Victorian Period

HINA HABIB
 Age of faith and doubt
Age of Morality and of Hypocrisy
Of idealism and materialism
Of progress and decline
Advanced in intellect and immature in emotion
Two major developments:
Development of science
Development of democracy
 The age witnessed great out pour of scientific inventions. Compton
Rickett says ; “ The advancement of science has transformed man’s
outlook upon life and has affected every channel of intellectual activity.”

Epoch making work of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species (1859)

came out in this age

Materialism and commercialism lead the Victorians to restlessness and

hectic life
Even the nature poetry followed the spirit of scientific enquiry
 Although industrial revolution brought prosperity, it came with a
baggage of soot , environmental pollution and social classes
differences
On one hand a new class of privileged mill owners and big
industrialists, on the other hand a huge horde of ill- clothe and ill-fed
laborers
The policy of Laissez Faire (non interference of government in
Market) propounded by Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations was
applied by the Victorians. It lead to the denial of the rights of laborers.
Mayhew in his work London Poor paints a picture of miseries of the
working classes of the Victorian era
 This era shows the movement from uncompromising
royalism to uncompromising democracy
Starting with the year 1832, several Reform bills were
passed which granted the voting rights to many many
people ultimately ending in universal adult suffrage
Although the age bespoke of elite classes and their own
social circles, many writers like Thackeray stood for
demolishing social differences and class system
This lead to the common man to be the hero of many writings.
It brought opportunities for the education of poor
Rapid expansion of the reading public
Writers had to cater to the increasing demand by the readers
Victorians were extremely prudish
Victorian parents were domineering. Explicit scenes in novels
were avoided or presented very implicitly not to shock the
Victorian readers
Phases of Victorian period

Divided into two:

The Early Victorian period
The Later Victorian period
Poets of the early Victorian period

Top most ones are Tennyson and Browning, some what less famous was
Arnold
After the death of the younger group of romantics (Keats, Shelley and
Byron), the spirit of romanticism went silent and almost ended in the
next 15 years
Even W.W last poems were monotonous and insipid
Mean while English poetry fell into the hands of mediocre like Thomas
Love Peacock, Thomas Hood until Tennyson’s publication of first work
in 1833
Browning also became an established poet with the publication of
‘Dramatic Lyrics’ (1842)
 Both Tennyson and Browning exhibited the spirit of
romanticism but this romanticism was of a different kind
The revolutionary fervor of the romantic era is now
replaced by the evolutionary process of progress as shown
in the works of Darwin and his followers
The Victorians under the influence of science now looked
more forward into the future as presented by Browning:
“The best is yet to be.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809-1892

Representative poet of the age

His poetry successfully presents the tug of war between
skepticism and faith, science and religion, spirituality and
materialism. Best presented in his poem In Memoriam
His real greatness lies in being a supreme artist
Critics have often criticized his ideas shallow and common
but his mastery of style and language stands unparalleled.
After Milton he comes with an exuberant poetic inspiration
His imagination is less dramatic and more lyrical
 He has had a talent for lyric writing. The famous of which
are:
Break, break, break
Tear, idle tears
‘Crossing the Bar’ : elegy written on the death of his friend
Arthur Hallam. Movement from individual sadness to
general gloom of humanity mourning over death
Theme: immortality of human love
‘The Princess’, a Medley is a long poem of over 3,000 lines
and it is Tennyson’s answer to the question of woman’s
rights and woman’s domain of interaction

‘Maud’ is another poem telling the story of a lover who

passes from morbidness to ecstasy, then to anger and
murder followed by insanity and recovery
Robert Browning 1812-1889

Browning and Tennyson were contemporaries but their nature of

poetry widely contrasted
Browning’s interest was to explore subjects that were usually
considered ugly or unwelcomed. His focus is on message and
theme rather than the form
Tennyson emphasizes on individual’s will to be submitted to God
Browning talks about the individual will to supersede any kind of
obstacle and authority
Browning works teem with immense optimism
 In the age of despair and pessimism , we hear
Browning with his faith and optimism in the human
soul:
“Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be.
The last of life, for which the first was made.”
-Rabbi Ben Ezra by Browning
 Another difference between Tennyson and Browning
poetry is that, Tennyson is mainly lyrical and Browning is
dramatic therefore he has used the form of dramatic
monologues
His 1st poem ‘Pauline’ (1833) is a monologue addressed
to Pauline on the incidents in the development of the soul
It is autobiographical in nature and consists of personal
confessions
 Dramatic Lyrics’
 The Last Ride Together
 ‘Prospice
 ‘My Last Duchess
 These are among Browning’s famous works
 The only issue with Browning’s poetry is his
obscurity
It might be the result of his obscure thoughts which
language fails to present
It requires a lot of attention and good attention from
the readers to understand his works
Mathew Arnold (1822-1888)

Unlike Tennyson and Browning who were admirers of

romanticism, Arnold, although admirer of W.W stood up against
the traditions of romanticism
He worked on the ‘correctness’ of English poetry which should be
set on the basis of standard rules and writing decorum
His emphasis lied on the rules and did not advocate the abundance
of music which we find in the poetry of the Romantic era

He is famous mostly for his expertise as a critic of poetry

His early poetry is more appealing when it had not become stereotyped
His famous poems include
‘Dover Beach’ (which shows his opinion of religious attitude in an age
of doubt)
‘Summer Night’
‘The Scholar Gipsy’
‘Sohrab and Rustam’
‘Empedocles on Etna’ is a characteristic poem in which a philosopher
is driven to suicide for the lack of wholeness and satisfaction
Arnold believed that poetry should be the criticism
of life that it should not be limited to give aesthetic
pleasure
He looks for high seriousness In poetry as found in
the poems of Dante, Shakespeare and Homer
His own poetry seems to be an effort and hard
work, it lacks the spontaneity of poetic inspiration
and passion therefore it is more prosaic and plain
 Mrs. Browning (Elizabeth Berrett) 1806-61
Mrs. Browning imitated Coleridge as a source of inspiration
She wrote:
‘Sonnets from Portuguese’: written before getting married
with Browning. The sonnets present her gratitude and deep
love for Browning who inspired her to the positive side of life
‘Aurora Leigh’ : is written in epic form, although over all it
lack lustre of brilliance but here and there one can find
beautiful verses which are teeming with romantic theme
Arthur Clough 1819-1861

Initially inspired from Wordsworth’s later he switched to dogma

free religious faith.
Friend of Arnold, searched for moral law which was in consonance
with the intellectual development of the age
His works:
‘Dipsychus’ 1850
‘The Bothie of Toberna Voulic’h: an excursion of Oxford students
in the Highlands. We see W.Worthian effect on him of purifying
soul through nature