English 241: British Writers -- Nov. 22, 1999 -- Victorian Age

• Reign of Queen Victoria: 1837-1901
• In 1837, London had 2 million residents.  In 1901, London had 6.5 million residents
• By the end of the age, England had become the strongest imperial power in the world.
• Novels of the time expressed a discontent with class, education, politics, etc.
• Science vs. Religion
  • Charles Lyell's Principles of Geography (1830-33)
  • Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species (1859)
  • Tennyson's In Memoriam expresses some of his personal conflict regarding science and religion.  See stanzas 54, 55, and 56, for example.
• Some increasingly popular fiction trends during the century:
  • Detective novel: Poe's short stories (1840s) begin this form.  Wilkie Collins -- The Moonstone (1868) -- writes early detective fiction in Britain.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publishes Sherlock Holmes fiction from 1887-1927.
  • Children's fiction:
    • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
    • Black Beauty (1877)
    • Treasure Island (1883)
    • 18th-century works such as Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels are popular among children in 19th century.
• Is the Victorian Age the Age of Prudes?
  • What's prudish?
    • Homosexuality made illegal; Oscar Wilde arrested and jailed for his homosexuality
    • Rise of Evangelicalism
    • Sober Sunday
    • Publics reaction to Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
  • What's not prudish?
    • Ads for venereal disease cures on the front pages of newspapers.
    • Rise in pornography
    • Rise in prostitution

"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning.  Discuss his use of dramatic monologue.

"God's Grandeur" by Gerard Manley Hopkins.  Discuss his use of sound.

British Writers