Flaherty 1

Kate Flaherty

Michael Piero, M.A.

English 2360 British Literature II

24 March 2018

Romantic Versus Victorian: Comparing the Literary Periods

The categorization of literature in to literary periods has caused debate in the literary

community since the beginning of its practice in the early twentieth century (Underwood 1). This

system of periodization was first adopted into curriculum and study but has since been

cemented into the industry of literature through employment and publication. Students educated

based on this system become professionals who publish their own literary criticism with the

periodization model’s influence as their background. These critics become scholars and then

educators themselves, who teach based on what they have learned. Educators in Literature are

sought after and hired by institutions for their expertise in specific time periods of literary work,

and the cycle continues. Periodization of literary works has become an industry standard (Hayot

741). Though it is widely practiced and has been proliferated through curriculum in higher

education, periodization in the study of literature presents problems – limiting the variety of

literature that might have otherwise been given attention by ignoring works which do not follow

the norms of their historical era, as well as in ejecting artists from the cannon due to their

geographic location – and does not provide the most concise method for classifying literary and

other artistic works.

The most basic problem with periodization, really lies within a much broader concept: within

definition itself. In assigning definition, a subject is not only limited by identifying what it is, it

dictates what it is not. Eric Hayot, Professor of Comparative Literature at Penn State University,

opens his article Against Periodization; or, On Institutional Time with a translated quote from the
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17th-century philosopher, Spinoza: “Every

definition is a negation.” While Hayot

admits that “negation is the life of thought,”

he counters that “[definitions] are also the

enemy of clear thinking, its most habitual

stopping place” he also explains that

definitions bring vigilance to specialized

fields, which can have positive and

negative effects (739). With this vigilance,

comes the ability to see an idea’s strengths

and weaknesses or similarities and

differences when compared with other

concepts. He also believes that vigilance in

the understanding of concepts in some

members of the scholarly community

promotes more frequent and productive

debate regarding classification of concepts

from dissenting members. Still, definitions

of time periods in literature are not always

consistent. For example, while some

consider the Victorian period to span the

entire reign of Queen Victoria, others define

the beginning of the Victorian age as

immediately following the conclusion of the

Romantic period. Since the end of the

Figure 1. Flaherty, Katherine. Romantic Versus Victorian Comparing
the Literary Periods. Canva. Infographic. 25 March 2018. Romantic period is debated as ending with
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the ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne or otherwise, ending with the conclusion of the

French Revolution, these definitions are quite devoid of definition. This practice is useful in

categorizing many things, especially for the sake of organization and order, but a system which

classifies literature by the date it was written effectively glosses over any artistic features which

may run through literature for centuries. Instead of choosing to follow the evolution of a vein of

artistic subject matter or style, periodization “chunks” art simply by the date which it was

produced.

Literary periodization is not universal. In limiting categories to those which confine a work to

a specific range of dates according to times in history, we are generally also limiting the

geographic location from which an artwork must come for it to be relevant to the period. For

instance, at the time of the Victorian period, other artistic movements were occurring in Asia and

America. An example of a more universal approach to literary categorization is the Romantic

period of literature. The exception here can be guessed starting with the name of the period.

Romanticism is named after the romantic genre which was a popular theme – revived from

medieval romance – during the period (see fig. 1).

Periodization in classrooms has changed with the times as

educators have put their own spin on the English cannon,

but the basic period system remains in the background.

According to Hayot, periodization is so ingrained into our

educational system that the period still needs to be

acknowledged in curriculum before it can be rejected or

ignored. It is a deterrent of new discourse, which can halt

progressive thought and which can lead to a general

laziness which “amounts to a collective failure of

Figure 2. Plimer, Andrew. Portrait of Anna
Walmesley. 1795. The Edward B. Greene
Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art
imagination and will on the part of the literary profession.”
Collections Online. Watercolor on ivory in a gold
frame with hair reverse. 25 March 2018. (Hayot 740). The literary community has attempted to put
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a band-aid on this problem; As times change, educators

continue to change the time periods covered for an era,

rather than do away with them; Hayot states this is “a way

of coping with the repeated recognition of the inadequacy

of [the] period.” (740).

Years covered in literary periods are not always

unanimously agreed upon, which can – along with

differing individual points of view – lead to murky

definitions of what constitutes a piece which captures the

essence of a period. The beginning and end of the

Romantic period varies slightly depending on the source.
In the Norton Anthology of English Literature, the
Romantic period’s parameters are cited as 1785-1832,
Figure 3. Smart, John I. Portrait of Lieutenant
General Daniel Burr. 1799. The Edward B.
Greene Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collections Online. Watercolor on ivory in a gold
frame with glazed hair reverse. 25 March 2018.

however “[a]bout a hundred years ago, the Cambridge History of English Literature segmented

the [Romantic] era… into two parts, tidily divvying off the “Period of the French Revolution”

(1789-1815) from a subsequent period of “Romance Revival” that filled in the years between the

defeat of Napoleonic France and the ascent of Queen Victoria.” (Norton 4). According to The

Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Romanticism began in the early 1780s and concluded

in the mid-1830s. Broadview makes an interesting point; that we can physically see the shift into

and away from Romanticism in the way of fashion. Women cast off the heavy structured

garments they favored during the years preceding the “Age of Romanticism” for looser, lighter,

more flowing styles and fabrics. Many men of the time wore military uniforms to reflect British

pride, and mark the years of the French Revolution. The Romantic period was a time of conflict

and loved ones were often separated for extended periods of time. As a keepsake, members of

the social elite often commissioned artists to paint portrait miniatures (see fig. 2 and 3). The

miniatures were treasured by their owners, usually a spouse or a parent, and brought hope that
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they would be reunited. Many of these separations did not end happily. As the British held

interests across the globe, many of the country’s military men never made it home. The

Cleveland Museum of Art describes Bernard Gaillot’s Woman Sleeping in a Landscape with a

Letter thusly:

The subject matter here probably comes from an English novel popular in France around

1800. The monument’s inscription indicates that the wife of Fotheringham, an English

military leader in India, has recently died. The reclining woman (perhaps sleeping,

mourning, or dead) has dropped a portrait miniature of Fotheringham, accompanying a

letter to his mother. The narrative has yet to be deciphered, but the husband may have

written home, unaware of his wife’s death. (Cleveland Museum of Art)

The painting shows a woman in white, traditional Romantic dress and a landscape including a

city in the background. The full story is not known, but the woman may have made the trip to the

Figure 4. Gaillot, Bernard. Woman Sleeping in a Landscape with a Letter. 1800. Bequest of Muriel Butkin. The
Cleveland Museum of Art Collections Online. Oil on canvas. 25 March 2018.
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monument, not only to pay respects but to escape the noise of the city for solitude in nature

(see fig. 4). The influence of nature as a source of wisdom and an escape from the newly

industrialized lifestyle of the big city is the most important feature of the period.

When it came to expressing art through words, poetry was regarded as the most popular

mode of conveyance, and as literacy increased, the period gave rise to more accessible

literature in a variety of publication formats, which continued into the Victorian period. The

traditional “big six” poets are regarded as the most influential of the time, with William

Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads lauded as “the decisive break with

the formalism and neo-classicism of eighteenth century literature.” (Broadview 136). In his book

Romanticism, John Halsted states that Lyrical Ballads is the most patent Romantic work,

expressing “reverence for nature that influenced a whole generation” that “anti-urbanism and

primitivism was not very new, but in a major aesthetic pronouncement it surely was.” (72).

By the end of the Romantic era, “looser fashions and

glittering uniforms had themselves been superseded by

the tightly laced corsets, salt-and-pepper trousers, and

bell skirts heavily supported by hoops and petticoats that

are now inextricably associated with English

Victorianism.” (Broadview,1). However, there is debate on

when the Victorian era began as “there is no real

consensus about when the Victorian era began and

ended.” (Broadview, 498). General dates for the span of

the Victorian Period coincide with the reign of Queen
Victoria, from 1837 until her death in 1901. The content
shifted from centering on in inner emotion during the
Figure 5. Tassaert, Octave. Destitute Dead
Mother holding her sleeping Child in Winter.
1850. Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz. The
Cleveland Museum of Art. Oil on canvas. 25
March 2018.

Romantic era, to concern for the community in the Victorian era. “In the eighteenth century the

pivotal city of western civilization had been Paris; by the second half of the nineteenth century
 Flaherty 7

this center of influence had shifted to

London, a city that expanded from

about two million … to six and a half

million at the time of [Victoria’s] death.”

(Norton 533). Industrialization of

London lead to times of difficulty for

the lower classes. Concerning

conditions regarding working

conditions, child labor and poverty

were at the forefront of the societal

problems the working class of the

period faced. On the other hand,

London’s upper classes seemed to

become more removed, “dividing the

England of the rich from the other

Figure 6. Clark, W.M. Crystal Fountain in the transept looking north. The
Crystal Palace and its Contents. London, 1851, pp. 17. The Cleveland nation, the England of the poor.”
Museum of Art Collections Online. 25 March 2018.
(Norton 539). In 1851, London hosted

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in Hyde Park’s Crystal Palace 9see

fig. 6). According to the Cleveland Museum of Art

Today the Great Exhibition of 1851

has become a symbol of the Victorian Age…[and] remains a primary source and standard for

High Victorian design.”

Defining certain categories in education can make keeping vast and complex subjects

accessible to those with an interest in general knowledge, or for a casual observer; However, if
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a student’s aim is to become versed in a subject beyond general understanding – in this case,

to become acquainted with literature in a way that transcends time – the established method of

literary periodization can present hurdles. If literature is to be better appreciated and

understood, educational systems may have to implement some new strategies in classifying

literary works. History, as we know, is written by the victors. In tethering literature with history, a

huge swathe of work and talent will continue to be overlooked until it is all but forgotten.
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Works Cited
Reidhead, Julia, editor. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. 9th ed.,
vol. 2, W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.
Black, Joseph, editor. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise ed., 2nd ed., vol.
B, Broadview Press, 2013.Print.
Cleveland Museum of Art. “Collections Online.” Cleveland Museum of Art. Web. 25 March 2018.
Halsted J.B., “William Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballads.” Romanticism, Palgrave
Macmillan, 1972, pp. 72–73. SpringerLink, link.springer.com. Web. 25 March 2018.
Hayot, Eric. “Against Periodization; or, On Institutional Time.” New Literary History, vol. 42, no.
4, 2011, pp. 739–756., doi:10.1353/nlh.2011.0039. Web. 25 March 2018.
Underwood, Ted. “Historical Contrast and the Prestige of Literary Culture.” Why Literary Periods
Mattered: Historical Contrast and the Prestige of English Studies, Stanford University
Press, 2015, pp. 1–16, www.eiu.edu. Web. 25 March 2018.