The Victorian Novel: Lectures

Assist. Prof. Shaima’ Abdullah

English Department

College of education for Human Sciences

Tikrit University

‫ شيماء عبدهللا‬.‫م‬.‫ا‬

‫قسم اللغة االنكليزية‬

‫كلية التربية للعلوم االنسانية‬

‫جامعة تكريت‬

2 ‫محاضرة‬

‫المرحلة الثالثة\رواية‬

Shaima_hailan@tu.edu.iq
The Victorian Age

The Victorian period in England is the era of Queen Victoria’s

reign (1837-1901). It is sometimes dated from 1832. It is a period of
prolific activity in literature especially by novelists and poets,
philosophers and essayists. The period. Much of the writings were
concerned with contemporary social problems. The effects of the
industrial revolution, the influence of the theory of evolution,
movements of political and social reform were among the major
concerns of the age. Among the most notable British writers of the period
are Thomas Love Peacock, Charles Dickens, William Barnes and
Disraeli ( Cudden: 760).

Before the accession of Victoria to the English throne, the

'industrial revolution,' which means the vast development of
manufacturing made England the richest nation in the world, and the
movement continued with steadily increase throughout the period. The
introduction of the steam railway and the steamship, at the beginning of
the period, in place of the lumbering stagecoach and the sailing vessel,
made it possible to people to travel easier than before (Fletcher: 137).

In fact, the Victorian period was the great age of the English novel
and the later part of the era saw the rise of movements such as the
decadence and symbolism.

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Characteristics of the Victorian Society

1- The Victorian age is marked of being the age of dramatic changes

on all levels; yet, it had a large number of problems to face. It was
an age of progress_ of rail way-building, steamships, reforms of all
kinds (Wilson: 235).
2- But, it was an age of too much poverty, too much injustice, too
much ugliness. Thus, it was an age of reformers and theorists
(Ibid.).
3- The Victorian age was glorifying the family with the father as a
godlike chief and the mother as a splendid creature. The holiness of
family owed a great deal to the example of Queen Victoria herself
beside her indirect influence upon literature as well as social life
(Ibid.).
4- The last quarter of the century had seen many reforms on the
different levels of life. Parliamentary representations, local
government, systems of police and poor relief had been crucially
modified (Chesney: 9).
5- The Victorian age was marked by the appearance of the industrial
revolution. It mean the substitution of the working hands with
machines which produced mass production of different goods. In
many ways, industrialisation had sharpen the division between the
rich and the poor. The result of using coal-fired factories was
disturbing when black smoke hovered over the English green
countryside and dropping toxic wastes into clean rivers (Galens:
306). This movement had two faces: good and bad. It is good in
the sense that mass production provided products for all people. It
is bad because of the negative-side effects of the wastes created by
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the working factories.
6- Exploitation of women and children was a remarkable bad feature
of the age. Women labour was cheap. Therefore, they were
preferable to be used as workers. This meant workless fathers and
husbands. Through these miseries bitter hardships occurred for
working communities (Chesney:15).
7- Immigration from England and the idea of settlement overseas
appealed to adventurous and poor men. To reach to America and
Australia was continually easier for the poor (Ibid.: 436).
8- For all the miseries and social dislocation in the Victorian age
there was an increasing industrialised community offering
opportunities for inspired people (Ibid.).
9- Cities changed because of the progress industry. Most of the big
cities were smoky and full of waste and dirt as negative products of
the new factories and mass production. This is reflected in novels.
When Pip in Great Expectation visits London for the first time he
describes it as narrow, dirty and crooked.
10- The transformation of the former conceptions of nature and
meaning of the world and life, through the discoveries of science,
geology and astronomy were the most profound changes in the
age. All thinking people became compelled to realize the hugeness
of the cosmic and the comparative littleness of our earth in the vast
extent of the universe. Gradually, almost all thinkers adopted the
theory of Evolution, which was partly formulated by Lamarck
early in the century. In 1859 Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species'
affirmed the assumption of evolution (Fletcher: 138).
Characteristics of the Victorian Novel

1- The Victorian novelists were the spokesmen of their age. They

were with the public, revealing the social conditions as they were.
This does not mean that they were uncritical, but their criticisms
are much less radical than those of their contemporary European
novelists (Allen: 140-1).

2- They reflect the tensions and contradictions of their time like the
ruin caused by the industrial revolution and the presence of
poverty.

3- Novelists portray the social conditions of children in a remarkable

way. Dickens’ work explore the unjust treatment of childhood in
his age. They were exploited by the rich and craftsmen.

4- The idea of respectability was central in most of the Victorian

novels. Jane Austen’s are good examples (Ibid.: 142).

5- The bad educational system is presented in most of the Victorian

novels. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Dickens’ Hard Times are
typical examples of this theme.

6- Variety of settings are presented. Places vary from the beautiful

sceneries to the waste dirty streets of industrial cities like London.
7- Themes presented in the Victorian novels are the social problems,
the bad treatment of children, and the bad educational system
which was strict and inhuman.
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8- Language is rich and highly ornamental (Wilson: 236). It reflected
the spirit of the age. Respectable people used respectable
expressions. The Victorian novelists wrote for those people.

9- The theories of Carl, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud stirred

strong debates in England and affected the novel greatly.

10- The appearance of movements affected the novel like symbolism.

The term symbolism refers to “the use of symbols ,or to a set of related
symbols ;however, it is also the name given to an important movement in
late 19th-century and early 20th. century” (Baldick: 252). However,
symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colours used to represent
abstract ideas and concepts.

J. A. Cuddon suggests that a literary symbol combines an

image with a concept (words themselves are a kind of symbol). A
symbol may be public or personal (private), universal or local. An
example of a public or universal symbol is a journey into the
underworld as in the work of Virgil and Joyce and a return from it. Such
journeys may symbolise an interpretation of a spiritual experience.
Private symbols are related to the author’s point of view. Such symbols
can be found in the works of W. B. Yeats: the sun and moon, a tower, a
mask, a tree, a winding stair and a hawk ( Cuddon:699). In fact, in
novels symbols are important because they explain a lot of ideas using
the minimum number of words. In Dickens’ Great Expectations the
decaying feast of Miss. Havisham’s wedding reflects her misery and the
effect of depression upon her dreams as a bride. It also shows the effect
of time upon her house and life. reflects her misery and the effect of
depression upon her dreams as a bride.