Victorian Literature PDF

Literature of the Victorian age :  The drive for social advancement frequently appears in literature.  Takes many forms : may be primarily financial , may involve marrying above one's station , may be intellectual or education based ….any attempt to improve one's social standing.  The ri...

Literature of the Victorian age :  The drive for social advancement frequently appears in literature.  Takes many forms : may be primarily financial , may involve marrying above one's station , may be intellectual or education based ….any attempt to improve one's social standing.  The rise of a highly idealized notion of what is "English " : tied to the periods models for proper behavior, tied to England 's imperial enterprises.  Many colonists and politicians saw it as their political duty to help or civilize native populations in colonized regions.  It was important to have a model which provides a set of standards and codes of conduct ( idealized notion of what is English )  Late Victorian writing saw the rebellion against such idealized notions and stereotypical codes of conduct.served as subjects of satire  The later years, saw the rise of aestheticism ( art for art's sake ) movement.  During the Victorian era , there was a lot of radical social change, they didn't like the romanticized version of society. Poetry : ▪ The preeminent poet of the Victorian age was Alfred lord Tennyson ,his poetry was tempered by personal melancholy , in its mixture of social certitude and religious doubt it reflected the age. ▪ The poetry of Robert Browning and his wife Elizabeth : was immensely popular, Browning is best remembered for his superb dramatic monologs.  ▪ Rudyard kipling : the poet of the empire triumphant, captured the quality of the life of the soldiers of British expansion. ▪ The greatest innovator among the late Victorian poets was the priest Gerard Manley Hopkins: the concentration and originality of his imagery , and his meter ( sprung rhythm) had a profound effect on 20th century poetry. ▪ Lyrical poetry was a dominant genre of poetry, derived from the Victorian conventions of narrative and dramatic poetry in 19th. Being a shorter poem in which the narrator expresses personal feelings that are often directly addressed to the reader. Victorian lyric adopted was more linguistically self conscious abd defensive than the lyric of the romantic era. Mixed up , incorporated with other forms such the dramatic monologs or dramatic lyric. Lady of shallot by Tennyson is one of the most well known poems. Characteristics of Victorian poetry : ▪ Victorian realism: from the romantic age of Idealism to the Victorian era of realism: from solitude to society, from nature to industry, from concepts to issues, from spiritualism to pragmatism , from optimism to agnosticism , from lyricism to criticism, from organicism to compromise. Writer had to cope with the process of change , to make place for the new individual civilization. ▪ Victorian compromise: positive and negative ✓ Expansion , great technology, communication and colonial empire , middle classes ( positive)  ✓ Poverty, injustices, starvation, slums , working class ( negative) ▪ Utilitarianism: An ethical ethical philosophy in which, the happiness of the greatest number of people in society is considered the greatest good. ( an action is morally right if its consequences lead to happiness and wrong if it ends unhappiness. ▪ Agnosticism and religious skepticism: Agnosticism is the belief that nothing is known or can be known of immaterial things especially of existence or nature of God. The realization that God's existence is neither observable nor provable drove society into a state of uncertainty. Sought to explore and understand questions about the metaphysical world but ultimately found no answers and were left in doubt. Agnosticism was a mean of identifying the skepticism that stemmed from the inability to logically support the existence of the spiritual beings. Other characteristics: ▪ The increased use of the sonnet as a poetic form. ▪ Resembles the works of the Romanticism such as William Blake, Keats, Shelley. Had an impact on the Victorian poets , these two periods have a lot in common: skepticism, Interest in everything mysterious, distrust of organized religion. ▪ The Victorian interest in medieval legends , myths and fables over the classical legends and mythology embraced by the preceding Romantic. ▪ More realistic and less idealized view of nature. ▪ Emphasize on the common urban dweller. ▪ It is pictorial, which means it uses detailed imagery to convey thoughts and emotions. ▪ While many poets use imagery , the Victorian used sensory elements to describe abstract ideas such as the struggles between religion and science. ▪ Religious skepticism: Religion becomes more of a personal experience expressed through poetry. ▪ Employs more humor and whimsy than the prior romantic period. Despite that , poetry and literature take a more harsh and utilitarian view of nature and philosophy. ▪ More light hearted , humorous, nonsensical. ▪ More likely to deny the existence of God through scientific means. ▪ Themes were much more realistic, identifying emotions such as isolation, despair and general pessimism. ▪ Victorian poets struggled with a loss of faith , there was still a sense of high morality that they held close and revered. They tried to encourage readers towards moral Nobel actions and attitudes.  ▪ The appearance of female poets : Elizabeth Browning, Christina Rossetti , Bronte sisters( Charlotte , Emily, Ann ) ▪ Male poets : Alfred Tennyson enjoyed the greatest popularity, wrote on a variety of topics including religion and ethics, responded to all the issues and concerns of the Victorian society. Mathew Arnold has never been popular as Tennyson, his nonfiction works sharply criticized the British society from immortality and lack of culture, idealized ancient civilization. Robert Browning didn't write about England, his style of writing is easily recognizable, he put the freedom and spiritual emancipation of the individuals above all and was interested in moral and spiritual conflicts.