XV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2023

The Victorian Age or Victorianism was a time of contrasts – poverty as well as prosperity, degrading manual labor as well as technological progress, and depravity as well as virtue. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities”.

Victorian literature is the body of poetry, novels, and essays, mainly written in English, during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901), who ascended the throne at the age of 18 for a period of 64 years, and her reign was the longest in British history. Although by the nineteenth century Britain was a constitutional monarchy and the queen held little governing power, Victoria set the moral and political tone of her century. She became a symbol of decency, decorum, and duty. [5]

With a change in government comes a corresponding change in literature. In former ages, literature was almost as exclusive as politics; it was largely in the hands of the few. Now English government, society and literature have all become more democratic. There also were huge changes for women, who acquired more social and political rights. Education for women improved as well.

The literature of the Victorian age entered a new period after the romantic revival. The literature of this era was preceded by romanticism and was followed by modernism or realism. Hence, it can also be called a fusion of romantic and realist style of writing. While in the preceding Romantic period, poetry had been the conquerors, in the Victorian period novels were the dominant form. Many novelists wrote serial novels, published in installments over a period of time. [2]

The Victorians loved the heroic, chivalrous stories of knights of old and they hoped to regain some of that noble, courtly behaviour and impress it upon the people both at home and in the wider empire. The nineteenth century is often regarded as a high point in European literature. All the great writers of this period had some general characteristics.

Firstly, literature in the Victorian age tended to come face to face with realism. It reflected more on practical problems and interests. It becomes a powerful instrument for human progress. Secondly, the Victorian literature seems to deviate from the strict principle of “art for art’s sake” and asserts its moral purpose. [1]

The discoveries of science seem to reflect considerable and particular effects upon the literature of the age. The Victorians had a mission to describe and classify the entire natural world. Much of this writing was not regarded as literature but one book, in particular, Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” (1859), remains famous.

The theory of evolution contained within the work shook many of the ideas the Victorians had about themselves. Although it took a long time to be widely accepted, the theory completely changed following thoughts and literature.

In the Victorian period, lyric poetry was popular. In addition to the lyric, the verse novel – a long narrative poem – also was a prevalent form.

The dominant figure of the Victorian age’s poetry for years was poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. He alone, of all that brilliant group of Victorian writers, seemed to speak not for himself but for his age and nation. Among his works the most significant are “Crossing the Bar” and “Idylls of the King”.

The husband and wife poetry team of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning conducted their love affair through verse and produced many tender and passionate poems. The Brownings popularized the dramatic monologue – a form of poetry, which presented a speaker in a dramatic situation. Their works are “The Ring and the Book”, “Sonnets from the Portuguese” and others.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood also drew on myth and folklore for their art, with Dante Gabriel Rossetti contemporaneously regarded as the chief poet amongst them. [4]

Speaking of the novelistic wave, Charles Dickens dominated the first part of Victoria’s reign and most rightly can be called “The King of Victorian Literature”. His first novel “The Pickwick Papers” was published in 1836, and his last “Our Mutual Friend” in 1865.

William Makepeace Thackeray was Dickens’ great rival at the time. His most famous work “Vanity Fair” appeared in 1848. The three Bronte sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne though had short time in their lives, also published significant works in the 1840s. Among them are “Wuthering Heights”, “Jane Eyre” and others.

The important writer of the period was George Eliot, a pseudonym which concealed a woman, Mary Ann Evans, who wished to write novels which would be taken seriously rather than the silly romances which all women of the time were supposed to write. Her major later novel was “Middlemarch”.

Another woman writer Elizabeth Gaskell wrote even grimmer, grittier books about the poor in the north of England but even these usually had happy endings. The major novelist of the later part of Queen Victoria’s reign was Thomas Hardy, whose first novel “Under the Greenwood Tree” appeared in 1872 and his last “Jude the Obscure” in 1895.

Oscar Wilde became the leading poet and dramatist of the late Victorian period. Wilde’s plays, in particular, stand apart from the many now forgotten plays of Victorian times. His most outstanding works are “The picture of Dorian Gray”, “The Happy Prince and Other Tales”.

The Victorians were credited with inventing childhood, partly via their efforts to stop child labor and the introduction of compulsory education. As children began to be able to read, literature for young people became a growth industry, with established not only writers producing works for children, but also a new group of dedicated children’s authors. 

Writers like Lewis Carroll, Robert Michael Ballantyne and Anna Sewell wrote mainly for children, although they had an adult following. Other authors such as Anthony Hope and Robert Louis Stevenson wrote mainly for adults, but their adventure novels are now generally classified as for children. 

The fiction form – a new form of supernatural, mystery and fantastic literature appeared during this period. It often centered on larger-than-life characters such as Sherlock Holmes – famous detective of the times, Barry Lee – big time gang leader of the Victorian Times, Sexton Blakes, Phileas Foggs, Frankenstein fictional characters of the era, Dracula, Edward Hyde, The Invisible Man, and many other fictional characters who often had exotic enemies to foil. [3]

The persistent popular embrace of Victorian literature has had a profound influence on modern literature and media. Writers such as Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters still sell robustly on most book resellers’ lists and are frequently adapted into films and television productions, both directly and in modernized retellings. In addition, many modern novels demonstrate that the intricate cultural mores of the Victorian era find a home in the modern cultural psyche.

Список используемой литературы:

Abrams M.H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume E: The Victorian Age. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. [Электронный ресурс] – https://archive.org/details/nortonanthologyo02chri/mode/2up

Chesteron G.K. The Victorian Age in Literature. Harleston: Edgeways, 2001. [Электронный ресурс] – https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Victorian_Age_in_Literature

Davis P. The Oxford English Literary History: 1830-1880: The Victorians. Oxford University Press, 2002. [Электронный ресурс] – https://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-english-literary-history-8-1830-1880-the-victorians-philip-davis/oclc/314264703&referer=brief_results

Flint K. The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2012. [Электронный ресурс] – https://www.amazon.in/Cambridge-History-Victorian-Literature-English-ebook/dp/B00MY7JWHE

Shepherd A.  History In Focus: Overview of the Victorian Era. Institute of Historical Research, 2001. [Электронный ресурс] –http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Victorians/article.html