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Victorian Era Literature Enhanced Presentation

The Victorian Era (1837-1901) was characterized by industrial progress, colonial expansion, and significant social reforms, reflecting themes of change, morality, and individualism in literature. Major literary figures included poets like Tennyson and Browning, and novelists such as Dickens and the Brontë sisters, who explored social issues and human experiences through realism and psychological depth. The era's literary legacy continues to influence modern literature and adaptations in various media.

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Debjyoti Mukhopadhyay
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21 views15 pages

Victorian Era Literature Enhanced Presentation

The Victorian Era (1837-1901) was characterized by industrial progress, colonial expansion, and significant social reforms, reflecting themes of change, morality, and individualism in literature. Major literary figures included poets like Tennyson and Browning, and novelists such as Dickens and the Brontë sisters, who explored social issues and human experiences through realism and psychological depth. The era's literary legacy continues to influence modern literature and adaptations in various media.

Uploaded by

Debjyoti Mukhopadhyay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Victorian Era and Its Literature

• An overview of 1837–1901 and the rich literary legacy it left behind.


Introduction to the Victorian Era

• Time Period: 1837-1901, during Queen Victoria's reign

• Marked by industrial progress, colonial


expansion, moral strictness
• Key themes: change, progress, morality, and
the individual in society
Historical Background

• Industrial Revolution: steam power, railways, factories

• British Empire at its peak


• Rise of the middle class and urbanization
• Social reforms and class tensions
Major Social and Cultural Developments

• Scientific advancements: Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859)

• Public education act (1870): literacy growth


• Women's rights movements begin
• Child labor and poor working conditions
challenged
Literature as Reflection of Society

• Literature mirrored social realities and ethical dilemmas

• Rise of the realist novel


• Moral didacticism mixed with artistic
imagination
• Questions of faith vs science, class conflict,
and gender roles
Victorian Poetry

• Major Poets: Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Rossetti

• Themes: loss, faith, doubt, social issues


• Style: lyrical, introspective, classical references
• Dramatic monologue popularized
Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Poet Laureate

• Works: In Memoriam, Ulysses, The Charge of


the Light Brigade
• Themes: grief, faith, heroism, evolution
• Voice of Victorian conscience
Robert & Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• Robert: Master of dramatic monologue (My Last Duchess)

• Elizabeth: Introspective, passionate (Sonnets


from the Portuguese)
• Engaged with child labor, slavery
Victorian Novels: Rise of Realism

• Novel became dominant literary form

• Lengthy, serialized publications


• Detailed characterization and social critique
• Settings: urban centers, factories, homes
Charles Dickens

• Popular, influential, social reformer

• Works: Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Hard


Times, Great Expectations
• Exposed poverty, child labor, hypocrisy
• Memorable characters: Scrooge, Pip
The Brontë Sisters

• Charlotte (Jane Eyre), Emily (Wuthering Heights), Anne (The Tenant of


Wildfell Hall)

• Themes: gender, love, social constraints


• Gothic elements, psychological insight
George Eliot

• Pseudonym for Mary Ann Evans

• Major works: Middlemarch, The Mill on the


Floss
• Explored morality, rural life, intellectual
women
• Realistic detail and psychological depth
Thomas Hardy

• Works: Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure

• Pessimism, fate, rural decay, critique of


Victorian norms
• Naturalism and tragic vision
Children’s Literature and Fantasy

• Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

• Rise of fantasy and nonsense literature


• Moral teaching through imagination
• Growth of publishing for children
Legacy and Conclusion

• Influenced modern novel and psychological realism

• Questions of morality, inequality, identity


• Adaptations in film, theatre, and modern
literature
• Foundations for 20th-century literary
evolution

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