The Victorian Age ( 1837- 1901 )

The Victorian Age is often referred to as “An age of Giants”. Victorian literature is a literature mainly
written in English, during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). It was preceded by Romanticism and
followed by the Edwardian Era (1901-1910). So Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901, currently her
reign is the longest of any British monarch.( 63 years and 7 months) Some major events that took place
during the reign of Queen Victoria are;
1=> A huge growth in population. During the reign of Queen Victoria, The population of England was
more than doubled from 14 million to 32 million.
2=> There were also some significant improvements in Technology. The Victorian era slightly overlaps
with Britain’s industrial revolution, which made huge changes to the way that people lived, worked and
travelled. These improvements in Technology offered a lot of opportunities for the people in England
but also represented a major upheaval in regards to how people can live their lives and interact with the
world.
3=> another event of Victorian Age is changing the world’s views. In addition to the major development
in Technology, there were emerging scientific beliefs like Charles Dickens theory of evolution and these
things were changing how people in England thought about themselves and how they can interact with
the world around them. Most notably a lot of people were being far from the church.
And finally there were poor conditions for the working class. The industrial revolution led to the distance
between what they have and have-nots growing at a really high rate and a lot of people especially
artistic like poets writers felt obligated to speak out against what they believed to be societal Injustice.
The Victorian Novels
The Novel was the dominant genre in the Victorian Age. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) created a host of
unforgettable characters in such novels as; Oliver Twist, Great expectations, David copper Field, Hard
Times and A Tale of Two Cities. And William Thackeray's (1811-1863) most famous work Vanity fair,
Emily Brontess (1818- 1848) Wuthering of Heights are classic of literature.
George Elliot's (1819-1880) most important works are; Middle March, The Mill On The Floss and Adam
Bede. The major Novelist of the later part of the period was Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) whose best
works include Tess Of The D' Urbervillas, Far from the madding croud, Jude the obscure and the mayor
of Casterbridge.
The Victorian Poetry
Many characteristics of romantic poetry continued in Victorian period' poetry, However, Victorian
period in general is less subjective than the romantic. The Dramatic monologue is used greatly by the
poets. The themes are more realistic discussing such issues as Child labor, The rights of women, science
and religion, and also Victorian Poetry is mostly pictorial heavily relying on visual imagery. The elegy ( a
form of poetry that laments the Dead or past) is one of the most popular poetic forms of this age.
The greatest poets of this period are;
Alford Lord Tennyson ( 1809-1892) most famous work is In Memoriam A.H.H
Robert Browing (1812-1889) most famous work is My last Duches
Mathew Arnold (1828-1888) famous work is Dover Beach
Thomas Hardy(1840-1928) is considered as the Best poet of the late Victorian period ,his famous works
include Wessex poems and other Verses.