Victorian Period (1837-1901) PDF

# Victorian Period (1837-1901) ## The Victorian Age (1837 - 1901 AD) - Historical Background - Literary Features - Major writers and works ## Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901 AD) The image is a portrait of Queen Victoria. ## Historical Background: ### 1. Material Developments Huge improvem...

# Victorian Period (1837-1901) ## The Victorian Age (1837 - 1901 AD) - Historical Background - Literary Features - Major writers and works ## Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901 AD) The image is a portrait of Queen Victoria. ## Historical Background: ### 1. Material Developments Huge improvements in technology due to Industrial Revolution. Brimming with commercial energy and prosperity. #### (a) The Great Exhibition of 1851 in Crystal Palace where manufactured goods of Britain were displayed. The image is a painting of the Great Exhibition in London. ### (b) Social Injustice: Social injustice due to working conditions of poor people. Charles Dickens & Elizabeth Gaskell talked about the social condition of England in their novels. The social problem novels focused on the poverty & suffering of working class people. ### 2. Chartism: British working class movement that emerged in 1836 and was most active between 1838 and 1848. The working class people demanded some changes - Right to vote, equal electoral district, Annually elected Parliament & abolition of property given to the members of Parliament. ### 3. Intellectual Developments: Revolution in scientific thought after Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' was published in 1859. The book talked about Evolution & Natural Selection that resulted in a clash between Faith & Reason ## Literary Features: ### 1. Social Problem Novels: Novels by Charles Dickens & Elizabeth Gaskell that talked about the social condition of England. ### 2. Victorian Morality & Revolt: Writers such as Tennyson adhered to Victorian morality. Writers such as Thomas Carlyle, Matthew Arnold & William Makepeace Thackeray satirized the snobbishness of the Age. ### 3. Influence of Science and Religion: Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' influenced the works of Tennyson, Arnold & Carlyle. The Oxford Movement (a religious movement against existing beliefs of Church of England) influenced many writers. ### 4. Novel became the Most popular form of Literature: Paper & printing cost became cheaper. Demand for books increased. Novels became very popular. ## Poets: ### 1. Alfred Lord Tennyson: Tennyson chose legends of King Arthur & Homer's Iliad & Odyssey as the subject matter of his poems. #### Major works - - Lotos-Eaters - Ulysses - Lady of Shallot - Palace of Art - In Memoriam - Idylls of the King ### 2. Robert Browning Known for dramatic monologues. - Porphyria's Lover - Sordello - Bells & Pomegranates - Dramatic Romance & Lyrics - Men & Women - Dramatic Personae ### 3. Elizabeth Barett Browning Wife of Robert Browning. Her major works are - - Cry of the Children - Sonnets from Portuguese ### 4. Matthew Arnold Popular poems: - Dover Beach - Empedocles on Etna - The Scholar Gypsy Popular Critical Works: - Essays in Criticism - Culture & Anarchy - Literature & Dogma ### 5. Dante Gabriel Rossetti Painter & Poet Founder of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Most famous Poem: The Blessed Damozel ### 6. Christina Georgina Rossetti Sister of D.G.Rossetti Her most famous poem is 'Goblin Market'. ## Novelists: ### 1. Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist - Christmas Carol - David Copperfield - Hard Times - Tale of Two Cities - Great Expectations ### 2. William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair - History of Henry Esmond ### 3. George Eliot Real name: Mary Ann Evans - Adam Bede - Mill on the Floss - Silas Marner - Middlemarch ### 4. Charlotte Bronte Wrote under the pen name of Currer Bell. - Jane Eyre - Villette ### 5. Emily Bronte Wrote under the pen name of Ellis Bell. Known for her novel 'Wuthering Heights. ### 6. Anne Bronte Wrote under the pen name of Acton Bell. Known for her novel 'Agnes Grey'. ### 7. Thomas Hardy His novels are set in a semi-fictional region called Wessex. - Far from the Madding Crowd - Mayor of the Caster Bridge - Tess of the Durberville - Jude the Obscure ### 8. Lewis Caroll Real Name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Known for his book 'Alice in the Wonderland ### 9. Arthur Conan Doyle He wrote 4 novels & 56 short stories of Sherlock Holmes. ## Prose Writers: ### 1. Thomas Carlyle Coined the term 'Condition of England' Major work - Sartor Resartus ### 2. Thomas Babington Macaulay British Historian - Minute on the Indian Education - History of England from the ascension of James II - Essays on Milton ## Playwrights ### 1. Oscar Wilde Irish man. His most famous plays: - Importance of Being Earnest - A Woman of No Importance - Salome - Lady Windermere's Fan Oscar Wilde wrote a famous novel called 'Picture of Dorian Gray'.