Victorian novel of 1860-1880

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Lord Alfred Tennyson

Thomas Hardy

George Meredith

George Eliot

Victorian novel of 1860-1880

During the long reign of Queen Victoria, Great Britain became in fact the first World Empire. This Empire was the fine fruit of a carefully thought out and assiduously pursued plan of colonial and maritime development. As in the case of Rome, British world expansion had preceded step by step, which in the end led to World Empire.

The coronation of the Queen of England as Empress of India dramatically marks the culmination of the old English imperial policy. The cycle of development was complete. Supremacy on the sea, and as a consequence, security of her overseas domain, had been assured.

So long as this condition continued the general peace of the world remained undisturbed.

The middle class, that gave the tone to the culture of the age, enjoyed the sweet fruits of triumph. The talent of philosophers and poets, of historians and economists, of inventors and innovations in all brunches of human endeavor, expanded under the influence of middle class doctrines of moderation and compromise, of individualism and egoism. Political liberty and equality, representative government, and the constitutional system, universal suffrage and free education were the high achievements of the age.

The growth of science was phenomenal. Physical and social science were transforming the character of society. The doctrine of evolution gave a new orientation to social development by undermining the accepted idea of special creation which had been the firm foundation of middle class individualism. At the same time the rapid expansion of industry lent authority to a mechanical view of the life process, and as a consequence, of the universe.

The term “Victorian Age” is connected with Victorian epoch and means a certain ideology, way of thinking and way of life/ spiritual atmosphere, a complex of moral and aesthetic mountings. In the XXth century the term “Victorianism” was explained differently. On the one hand, this definition was limited only by positive sides of Victorian culture and stable aesthetic norms.

The literature of this period was actively analyzed by the critics and literature critics-historians. Spectacular English writers and their expressive eloquent masterpieces opened a great deal of political and social truth, than it was done by professional politicians and publicists. Dickens, Thackeray, Bronte pictured in their productions the world: harsh, full of conceit, minor tyranny and ignorance, and a civilized world confirmed their sentence.

In the XIXth century the highest bloom reached a novel, connected with the active political and social life of the country, reflecting spiritual demands of the society.

Today we are going to speak about the most prominent writers of the time: George Eliot, George Meredith, Thomas Hardy. We also discuss “Victorian poets” Tennyson, R. Browning and Algernon Swinburne.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-06