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Victorian Age

In English literature, the period from 1832 to 1901 is known as the Victorian age. It is named after Queen Victoria who reigned the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1981.

The period is marked by the reformation bill, Charles Darwin’s evolution theory, Carl Marx’s concept of socialism, the industrial revolution, philosophical positivism, the conception of feminism, and the middle-class respectability. Disbelief, hypocrisy, affluence, prudery, and complacency characterized the age.

However, it was a period of prolific literary production. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, E. B. Browning, and Matthew Arnold are the famous poets.

Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy are the greatest novelists, and Carlyle, Arnold, Huxley, J. S. Mill, Ruskin are the well-known essayists of this period.

Attitudes of compromise, moral earnestness, purity both religious and secular, didacticism, and social equity dominated the Victorian literature

The Victorian Age lasted from 1837 to 1901 (another openion), during Queen Victoria’s reign. It was a time of progress, industrial growth, and strict social rules. Literature was important, and writers focused on society, morality, and struggles of people.

Features of the Victorian Age

  1. Industrialization – Factories grew, and cities expanded. Many people moved to urban areas.
  2. Class Differences – The rich and poor had separate lives. Many books focused on the struggles of the poor.
  3. Morality and Religion – Writers talked about right and wrong. Some questioned religion.
  4. Women’s Role – Women wanted more rights, but society still limited them. Many novels showed their struggles.
  5. Realism – Writers wrote about real-life problems, not fantasy.
  6. Science vs. Religion – Charles Darwin’s ideas on evolution created debates between faith and science.

Famous Writers of the Victorian Age

  1. Charles Dickens – Wrote about poverty and injustice.
  2. Charlotte Brontë – Wrote about strong women and emotions.
  3. Emily Brontë – Wrote about love and wild nature.
  4. Thomas Hardy – Wrote about fate and unhappy lives.
  5. Alfred Tennyson – Wrote poetry about history and emotions.
  6. Robert Browning – Used dramatic monologues in poetry.
  7. Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Wrote about love and women’s issues.
  8. George Eliot – Wrote about society and morality.
  9. Oscar Wilde – Wrote plays with wit and humor.

Famous Writings and Their Descriptions

1. Oliver Twist (1838) – Charles Dickens

This novel tells the story of Oliver, a poor orphan. He suffers in a workhouse, then falls into a group of criminals led by Fagin. He meets Nancy, who tries to help him. In the end, he finds a good family. The novel shows child labor, crime, and cruelty in society.

Three lines from the novel:

  • “Please, sir, I want some more.”
  • “There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”
  • “Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.”

2. Jane Eyre (1847) – Charlotte Brontë

Jane, an orphan, grows up in a cruel home and later studies at a strict school. She becomes a governess for Mr. Rochester, who has a dark secret—his mad wife lives in the attic. Jane loves him but leaves when she learns the truth. She later returns after his wife dies. The novel talks about women’s independence, love, and morality.

Three lines from the novel:

  • “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.”
  • “Reader, I married him.”
  • “Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.”

3. Wuthering Heights (1847) – Emily Brontë

The story is about Heathcliff and Catherine, who love each other but are separated. Catherine marries Edgar Linton, and Heathcliff takes revenge. The story is full of passion, anger, and revenge. The setting of the wild moors reflects emotions.

Three lines from the novel:

  • “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
  • “I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy.”
  • “If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a lifetime, he couldn’t love you as much as I do in a single day.”

4. Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) – Thomas Hardy

Tess is a poor girl who suffers because of society’s unfair rules. She is mistreated by Alec d’Urberville and later finds love with Angel Clare, but he rejects her when he learns about her past. In the end, she is executed for murder. The novel criticizes Victorian morality and fate.

Three lines from the novel:

  • “The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements but in its aims and impulses.”
  • “Tess was not an existence, an experience, a passion, a structure of sensations, to Angel Clare.”
  • “Did you say the stars were worlds, Tess?”

5. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) – Oscar Wilde

Dorian Gray stays young while his portrait ages. He lives a sinful life but looks innocent. In the end, he stabs the painting, and he turns old while the portrait becomes young again. The novel talks about beauty, vanity, and morality.

Three lines from the novel:

  • “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
  • “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
  • “Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.”

These novels and poems shaped the Victorian Age and talked about love, morality, struggles, and society.