V6 P2 W4 Victorian Age

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The Victorian Age 

1830-1900

The Victorian Age 

• Started around 1830 ended in early 20th century
• Named after Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901)
• Britain: great economic and political power
• "The empire on which the sun never set"

General introduction

• Enormous changes occured in political and social life in England
• The scientific and technical innovations of the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of modern nationalism, and the European colonization of much of Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East changed most of Europe
  
• Far-reaching new ideas created the greatest outpouring of literary works the world has ever seen

Queen Victoria (1819-1901)  Reign: 1837-1901

She had the longest reign in British history after Queen Elizabeth II.

Became queen at the age of 18;

Queen Victoria restored people’s faith in the monarchy again after a series of horrible leaders

1840-Victoria married a German prince, Albert, who became Prince-consort

After he died in 1861, she sank into a deep depression and wore black every day for the rest of her life

Young Victoria

Elderly Victoria

The British Empire

where the sun never sets

• England grew to become the greatest nation on earth
  
• Empire included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Kenya, and India
  
• England built a very large navy and merchant fleet (for trade and colonization)
  
• Because of England’s success, they felt it was their duty to bring English values, laws, customs, and religion to the “savage” races around the world

Downsides of the uprise of industry

• population increase 
• Search for employment
  
• Child Labour & Child crime
• Housing shortage
  
• Slum housing
  
• Poor sanitary conditions
  
• Destitution
  
• Homeless children
  
• Workhouses
  

The Great Exhibition

Victorian literature - Poetry

• A continuation of the Romantic period
• Themes: nature  / the past / the human spirit

• Important poets:

1. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)
2. Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)

Victorian literature - the novel

• The age of the novel
• Growing audience for "true stories"
• Greater wealth (rise of the middle classes)
• Better education (rise in literacy)
• Instalment system (novels published in serial form)

Bildungsroman

A Bildungsroman is a literary term describing a formative novel about a protagonist’s psychological and moral growth from their youth into adulthood. Bildungsroman novels are generally written in the first-person and often feature the name of the protagonist directly in the title, such as Emma, Jane Eyre, and David Copperfield.

The Bildungsroman literary genre originated in Germany. The German word “bildung” means education” and the German word “roman” means “novel.” Thus, “Bildungsroman” translates to “a novel of education” or “a novel of formation.”

Gothic novel

The adjective gothic describes something that is characterized by mystery, horror, and gloom — especially in literature. Gothic literature combines the genres of romance and horror. Some famous writers of Gothic fiction include Charlotte Bronte, Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe.