Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray

Charles John Huffam Dickens

Jane Austen

Writers.

2.5 Brontë

The Industrial Revolution (late 17^th-early 18th c) resulted in a rapid development of manufacture which led to a more severe exploitation of the working people, to the worsening of their living conditions. The Parliament Reform of 1832 and the Poor Law of 1834 which was carried out by the bourgeoisie with the support of proletariat did not bring about any improvement into the life of lower classes. All this led to the Chartist Movement in the course of which English workers put forward both social and political demands. The People's Charter contained six specific demands, including suffrage for all male citizens 21 years of age and over, elections by secret ballot, and annual parliamentary elections. The Chartist Movement went on for about 2 decades and declined in the 50s only because the bourgeoisie satisfied the most important demands.

In the literary field the Chartist Movement produced a new type of literature, mostly poetry, which reflected the demands and aspirations of the Chartists. The most well-known of the poets of the time was Thomas Hood. Hood was known, however, chiefly as a humorous writer, particularly clever in punning. He won this reputation largely through his writings in the Comic Annual between 1830 and 1842, in which he deftly caricatured current events and contemporary figures. His great talent as a serious poet was demonstrated in such later works as "Song of the Shirt", "Bridge of Sighs", and "Song of the Labourer." These poems revealed Hood's sympathy with the sufferings of the industrial workers of his time.

That was the social background against which a new trend – Critical Realism – came to being. It replaced Romanticism which by that time had exhausted itself. Romanticism with its allegories seemed too abstract and too allusive to deal with every-day reality. Realism presupposes portraying typical characters in typical circumstances besides the truthful depiction of details of life. The new generation writers busied themselves with depicting the truth of day-to-day problems both social and moral, making common people heroes of their works. In their works they managed to achieve a great generalization so that their characters looked as types.

The first generation of writers of that period may be called social realists. The second generation turned rather to psychological themes.

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