Hello Readers!
This assignment is a part of internal evaluation of student's academic activity in the Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University. Here is my assignment.
Name: Rohit Vyas
Class: Semester 2
Roll No: 21
PG Enrolment Number: 2069108420200041
E-mail: rohitvyas277@gmail.com
Course: M.A. English, at Department of English, M.K. Bhavnagar University
Paper 6 – Victorian Literature, Unit 4
Submitted to: Dr. Dilip Barad
Victorian
Spirit of Writing
Introduction
As it is
known that the Victorian Age is the most influential period in English
literature. It gave very famous poets, novelists and non-fiction writers. It
was in 1837 when the Queen Victoria came to throne and along with this incident
it was a wiping wind of the quietness of the literature. It was the time in
Romantic Age when Keats, Shelley, Byron, Coleridge and Scott wrote their part
but as it is mentioned beautifully in William J Long’s history, Wordsworth had
written, in 1835,
Like
clouds that rake the mountain summits,
Or
waves that own no curbing hand,
How
fast has brother followed brother,
From
the sunshine to the sunless land! (Long 452)
These
lines try to state that in the age of Romanticism, there were many writers
through which the age was prosperous with literature, and the Romantic age
ended so fast with the deaths of one writer after another, that it got
disappeared into the turmoil of time.
This
pace and upheaval of literary activities was minimized in Victorian age. The
initial years suffered from the emptiness of authors.
In this assignment it is highlighted that how
the Victorian Age influenced the literary writers to reflect on literature.
Spanning form 1850 to 1900 of the period, much emphasis has
put on the historical events that enabled the authors to write according to
Victorian spirit.
Victorian
Spirit
It was the time
when peace and idealism were in its prime. The habit and culture was such that it
was classified in two parts such as high and low. There were some customs and
practices which were prevalent among the Victorian people and it directly
reflected in the literature of the Victorian age. For example, bowing down to
each other while meeting people and greeting a farewell with few words was
considered as high Victorian spirit. Authors sought to instruct the society and
give them a message of morality.
Progress and
Unrest
It
was the time when industrial development and new inventions of machines were
being invented. Along with science, arts were also growing. Spinning looms,
steam boats and electric lights are few examples. The growth in lifestyle with
these materialistic things came with the improvements in education also. The
authors of the age also didn’t remain aloof from this unrest and poor state of
living. Robert Browning could not find a publisher for his work Pauline, so he
took help from his relative and then published the poems. Charles Dickens also
faced much hardship in his early years and struggled a lot to make two ends
meet.
Writing
Style
Authors
of this age preferred long narrative because they had many things to share in
the form of stories. They chose their characters in a large number, each of
them having a key importance in the narrative. Stories were largely focusing
upon societal affairs and events like marriage and relationships. Interestingly
authors sensibly followed the real life happenings like welfare of poor and deprived.
This clearly reflects in the writing of the prominent novelist of the age,
Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Majorly the writing style in the novels drew
much attention because the age was known as an age of prose. Much emphasis has
been put on the novelists and prose writers of the age. Non-fiction writers
also made their space in literature.
Authors of
the Age
In
the Victorian age, there were many poets and prose writers as follows. Prose,
poetry and non-fiction all the trio of genres came up in the groups of writers.
Alfred Lord
Tennyson (1809 – 1892) – Learned and a man of empathy and morals, Tennyson was a noble
hearted poet who always tried to stay away from popularity. He was a poet
laureate after the death of William Wordsworth. He produced poems which
contained messages to people and society. His contemporary poet was Robert
Browning. Tennyson has written a collection of poems like In Memorium and Idylls of the
King, Poems. The last title he
has written at the age of twenty-two. He has written very famous poem “Crossing
the Bar”. Some of the poems are noticeable like “Palace of Heart”, “A Dream
of Fair Woman”, and “The Lotos Eaters”. His friends encouraged him to show such
work to the world and thus in 1842
his collection of poems containing a simple name Poems was published. Thomas Carlyle describes him as follows
“a
fine, large-featured, dim-eyed, bronze-colored, shaggy-headed man, … most
restful, brotherly, solid-hearted.” (Long 461)
Robert
Browning (1812 – 1889) – Along with Tennyson, Robert Browning also came up with moral
messages in his poetry. He was mostly considered as a teacher. However, the age
needed some of the good teachers and preachers also. His poetry contained
dramatic structure and style.
To quote the
original lines his writing style is describes as follows,
He is not,
like so many others, an entertaining poet. One cannot read him after dinner, or
when settled in a comfortable easy-chair. One must sit up, and think, and be
alert when he reads Browning. If we accept these conditions, we shall probably
find Browning is the most stimulating poet in our language. (Long 471)
Charles
Dickens (1812 – 1870) – As the Victorian age grew; it was known that social unrest and
was there in democracy. Along with growing tolerance and brotherhood there was
a bad notion of selling and buying of slaves also. Social slavery took place by
making the slaves work in mines and factories. During this period, one boy who
was once struggling hard to gain one time food, and with ample lived
experiences, grew as a popular writer of the age, who was Charles Dickens. He
imbibed all the dark matters of the Victorian age in his literature. His
characters represented moral and ethical standards. Oliver Twist is an apt example of the social practices in London
during the reign of Queen Victoria.
John Ruskin
(1819 – 1900) – With his work Unto
This Last (1862) Ruskin established his multidisciplinary knowledge to
literature. Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by this collection of essays which
talked about the principles of political economy. Along with this he also Munera Pulveris (1862) containing
the strong protesting voice against competitive system. Even the Victorian
non-fictional essays can make a positive impact on the minds of politicians and
social activists also.
Thomas
Carlyle (1795 – 1881) – Essayist and translator, Carlyle can be seen with two judgments;
the first is of minor writings like Chartism,
Latter-Day Pamphlets, Shooting Niagara. These minor
writings say that his style of writing is barbaric and denouncing almost
everything which he did not understand. The other judgment is based upon Heroes and Hero Worship, Cromwell,
Sartor Resartus. Such works established him as a teacher, leader,
and the foreseer of the nineteenth century. All his writings were for truth of
God and justice. Later on he wrote biographies, histories and translated many
major works. His major work was French
Revolution (1837).
George Eliot
(1819 – 1880) – Through the lengthy volumes of Middlemarch, George Eliot made a
remarkable attempt in the age. With the upbringing of the female characters
Eliot highlights the drawbacks of not to educating women. With the proper
learning and teaching one can be better person especially in decision making. Dorothea
Brook comes forward as a true Victorian heroine while penning down her
qualities. Her keen interest in learning new things from books is one of the
striking satires on the rigid mindset of patriarchal thought that women should
not be educated. It is clearly visible why Mary Ann Evans hid her actual
identity behind the masculine name as George Eliot. Through her novel
Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life readers come to know that what kind of
Victorian spirit was there. It can be said that human relations, in terms of
marriage were very loose. The way George Eliot has depicted the characters
shows that it might affect the women a lot then a man.
Matthew
Arnold
(1822 – 1888) – Among the
non-fiction writers, Arnold stands at the summit of criticism in the Victorian
era. In the year 1869, he published his most controversial critical essay Culture and Anarchy which is considered
one of the famous critical essays even today. To quote the original line form a
source, Arnold’s writing is describes as follows,
“In his
poetry he reflects the doubt of an age which witnessed the conflict between
science and religion.” (Long 545)
“In his
prose he shows the cavalier spirit, - aggressive, light-hearted, self-confident.
Like Carlyle, he dislikes shams, and protests against what he calls the
barbarians of society; but he writes with a light touch, using a satire and
banter as the better part of his argument.” (Long 545)
Arnold also
wrote poems in the early years of his literary contribution. He was a professor
of poetry at Oxford also. Arnold’s narrative style made him write a famous poem
Sohrab and Rustom (1853) and Balder Dead (1855).
Conclusion
This
age could have become more prosperous if it could have given open space to
women writer with the acceptance of their education and upbringing. It was a
remarkable age in the history because in literature, it gave voice to the
voiceless. Historically looking, the age was of becoming mature in intellect
and scientific inventions such as power loom and steam engines. To the
onlookers, it may seem that the age is filled with sympathy and misery of poor
but its other side is rich enough with critical thinking and the notion of
looking for a better future which was the upcoming age nineteenth century.
Works
Cited
Long, William
J. English Literature: Its History and its Significance for the Life of the
English Speaking World. Delhi: AITB, 2015.
