Victorian literature for high school education.

1. Victorian Literature
Marta Fernández

2. What is Victorian
literature?
Victorian literature refers to the literary works
written during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-
1901).
It was the transition between the Romantic
period and 20th century literature.

3. It can be divided into two periods:
High Victorian literature (1830-1870)
Late Victorian literature (1870-1901)

4. Common themes
Critique of industralization
Critique of the deterioration of
the rural lifestyle
Celebration of the past
(including chivalry)
Conflicts between classes
Women´s rights

5. Morality
Most works were written to teach moral lessons to
readers.
Hard work and strong virtue are always romanticized
and rewarded, and poor behaviour is punished at the
end.
Literary works are full of passion and characters are
often tempted by evil, but they show restraint against

6. Genres
Poetry
Novel
Theater
Nonfiction
Gothic and supernatural literature
Children‘s literature

7. Novels
Novel was the dominant
genre during the Victorian
period.
High Victorian novels tended
to be edifying moral stories
that portraited difficult lives,
and where hard work, love
and perseverance were
always rewarded.
Late Victorian novels were
more complex, as they
reflected an inner struggle to
conquer the flaws of human
nature through effort and
virtue.

8. Some novelists
Charles Dickens is probably
the most widely read author
from this time.
His novels achieved
immense popularity during
his lifetime and there were
even spin-offs and
merchandise made of them.
Most novels criticized society
and represented its poorest,
but in line with the literature
of the era, there was a very
strong moral element to the
tales.

9. Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are the most
original novelists of this period.
The sisters published their works under the male
pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Ashton Bell, as it was
common practice for female writers that wanted to be
taken more seriously.
Their novels include some unconventional themes for
this era, such as violence, a deep desire for freedom, a
wilderness of spirit, feminism and even the supernatural.
Their work was considered controversial but they
eventually achieved the success they deserved.
Some of their works:
Charlotte: Jane Eyre
Emily: Wuthering Heights
Anne: The Tennant of Wildfell Hall

10. William Makepeace
Thackeray began as a
parodist and satirist but later
started to write novels with a
very strong satiric component.
He enjoyed great success
during his lifetime but today
his best known work is Vanity
Fair.
In it, he satirizes British
society of the 19th century,
although it is set during the
Napoleonic Wars.
There have been several film
adaptations of this novel and
it is still one of the best loved

11. Poetry
The most famous poet of
the Victorian period was
Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
His poetry mostly retelled
classical myths, although it
also covers religious
dilemmas and scientific
discoveries.
Although he experimented
with metric, he mostly
followed a strict pattern, a
reflection of the formality of
the era.

12. Husband and wife Robert and
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
enjoyed great popularity
because of their love poems
to each other.
Elizabeth Barrett was already
a successful author before
she met her husband, and
was also an involved activist
in social issues.
Her prolific work made her a
rival to Tennyson as a
candidate for poet laureate in
1850 after the death of
Wordsworth.

13. There was also a group of writers and artists, the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, of which Dante
Gabriel Rossetti and his sister Christina were
part.
Their aim was to replace the academic approach to
art with the more natural approach taken before the
Italian Renaissance.
Several writers joined this movement, echoing a
simpler, less formal approach to literature. The
Rossettis are the greatest poets of this movement.

14. Theater
Theater became an extremely
popular form of entertainment
for all social classes during this
era and Queen Victoria
promoted it.
Plays usually had a strong
comedic element, both high
and low, and the plots were full
of mistaken identities,
coincidences and mistimings.
Oscar Wilde was the leading
dramatist of the late Victorian
period and his comic
masterpiece The Importance
of Being Earnest is a satiric
reflection of the time.

15. Nonfiction
The Victorian era was a period
of great scientific discovery
and the Victorians tried to
describe and classify the world
they lived in.
Among others, Charles Darwin
with On the Origin of Species,
Friedrich Engels with his
Condition of the Working
Classes in England and John
Stuart Mill with his
philosophical works, changed
the way the Victorians thought
about themselves and about
the world.

16. Supernatural and gothic
literature
Gothic literature combines
romance and horror in
attempt to thrill and terrify the
reader.
Possible features in a gothic
novel are monsters, ghosts,
curses, hidden rooms, mad
women in the attic and
witchcraft.
The plot usually takes place
in monasteries, castles and
cementeries.
They were hugely popular but
panned by critics.

17. Children‘s literature
The Victorian period was the first
one in history where children were
targeted as readers.
This was a consequence of the
evolution of social attitudes towards
childhood.
Literature became a popular way to
teach children lessons and morals.
They were only rarely enjoyable
works.
Later, when reading for pleasure
became socially accepted, folk and
fairy-tale compilations became very
popular
There were different types of
publications written for boys and
girls. Girls stories were domestic

18. Victorian literature today
Many view it with scepticism because of the stereotypes
of the era: current readers may see it as prudish, rigid
and excessively formal.
However, many contemporary authors criticized these
same trends, and there were many brilliant works that
were considered unconventional even then.
Those works have passed the test of time and are today
considered masterpieces of classic literature.