Victorian literature themes. Literary Elements of Victorian Literature 2022-12-15

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Victorian literature is a body of work produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) in the United Kingdom. It is characterized by a focus on social issues, moral values, and the Victorian worldview. Some of the key themes that are prevalent in Victorian literature include the role of women, the concept of respectability, the Industrial Revolution and its effects, and the search for meaning and identity.

One of the central themes in Victorian literature is the role of women. During this time period, women were expected to adhere to strict societal norms and were often confined to the domestic sphere. Many Victorian writers explored the limitations and expectations placed on women, as well as the ways in which they resisted or challenged these expectations.

For example, in the novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, the protagonist Jane struggles with the limited options available to her as a woman and the expectations placed on her to conform to traditional gender roles. Despite facing numerous challenges and setbacks, she ultimately asserts her independence and asserts her own identity.

Another important theme in Victorian literature is the concept of respectability. This refers to the social and moral values that were considered essential for a person to be considered "respectable" in Victorian society. This often meant adhering to strict codes of conduct, maintaining a proper appearance, and upholding traditional gender roles. Many Victorian writers explored the ways in which people navigated the expectations of respectability and the consequences of failing to meet these standards.

The Industrial Revolution, which took place during the Victorian era, also had a significant impact on literature of the time. The rapid pace of industrialization and the transformation of society it brought about were often depicted in literature, as writers grappled with the changes and their implications. Some writers celebrated the advances brought about by the Industrial Revolution, while others were critical of the negative effects it had on society, such as the exploitation of workers and the erosion of traditional ways of life.

Finally, a common theme in Victorian literature is the search for meaning and identity. Many characters in Victorian literature are depicted as struggling to find their place in the world and to understand their own values and beliefs. This theme is often tied to the other themes mentioned above, as characters navigate the expectations and limitations placed on them by society and seek to assert their own independence and individuality.

Overall, Victorian literature is characterized by a deep engagement with social and moral issues, as well as a focus on the individual's search for meaning and identity. These themes are still relevant today, making Victorian literature an enduring and thought-provoking body of work.

Reading English Victorian Literature: A Brief Guide to the Classics

victorian literature themes

So we have been looking at literary works published around this period — 1837-1901. Sometimes nature took a hand in stimulating reform. Serial fiction that was popular might then be issued as a complete book for people to purchase. This library wanted to acquire books for their collection that reflected family-oriented values that were championed by many in the Victorian era, not least by Queen Victoria herself, who had nine children. My favorite British comedian, Eddie Izzard, refers to Queen Victoria as 'one of England's more frumpy queens.

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An Analysis of Common Themes in Victorian Poetry

victorian literature themes

In general, Tories tended to champion traditional ways of doing things while Whigs wanted innovation and progress. Due to their raging emotions and Gothic elements, they are closer to Romanticism. A voluminous skirt with blouse and headgear. Queen Victoria with Family. The Victorian era saw the birth of the Romantic Movement. So, something can seem Victorian, but not have been written in the Victorian era, or something written in the Victorian era might not actually seem Victorian.

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Victorian Era Poetry Characteristics & Salient Features

victorian literature themes

. The first Reform Bill of 1832 lowered property qualifications to vote, with the result that many members of the middle class could now vote. You can choose one of the poets or prose writers that were mentioned in the lesson, or you can choose any other Victorian writer. Her name was Mary Ann Evans. His characters were really vivid but not terribly nuanced, so it's pretty obvious from the get-go who's good, who's bad, who can be reformed, and who can't.

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10 Classic Victorian Novels Everyone Should Read

victorian literature themes

Readers do need to be aware that people were judged differently depending on their social class. New ways of reading evolved as magazines and periodicals were published. Later, horror novels and detective stories emerged. Retrieved 9 November 2020. Charles Dickens in many of his novels, most notably Oliver Twist, wrote sympathetically about these conditions of workingclass life in Victorian England.

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Victorian literature

victorian literature themes

Prime Minister-to-be Benjamin Disraeli wrote the novel Sybil, or The Two Nations, in 1845, which analyzed reasons for the huge and growing gap between rich and poor. Wuthering Heights is the most powerful of all these novels, not least because of the doubt and suspicion of the truth incurred in the reader by the unreliable narrators with untrustworthy motives. Through her fiction, Eliot showed that human communities are interconnected in a vast web. George Eliot wrote a bunch of successful novels during the Victorian Era, including Adam Bede 1859 , The Mill on the Floss 1860 , Middlemarch 1871-72. To see my picks, check out my annotated reading list link below. It also features the use of sensory devices and imagery, sentimentality, humour, dramatic monologue, presentation, etc. Other examples of classic Gothic literature are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 1847 and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 1890.

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The Victorian Novel and its Characteristics & Features » Smart English Notes

victorian literature themes

We recommend this edition:. She wrote under a pseudonym because she didn't think her writing would be taken seriously if readers knew she was a woman. Retrieved 6 November 2020. Another change that occurred was the steam printing press. One of these was the mechanization of farm work leading people to move away from rural environments into the cities. To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life. During Victoria's reign, the population of England more than doubled, from 14 million to 32 million.

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Victorian literature: Depiction of women, About Their Fashion, Education and Others

victorian literature themes

It also saw the increase of urban dwelling. The problem of privacy was in fact very important: poor or working people lived in narrow houses and more than a single family often shared the same flat or, at worst, the same room. How may we see in them all that is to be seen in them by the finest senses? Those of us who were alive before the Internet should be able to relate. Victorian Poets wrote about Bohemian ideas and furthered the imaginings of the Romantic Poets. A lot of Victorian plays borrowed plots and characters from popular novels or from plays written in other countries; they often focused on sentiment and melodrama. Even novelist George Eliot set one of her fictions in Italy during the Renaissance. One of the most popular forms of poetry during these times was the narrative poem, a poem which tells a story.

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Literary Elements of Victorian Literature

victorian literature themes

This enables Jack to escape the demands of Victorian social norms and do as he pleases in the city. Charles Dickens was one of the premier writers of prose in this age. Major Events of the Victorian Era So, Victorian literature is just literature written during the reign of Queen Victoria in Great Britain. This could be attributed to a number of factors such as, the target audience or readership which shifted from the aristocrats to the middle class, and this was because, there had become a middle class. Victorian lawmakers were not all elected.

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Characteristics of Victorian era literature, novels and poetry

victorian literature themes

Middlemarch, I think, is her best novel and arguably her most well-known. Retrieved 6 November 2020. Literature classified as the Victorian Literature are literary writings published during the reign of the English monarch called Queen Victoria who was born 24 May, 1819, and reigned from 1837 to 1901. Major Victorian Novelists CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 Dickens was the most successful of the English Victorian novelists, a master of sentiment and a militant reformer. I have interests in photojournalism, documentary journalism and design fields.


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What are some elements of Victorian literature? I am confused about whether alienation/dislocation, struggle/strife, Christianity, and...

victorian literature themes

The Victorian era slightly overlaps with Britain's Industrial Revolution, which saw big changes to the way that people lived, worked, and traveled. Victorians were interested in the hero as well as folk art. Poets like The myth and folklore for their art, with Comic verse abounded in the Victorian Poetry, thus, marks an important era in the history of poetry, providing the link between the Romantic Movement and the Modernist Movement Pre-Raphaelitism of the 20th Century. He felt that man was an alien in an impersonal universe and at the mercy of sheer chance. Though readers assume he is a pessimist he called himself a meliorist, yearning hopefully for a better world.

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