The Victorian Era 1837-1901

1. The Victorian Era1837-1901

2. Writers and Poets of the Victorian Era Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Lewis Carroll Thomas Hardy Bram Stoker

3. Victorian Literature (1837-1901) • During Queen Victoria’s reign. • Bridges between the Romantic Era and Modernism. • Common themes – hard work, love, marriage, luck. • Many poets/writers of the time were related either by marriage or they were siblings. • Many novels were released by chapter so Victorians had to buy each part of the novel each week/month. • Paid someone who could read, to read novels/poetry. • The Victorian novels were mainly about the society, individuals, sexes and communities.

4. Charles Dickens • Middle-class family. • Associated as a lower class citizen. • His parents neglected him. • First successful in 1835. • His parents neglected him. • He wrote novels, short stories, plays etc about the social classes and more values of his time.

5. The Brontë Sisters • Charlotte Brontë’s notable works – Jane Eyre, Villette. • Emily Brontë’s notable works – Wuthering Heights. • Charlotte's first attempt at the novel was entitled The Professor, but the story was rejected by publishers.  • Charlotte Brontë was seen as a heroine who was courageous and independent.

6. Robert Browning • Could speak five languages by the age of fourteen. • Dramatic Romances and lyrics was another collection of his poems which was known as the finest after a year. • He was overshadowed by his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning. • Browning explored the human psychology through his characters and the dramatic situations he presented.

7. Thomas Hardy • His writing style was more of tragedy than comic. • Influenced by a lot of the writers around him. • His writing style was fairly typical of the period. • He wrote a great deal of poetry, most of it went unpublished until after 1898. • His novels are set in the imaginary world of Wessex.

8. Victorian Novels • Dominant form in Victorian literature. • Victorian novels seek to represent a large and comprehensive social world, with a variety of classes. • Victorian novels are realistic. • Major theme is the place of the individual in society, the aspiration of the hero or heroine for love or social position. • The protagonist’s search for fulfillment is emblematic of the human condition. • For the first time, women were major writers: the Brontë's, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. • The Victorian novel was a principal form of entertainment.

9. Victorian Poetry • Victorian poetry developed in the context of the novel. • Poets sought new ways of telling stories in verse • Dramatic monologue – the idea of creating a lyric poem in the voice of a speaker ironically distinct from the poet is the great achievement of Victorian poetry. • Victorian poetry is pictorial; poets use detail to construct visual images that represent the emotion or situation the poem concerns. • Conflict between private poetic self and public social role.

10. Victorian Theatre • The theater was a flourishing and popular institution during the Victorian period. • The popularity of theater influenced other genres.

11. The End