human society. Dickens, “David Copperfield” is a representative novel in the sense that it throws light on the prevailing conditions of Victorian society. It is a social document that brings to light miserable condition of boarding-houses, women education, child labor and social injustice. Dickens is a social thinker working in the line of a social reformer. Hardy’s best novel is Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Thomas Hardy published this novel in 1891 with subtitle-a pure woman. Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a young girl, who is raped by Alec D’Urbervilles. She gets pregnant, but the baby dies. It raises a question how such a woman may be called a pure woman. But Hardy proves it. She later falls in love with Angel Clare, but he deserts her. Alec assures her that Angel would not come back. Her family starves and she becomes a mistress to Alec. But Angel comes back and Tess murders Alec and spends a few moments of love with Angel before she is arrested to be hanged.

Victorian Novels

Victorian Era is seen as the link between Romanticism of the 18th century and the realism of the 20th century. The novel as a genre rose to entertain the rising middle class and to depict the contemporary life in a changing society. Although the novel had been in development since the 18th century with the works of Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Samuel Richardson and the others, it was in this period that the novel got mass acceptance and readership. The growth of cities, a ready domestic market and one in the oversea colonies and an increase in printing and publishing houses facilitated the growth of the novel as a form. In the year 1870, an Education Act was passed which made education an easy access to the masses furthermore increasing literacy rates among the population. Certain jobs required a certain level of reading ability and simple novels catered to this by becoming a device to practice reading. Also the time of the daily commute to work for men and the time alone at home for women could be filled by reading which now became a leisure activity. As a response to the latter, the demand for fiction  , rose substantially.

The novels of the age mostly had a moral strain in them with a belief in the innate goodness of human nature. The characters were well rounded and the protagonist usually belonged to a middle class society who struggled to create a niche for himself in the industrial and mercantile world. The stress was on realism and an attempt to describe the daily struggles of ordinary men that the middle class reader could associate with. The moral tangents were perhaps an attempt to rescue the moral degradation prevalent in the society then and supplied the audience with hope and positivity. These moral angles allowed for inclusion of larger debates in fiction like the ones surrounding “the woman question”, marriage, progress, education, the Industrial Revolution. New roles for women were created because of the resultant economic market and their voice which was earlier not given cadence was now being spotted and recognized and novels became the means where the domestic confinement of women was questioned. Novels reflecting the larger questions surrounding women, like those of their roles and duties. In the latter half of the century, Married Women’s Property Acts was passed, the women suffrage became an important point of debate, and poverty and other economic reasons challenged the traditional roles of women. The novel as a form became the medium where such concerns were raised.