VICTORIAN LITERATURE

In the Victorian period, while Britain was at the height of its power a large number of people lived and
worked in very dreadful conditions. In this period the most important literary genre is the novel. There are
a lot of reason for the triumph of fiction, but perhaps the most significant is the growth in the middle
classes who had been avid consumers of this form of literature. Other factors, such as an improved
education system and a fall in book prices contributed to the success of the novel. Circulating libraries
became very popular and allowed people to borrow books for a relatively modest sum. Women had more
time to dedicate to reading and, for this reason, became avid consumers of fiction. Furthermore, in this
period, many writers were women. The Victorian Age also abounded in journals, periodicals and pamphlets.
Some novels appeared in serialized form in periodicals. Publication in serial form influenced the writing
process: writers had to keep the readers’ interest high in order to encourage them to continue buying their
work. To bridge the gap between one instalment and the next, writers had to create memorable characters
and episodes usually ended with some form of suspense. Writers had to satisfy the public’s taste. Writing
had become an important commercial activity and novels were written primarily to please the public and
sell. The middle-class readership wanted realistic novels. Victorian realism observed and documented
everyday life.

CHARLES DICKENS: is considered the greatest Victorian novelist because his works best reflex the
complexity, excitement and disharmonies of the age. He has been criticized for his poorly constructed plots,
his inability to portray convincing women and his sentimentality. His ability to create a character in a
phrase, his ear of speech and his eye for detail have rarely been equaled.

THE BRONTE SISTERS: they belong to an earlier literary tradition. Their works, which contain Gothic
elements and explore the extremes of passion and violence, are Romantic in temperament. Jane Eyre is the
masterpiece of Charlotte Bronte which represents a new type of heroine for the Victorian period(forceful,
independent woman who is not afraid to show emotions and speak her mind). Emily Bronte’s masterpiece
is Wuthering Heights. This work displays a level of emotional force and a great narrative structure not
previously seen in the English novel.

GEORGE ELIOT: is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. In her most famous novel, Middlemarch she provides
a view of life in a XIX century provincial town which is both intimate and universal. The narrator uses the
events in the story to comment on and talk about the human condition in general.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: was a very great storyteller. The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is his
masterpiece. This fictional analysis of the nature of good and evil has proved to be one of the greatest
psychoanalytical novels in the world literature.

Later Victorians
There are other novelist that criticized the society but believed in the possibility to find a solution.
Thomas Hardy: he set his novels in the countryside of Wessex, some of his books were burned, banned and
denounced, for his accusation regarding Victorian morals.
Aestheticism
This movement was caused from the crises of faith and morality that characterized the finale half of the
Victorian period, they believed that sensation should be the source of art and that the role of the artist was
to make the public share his feelings, they rejected the Victorian notion that art should have a moral, social
or political purpose.
Walter Pater: is the founder of this movement.
Oscar Wilde: is the most important writer of this movement, was a poet, novelist and playwright, he
applied the aesthetic principles to all his works, The picture of Dorian Gray is considered his most important
novel, underline the respectable surface of high society and their secret vices.

Victorian poetry
Alfred Tennyson: when Wordsworth died he became the Poet Laureate, in this period the poets were seen
like prophets, he is remembered for the melancholy beauty of his private lyrical verse.
Robert Browning: was seen like the rival of Tennyson, his works were written in the form of dramatic
monologues.
Matthew Arnold: his works are characterized by the melancholy.
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Is an Anti-Victorian movement, is a school of painters and poets dedicated to recovering the purity of
medieval art.
Victorian drama
Oscar Wilde: his comedies are full of ironic and satirical comments on Victorian life.
Non-fictional prose
Were about economics, science, philosophy, politics and religion.
Jeremy Bentham: his theory of Utilitarianism had a major influence on the early part of the Victorian Age,
this theory said that the main business of government was to guarantee material happiness for the greatest
number of people.
John Stuart Mill: he was attacked by several intellectuals, he found the Benthamite philosophy.
Charles Darwin: his books created an enormous scandal and shock.