Victorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837—1901) and corresponds to the Victorian era. It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century.blygh “Dickens” redirects here. ... Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Romantics redirects here. ... Literature of the twentieth century is, for the purpose of this article, literature written from 1900 to 1999. ...

The 19th century saw the novel become the leading form of literature in English. The works by pre-Victorian writers such as Jane Austen and Walter Scott had perfected both closely-observed social satire and adventure stories. Popular works opened a market for the novel amongst a reading public. The 19th century is often regarded as a high point in British literature as well as in other countries such as France, the United States of America and Russia. Books, and novels in particular, became ubiquitous, and the "Victorian novelist" created legacy works with continuing appeal.hjnvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv This article is about the literary concept. ... 1873 engraving of Jane Austen, based on a portrait drawn by her sister Cassandra. ... Raeburns portrait of Sir Walter Scott in 1822. ... British literature is literature from the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. ...

Significant Victorian novelists and poets include: the Brontë sisters, (Anne, Emily and Charlotte Brontë), Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lewis Carroll, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Gissing, Thomas Hardy, A. E. Housman, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Philip Meadows Taylor, Lord Alfred Tennyson, William Thackeray, Anthony Trollope and Oscar Wilde. The Brontë sisters, painted by their brother, Branwell c. ... Anne Brontës grave at Scarborough Anne Brontë (IPA: ) (January 17, 1820 – May 28, 1849) was a British novelist and poet, the youngest of the Brontë literary family. ... Emily Jane Brontë (July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848) was a British novelist and poet, now best remembered for her only novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. ... Charlotte Brontë (IPA: ) (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855) was an English novelist and the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels have become timeless pieces of English literature. ... Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889) was a British poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. ... Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861) was one of the most respected poets of the Victorian era. ... Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (May 25, 1803 - January 18, 1873) was an English novelist, playwright, and politician. ... Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and writer of short stories. ... “Dickens” redirects here. ... Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (December 21, 1804 - April 24, British Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and author. ... Mary Ann (Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist. ... Elizabeth Gaskell, in the 1832 miniature by William John Thomson Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (née Stevenson; 29 September 1810–12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. ... George Gissing (November 22, 1857 – December 28, 1903) was a British novelist. ... “Thomas Hardy” redirects here. ... Alfred Edward Housman (March 26, 1859 – April 30, 1936), usually known as A.E. Housman, was an English poet and classical scholar, now best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad. ... This article is about the British author. ... Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... Philip Meadows Taylor (September 25, 1808 - May 13, 1876), Anglo-Indian administrator and novelist, was born in Liverpool, England. ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... William Makepeace Thackeray (July 18, 1811 - December 24, 1863) was an English novelist of the 19th century. ... Anthony Trollope (April 24, 1815 – December 6, 1882) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ...

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Novelists

Charles Dickens arguably exemplifies the Victorian novelist better than any other writer. Extraordinarily popular in his day with his characters taking on a life of their own beyond the page, Dickens is still the most popular and read author of the time. His first real novel, The Pickwick Papers, written at only twenty-five, was an overnight success, and all his subsequent works sold extremely well. He was in effect a self made man who worked diligently and prolifically to produce exactly what the public wanted; often reacting to the public taste and changing the plot direction of his stories between monthly numbers. The comedy of his first novel has a satirical edge which pervades his writings. These deal with the plight of the poor and oppressed and end with a ghost story cut short by his death. The slow trend in his fiction towards darker themes is mirrored in much of the writing of the century, and literature after his death in 1870 is notably different from that at the start of the era. “Dickens” redirects here. ... The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. ... A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or the belief of some character(s) in them. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

William Thackeray was Dickens' great rival at the time. With a similar style but a slightly more detached, acerbic and barbed satirical view of his characters, he also tended to depict situations of a more middle class flavour than Dickens. He is best known for his novel Vanity Fair, subtitled A Novel without a Hero, which is also an example of a form popular in Victorian literature: the historical novel, in which very recent history is depicted. Anthony Trollope tended to write about a slightly different part of the structure, namely the landowning and professional classes. William Makepeace Thackeray (July 18, 1811 - December 24, 1863) was an English novelist of the 19th century. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... Title-page to Vanity Fair, drawn by Thackeray, who furnished the illustrations for many of his earlier editions Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray that satirizes society in early 19th-century England. ... --70. ... Anthony Trollope (April 24, 1815 – December 6, 1882) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. ...

The Brontë sisters wrote fiction rather different from that common at the time.

Away from the big cities and the literary society, Haworth in West Yorkshire held a powerhouse of novel writing: the home of the Brontë family. Anne, Charlotte and Emily Brontë had time in their short lives to produce masterpieces of fiction although these were not immediately appreciated by Victorian critics. Wuthering Heights, Emily's only work, in particular has violence, passion, the supernatural, heightened emotion and emotional distance, an unusual mix for any novel but particularly at this time. It is a prime example of Gothic Romanticism from a woman's point of view during this period of time, examining class, myth, and gender. Another important writer of the period was George Eliot, a pseudonym which concealed a woman, Mary Ann Evans, who wished to write novels which would be taken seriously rather than the silly romances which all women of the time were supposed to write. Image File history File links Bronte sisters The Brontë sisters, painted by Patrick Branwell Brontë, c. ... Image File history File links Bronte sisters The Brontë sisters, painted by Patrick Branwell Brontë, c. ... The Brontë sisters, painted by their brother, Branwell c. ... Haworth, Main Street Haworth, Main Street For alternate meanings see Haworth (disambiguation) Haworth is a small village and tourist attraction, in the English county of West Yorkshire, best known for its association with the Brontë sisters. ... Coat of Arms of South Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, that has a population of 2. ... The Brontë sisters, painted by their brother, Branwell c. ... Anne Brontës grave at Scarborough Anne Brontë (IPA: ) (January 17, 1820 – May 28, 1849) was a British novelist and poet, the youngest of the Brontë literary family. ... Charlotte Brontë (IPA: ) (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855) was an English novelist and the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels have become timeless pieces of English literature. ... Emily Jane Brontë (July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848) was a British novelist and poet, now best remembered for her only novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. ... For other uses, see Wuthering Heights (disambiguation). ... Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel was a literary genre that belonged to Romanticism and began in the United Kingdom with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ... Romantics redirects here. ... Mary Ann (Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist. ... A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ... A romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. ...

The style of the Victorian novel

Virginia Woolf in her series of essays The Common Reader called George Eliot's Middlemarch "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". This criticism, although rather broadly covering as it does all English literature, is rather a fair comment on much of the fiction of the Victorian Era. Influenced as they were by the large sprawling novels of sensibility of the preceding age they tended to be idealized portraits of difficult lives in which hard work, perseverance, love and luck win out in the end; virtue would be rewarded and wrong-doers are suitably punished. They tended to be of an improving nature with a central moral lesson at heart, informing the reader how to be a good Victorian. This formula was the basis for much of earlier Victorian fiction but as the century progressed the plot thickened. For the American writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff. ... Mary Ann (Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist. ... See also Middlemarch, New Zealand. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Eliot in particular strove for realism in her fiction and tried to banish the picturesque and the burlesque from her work. Another woman writer Elizabeth Gaskell wrote even grimmer, grittier books about the poor in the north of England but even these usually had happy endings. After the death of Dickens in 1870 happy endings became less common. Such a major literary figure as Charles Dickens tended to dictate the direction of all literature of the era, not least because he edited All the Year Round a literary journal of the time. His fondness for a happy ending with all the loose ends neatly tied up is clear and although he is well known for writing about the lives of the poor they are sentimentalized portraits, made acceptable for people of character to read; to be shocked but not disgusted. The more unpleasant underworld of Victorian city life was revealed by Henry Mayhew in his articles and book London Labour and the London Poor. Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal first introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in , a practical book which instructed Englands leisured travelers to examine the face of a country by the rules of picturesque beauty. Picturesque, along with the aesthetic and cultural strands of Gothic and... Photograph of Sally Rand, 1934. ... Elizabeth Gaskell, in the 1832 miniature by William John Thomson Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (née Stevenson; 29 September 1810–12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... “Dickens” redirects here. ... All the Year Round was a weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens which was published between 1859 and 1859. ... Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 - 25th July 1887) was an English journalist and one of the founders of the humorous magazine Punch, and the magazines editor for its beginning days. ... London Labour and the London Poor is an extraordinary work of Victorian journalism by Henry Mayhew. ...

This change in style in Victorian fiction was slow coming but clear by the end of the century, with the books in the 1880s and 90s more realistic and often grimmer. Even writers of the high Victorian age were censured for their plots attacking the conventions of the day with Adam Bede being called "the vile outpourings of a lewd woman's mind" and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall "utterly unfit to be put into the hands of girls". The disgust of the reading audience perhaps reached a peak with Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure which was reportedly burnt by an outraged bishop of Wakefield. The cause of such fury was Hardy's frank treatment of sex, religion and his disregard for the subject of marriage; a subject close to the Victorians' heart, with the prevailing plot of the Victorian novel sometimes being described as a search for a correct marriage. // Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... Adam Bede is the first novel written by George Eliot and was published in 1859. ... The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the second and final novel by Anne Brontë. The novel frames itself as a letter from Gilbert Markham to his friend and brother in law (Halford) about the events leading to his meeting his wife. ... “Thomas Hardy” redirects here. ... Jude the Obscure is the last of Thomas Hardys novels, begun as a magazine serial and first published in book form in 1895. ... Arms of the Bishop of Wakefield List of the Bishops of Wakefield, located in West Yorkshire, England. ...

Samuel Butler whose Erewhon was a satire on Victorian society

Hardy had started his career as seemingly a rather safe novelist writing bucolic scenes of rural life but his disaffection with some of the institutions of Victorian Britain was present as well as an underlying sorrow for the changing nature of the English countryside. The hostile reception to Jude in 1895 meant that it was his last novel but he continued writing poetry into the mid 1920s. Other authors such as Samuel Butler and George Gissing confronted their antipathies to certain aspects of marriage, religion or Victorian morality and peppered their fiction with controversial anti-heros. Butler's Erewhon, for one, is a utopian novel satirising many aspects of Victorian society with Butler's particular dislike of the religious hypocrisy attracting scorn and being depicted as "Musical Banks". This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Samuel Butler Samuel Butler (December 4, 1835 - June 18, 1902) was a British writer best known for his satire Erewhon. ... It has been suggested that Erehwon be merged into this article or section. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... Bucolic, although often used as an adjective, is a noun originally describing a type of pastoral poetry that praises rural life over that of the city. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Samuel Butler Samuel Butler (December 4, 1835 - June 18, 1902) was a British writer best known for his satire Erewhon. ... George Gissing (November 22, 1857 – December 28, 1903) was a British novelist. ... In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central or supporting character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers or viewers. ... It has been suggested that Erehwon be merged into this article or section. ... See Utopia (disambiguation) for other meanings of this word Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. ...

Whilst many great writers were at work at the time, the large numbers of voracious but uncritical readers meant that poor writers, producing salacious and lurid novels or accounts, found eager audiences. Many of the faults common to much better writers were used abundantly by writers now mostly forgotten: over-sentimentality, unrealistic plots and moralising obscuring the story. Although immensely popular in his day, Edward Bulwer-Lytton is now held up as an example of the very worst of Victorian literature with his sensationalist story-lines and his over-boiled style of prose. Other writers popular at the time but largely forgotten now are: Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Charles Kingsley, R. D. Blackmore and even Benjamin Disraeli, a future Prime Minister. Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (May 25, 1803 - January 18, 1873) was an English novelist, playwright, and politician. ... The sensation novel was a literary genre of fiction popular in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s. ... Mary Elizabeth Braddon British novelist (1837 – 1915) Mary Elizabeth Braddon (October 4, 1837 – February 4, 1915) was a British Victorian era popular novelist. ... Charlotte Mary Yonge (August 11, 1823 - May 24, 1901), was a English novelist, known for her huge output, mostly now out of print. ... Charles Kingsley A statue of Charles Kingsley at Bideford, Devon (UK) Charles Kingsley (June 12, 1819 – January 23, 1875) was an English novelist, particularly associated with the West Country. ... Richard Doddridge Blackmore (June 7, 1825 - January 20, 1900), usually known as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of the his generation. ... Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (December 21, 1804 - April 24, British Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and author. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ...

Other Literature

Children's literature

The Victorians are sometimes credited with 'inventing childhood', partly via their efforts to stop child labour and the introduction of compulsory education. As children began to be able to read, literature for young people became a growth industry with, not only, adult novelists producing works for children such as Dickens' A Child's History of England but also dedicated children's authors. Writers like Lewis Carroll, R. M. Ballantyne and Anna Sewell wrote mainly for children, although they had an adult following, and nonsense verse, poetry which required a child-like interest, was produced by Edward Lear among others. The subject of school also became a rich area for books with Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's Schooldays just one of the most popular examples. Compulsory education is education which children are required by law to receive and governments to provide. ... A Childs History of England is a book by Charles Dickens. ... Basic Characteristics There is some debate as to what constitutes childrens literature. ... Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... RM Ballantyne (April 24, 1825 – February 8, 1894), Scottish juvenile fiction writer, Born Robert Michael Ballantyne in Edinburgh, Scotland he was part of a famous family of printers and publishers. ... Anna Sewell (March 30, 1820 – April 25, 1878) was a British writer, the author of the classic novel Black Beauty. ... Nonsense verse is a form of poetry, normally composed for humorous effect, which is intentionally and overtly paradoxical, silly, witty, whimsical or just plain strange. ... This article is about the art form. ... Edward Lear, 1812-1888 Eagle Owl, Edward Lear, 1837 Another Edward Lear owl, in his more familiar style Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsensical poetry and his limericks, a form which he popularised. ... A statue of Thomas Hughes at Rugby School Thomas Hughes (October 20, 1822 – March 22, 1896) was an English lawyer and author. ... Cover of 1999 re-issue by Oxford Worlds Classics Tom Browns Schooldays, first published in 1857, is a novel by Thomas Hughes, set at a public school, Rugby School for Boys, in the 1830s when Hughes himself had been a student there. ...

Poetry

Lord Tennyson, the Poet Laureate

Poetry in a sense settled down from the upheavals of the romantic era and much of the work of the time is seen as a bridge between this earlier era and the modernist poetry of the next century. Alfred Lord Tennyson held the poet laureateship for over forty years and his verse became rather stale by the end but his early work is rightly praised. Some of the poetry highly regarded at the time such as Invictus and If—  are now seen as jingoistic and bombastic but Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade was a fierce criticism of a famous military blunder; a pillar of the establishment not failing to attack the establishment. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (756x1028, 104 KB) Alfred Tennyson. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (756x1028, 104 KB) Alfred Tennyson. ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. ... Many regard William Shakespeare as the greatest English poet. ... Romantics redirects here. ... Mountebanks ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. ... Invictus is a short poem by the British poet William Ernest Henley that is the source of a number of familiar clichés and quotations. ... The correct title of this article is If— . It appears incorrectly here due to technical restrictions. ... The Spirit of 76 by Archibald McNeal Willard, 1891 Jingoism is a term describing chauvinistic patriotism, especially with regard to a hawkish political stance. ... The Charge of the Light Brigade is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. ...

It seems wrong to classify Oscar Wilde as a Victorian writer as his plays and poems seem to belong to the later age of Edwardian literature but as he died in 1900 he was most definitely Victorian. His plays stand apart from the many now forgotten plays of Victorian times and have a much closer relationship to those of George Bernard Shaw's, many of whose most important works were written in the 20th century. Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ... The Edwardian period or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom is the period 1901 to 1910, the reign of King Edward VII. It is sometimes extended to include the period to the start of World War I in 1914 or even the end of the war in 1918. ... Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ... George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...

The husband and wife poetry team of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning conducted their love affair through verse and produced many tender and passionate poems. Both Matthew Arnold and Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote poems which sit somewhere in between the exultation of nature of the romantic Poetry and the Georgian Poetry of the early 20th century. Arnold's works hearken forward to some of the themes of these later poets while Hopkins drew for inspiration on verse forms from Old English poetry such as Beowulf. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861) was one of the most respected poets of the Victorian era. ... Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889) was a British poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. ... Matthew Arnold Caricature from Punch, 1881: Admit that Homer sometimes nods, That poets do write trash, Our Bard has written Balder Dead, And also Balder-dash Family tree Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic, who worked as an inspector of schools. ... The Best ideal is the true/ And other truth is none. ... Romantic poetry was part of the Romantic movement of European literature during the 18th-mid-19th centuries. ... Georgian Poetry was the title of a series of anthologies showcasing the work of a school of English poetry that established itself during the early years of the reign of King George V of the United Kingdom. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Penis[1], Englisc by its speakers) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... This article is about the epic poem. ...

The reclaiming of the past was a major part of Victorian literature with an interest in both classical literature but also the medieval literature of England. The Victorians loved the heroic, chivalrous stories of knights of old and they hoped to regain some of that noble, courtly behaviour and impress it upon the people both at home and in the wider empire. The best example of this is Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King which blended the stories of King Arthur, particularly those by Thomas Malory, with contemporary concerns and ideas. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood also drew on myth and folklore for their art with Dante Gabriel Rossetti contemperaneously regarded as the chief poet amongst them, although his sister Christina is now held by scholars to be a stronger poet. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (encompassing the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. ... Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood, allegorical Scene. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... The Idylls of the King (1856 - 1885) are a cycle of poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that express the legend of King Arthur in terms of the psychology and concerns of nineteenth-century England. ... A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15th century) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ... Sir Thomas Malory (c. ... Persephone, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. ... Dante Gabriel Rossetti (May 12, 1828 - April 10, 1882) was an English poet, painter and translator. ... Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 – December 29, 1894) was an English poet. ...

The influence of Empire

The interest in older works of literature led the Victorians much further afield to find new old works with a great interest in translating of literature from the farthest flung corners of their new empire and beyond. Arabic and Sanskrit literature were some of the richest bodies of work to be discovered and translated for popular consumption. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is one of the best of these works, translated by Edward FitzGerald who introduced much of his own poetic skill into a rather free adaptation of the 11th century work. The explorer Richard Francis Burton also translated many exotic works from beyond Europe including The Perfumed Garden, The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra. Arabic literature (Arabic ,الأدب العربي ) Al-Adab Al-Arabi, is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... Literature in Sanskrit, one of Indias two oldest languages, and the basis of several modern languages in India. ... This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Edward FitzGerald, 1873 For other uses see Edward Fitzgerald (disambiguation) Edward Marlborough FitzGerald (31 March 1809 – 14 June 1883) was an English writer, best known as the poet of the first and most famous English translation of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, travelogue, the History of Science and Technology and Biography. ... For other persons named Richard Burton, see Richard Burton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... The Perfumed Garden by Sheikh Nefzaoui is a sex manual and work of erotic literature. ... The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (كتاب ألف ليلة و ليلة in Arabic or هزار و یک شب in Persian), also known as The book of a Thousand Nights and a Night... For other uses, see Kama Sutra (disambiguation). ...

Science, philosophy and discovery

Charles Darwin's work On the Origin of Species affected society and thought in the Victoria era, and still does today.

The Victorian era was an important time for the development of science and the Victorians had a mission to describe and classify the entire natural world. Much of this writing does not rise to the level of being regarded as literature but one book in particular, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, remains famous. The theory of evolution contained within the work shook many of the ideas the Victorians had about themselves and their place in the world and although it took a long time to be widely accepted it would change, dramatically, subsequent thought and literature. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... The 1859 edition of On the Origin of Species First published in 1859, The Origin of Species (full title On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) by British naturalist Charles Darwin is one of the pivotal... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... The 1859 edition of On the Origin of Species First published in 1859, The Origin of Species (full title On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) by British naturalist Charles Darwin is one of the pivotal... This article is about evolution in biology. ...

Other important non-fiction works of the time are the philosophical writings of John Stuart Mill covering logic, economics, liberty and utilitarianism. The large and influential histories of Thomas Carlyle: The French Revolution, A History, On Heroes and Hero Worship and Thomas Babington Macaulay: The History of England from the Accession of James II. The greater number of novels that contained overt criticism of religion did not stifle a vigorous list of publications on the subject of religion. Two of the most important of these are John Henry Newman and Henry Edward Cardinal Manning who both wished to revitalise Anglicanism with a return to the Roman Catholic Church. In a somewhat opposite direction, the ideas of socialism were permeating political thought at the time with Friedrich Engels writing his Condition of the Working Classes in England and William Morris writing the early socialist utopian novel News from Nowhere. One other important and monumental work begun in this era was the Oxford English Dictionary which would eventually become the most important historical dictionary of the English language. For the book by Chuck Palahniuk titled Non-fiction, see Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories. ... Philosophy (from the Greek words philos and sophia meaning love of wisdom) is understood in different ways historically and by different philosophers. ... John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 8 May 1873), British philosopher, political economist civil servant, and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... For other uses, see Liberty (disambiguation). ... This article discusses utilitarian ethical theory. ... The most familiar view of Carlyle is as the bearded sage with a penetrating gaze. ... The French Revolution: A History was written by the Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle. ... Quotes His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. ... The History of England from the Accession of James the Second is the full title of the multi-volume work by Lord Macaulay more generally known as The History of England. The history is famous for its brilliant ringing prose and for its confident, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on a progressive... J H Newman age 23 when he preached his first sermon. ... 1882 caricature from Punch Henry Edward Cardinal Manning (July 15, 1808 - January 14, 1892) was an English Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal. ... Anglicanism commonly refers to the beliefs and practices of the Anglican Communion, the churches that are in full communion with the see of Canterbury. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community[1] for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. ... Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820 – August 5, 1895) was a German social scientist and philosopher, who developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848). ... The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 is one of the best-known works of Friedrich Engels. ... This page is about William Morris, the writer, designer and socialist. ... See Utopia (disambiguation) for other meanings of this word Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. ... News from Nowhere is a classic work of utopian fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Supernatural and fantastic literature

A new form of supernatural, mystery and fantastic literature during this period, often centered on larger-than-life characters such as Sherlock Holmes famous detective of the times, Barry Lee big time gang leader of the Victorian Times, Sexton Blakes, Phileas Foggs, Frankenstein fictional characters of the era, Dracula, Edward Hyde, The Invisible Man, and many other fictional characters who often had exotic enemies to foil. A portrait of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ... This article is about the 1818 novel. ... This article is about the novel. ... Edward Hyde may refer to several different people, including: Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674), English historian and statesman Edward Hyde (c. ... For other uses, see The Invisible Man (disambiguation). ...

The influence of Victorian literature

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Victorian fiction outside of Victoria's domains.

Writers from the former colony of The United States of America and the remaining colonies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada could not avoid being influenced by the literature of Britain and they are often classed as a part of Victorian literature although they were gradually developing their own distinctive voices. Victorian writers of Canadian literature include Grant Allen, Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill. Australian literature has the poets Adam Lindsay Gordon and Banjo Paterson, who wrote Waltzing Matilda and New Zealand literature includes Thomas Bracken and Frederick Edward Maning From the sphere of literature of the United States during this time are some of the country's greats including: Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Henry James, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 480 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1108 × 1383 pixel, file size: 132 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Harriet Beecher-Stowe Source: based on http://www. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 480 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1108 × 1383 pixel, file size: 132 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Harriet Beecher-Stowe Source: based on http://www. ... Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe. ... This article is about a type of political territory. ... Canadian literature may be divided into two parts, based on their separate roots: one stems from the culture and literature from France; the other from Britain. ... Grant Allen (February 24, 1848 - October 25, 1899) was a science writer, author and novelist; an able upholder of the evolution doctrine and an expounder of Darwinism. ... Susanna Moodie, née Strickland (6 December 1803 – 8 April 1885) was a British author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada. ... Catharine Parr Traill (née Strickland) (January 9, 1802 - August 29, 1899) was a British author who wrote about life as a settler in Canada. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Adam Lindsay Gordon - Melbourne monument Adam Lindsay Gordon (October 19, 1833 – 24 June 1870) was an Australian poet, jockey and politician. ... Andrew Barton Banjo Paterson (February 17, 1864 – February 5, 1941) was a famous Australian bush poet, journalist and author. ... Waltzing Matilda is usually sung in informal settings, but it was played with a 90 piece orchestra and the 100 voice Melbourne Chorale at the 2005 Classical Spectacular Waltzing Matilda is Australias most widely known folk song, and one that has been popularly suggested as a potential national anthem. ... New Zealand claims as its own many writers, even those immigrants born overseas or those emigrants who have gone into exile. ... Thomas Bracken (December 21, 1843 - February 16, 1898), born at Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland, was the noted late 19th century poet who wrote the New Zealand National Anthem and who was the first person to publish the phrase Gods Own Country. ... Frederick Edward Maning (July 5, 1812 - July 25, 1883) was a notable early settler in New Zealand, a writer and judge of the Native Land Court. ... This topic is considered to be an essential subject on Wikipedia. ... Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. ... For other uses of this name, see Henry James (disambiguation). ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. ... Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe. ... Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau[1]) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ... Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ...

The problem with the classification of Victorian literature is great difference between the early works of the period and the later works which had more in common with the writers of the Edwardian period and many writers straddle this divide. People such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, Bram Stoker, H. Rider Haggard, Jerome K. Jerome and Joseph Conrad all wrote some of their important works during Victoria's reign but the sensibility of their writing is frequently regarded as Edwardian. The Edwardian period or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom is the period 1901 to 1910, the reign of King Edward VII. It is sometimes extended to include the period to the start of World War I in 1914 or even the end of the war in 1918. ... Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859–7 July 1930) was a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. ... This article is about the British author. ... Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon and The Island of Doctor Moreau. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... H. Rider Haggard, author Sir Henry Rider Haggard (June 22, 1856 – May 14, 1925), born in Norfolk, England, was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in locations considered exotic by readers in his native England. ... Jerome Klapka Jerome (May 2, 1859 – June 14, 1927) was an English author, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat. ... // Joseph Conrad (born Teodor Józef Konrad Nałęcz-Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-born novelist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. ...

External links

• The Victorian Web
• Victorian Women Writers Project
• Victorian Studies Bibliography