The Diversity of Victorian Literature

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (IfAA), language: English, abstract: The Victorian Age is marked by enormous changes. Mark Twain expressed it this way: 'and yet in a good many ways the world has moved farther ahead since the Queen was born than it moved in all the rest of the two thousand put together.' (Abrams 61993 : 891). Besides industrial and social changes, the era also saw a growth in literature, and great authors like Charles Dickens or Oscar Wilde who are still read today. Generally, the term 'Victorian' marks the time of Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 till 1901, but it is often extended and for many historians it started with the passage of the first Reform Bill in 1832. Since the era comprises about seventy years, many drastic changes occurred during this time, and the distinguishing characteristics of the individual authors cannot be combined into a general mood. Consequently one cannot call it a homogenous period, and it is necessary to distinguish it into three different parts. Since the transitions were smooth, the exact division may differ between historians. The early phase is a period of changes and growth, but it also saw a depression and demonstrations of workmen. In the 1850s the Great Exhibition in 1851 and Darwin's 'On the Origin of the Species' in 1859 can be seen as the beginning of the middle period, a time of national prosperity. England was the leading industrial power, and English confidence was at its high point. The late Victorian period covers the last two decades of the century. It can be characterized by a general change of the Victorian mood: doubts and fear of decay dominated, and literature started to shatter into various very different forms. This term paper will give a brief overview over the conditions and the literature of the Victorian era. The diversity of the age will be shown and explained. Therefore each genre will be described separately. Furthermore I will summarize the works of major authors and while doing so show the contrasts between them.