WHAT NEW TRENDS IN LITERATURE APPEARED IN

THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY&

 The second part of the 19th century is called the
Victorian Age and is characterized by adherence to
conventions in manners and intellectual outlook. On
the whole the literature had didactic and moral aims.
 Victorian literature reflected the social problems that
arose with industrialization of the country and
conflicts between science and religion that was
caused by Charles Robert Darwin’s “On the Origin
of Species by Natural Selection.
 In Victorian days there were two opposing points of view
on English political and social life.

One held that the British
institutions were perfect. The
writings of Thomas Babington
Macaulay supported the
optimistic view (“Critical and
Historical Essays”, “History of
England from the Accession of
James II”).
The other point of view on English life
urged reforms and their works they
undertook critical study of the
society.  John Ruskin wrote about the
conditions of English working class. He
is also known for his art criticism
“Modern Painters”. To Ruskin the
esthetic element was as important as the
moral element.
 Thus this period was mirrored in literature by the
appearance of a new trend, the Critical Realism. The
greatest novelists of the age are Charles Dickens, William
Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell.
These writers used the novel as a means to protest against
the evils in contemporary social and economic life and to
picture the world in a realistic way. Their greatness also lies
in their profound humanism. Their sympathy lies with the
ordinary people. They believed in the good qualities of the
human heart.
 These writers used the novel as a tool to protest
against the evils in contemporary social and
economic life and to picture the world in a
realistic way. They expressed deep sympathy for
the working people; described the unbearable
conditions of their life and work.
 Among the best realistic authors
belong two sisters – Emily Bronte,
the author of very popular novel
called Wuthering Heights, and
Charlotte Bronte, who wrote Jane
Eyre, also very famous novel. The
both sisters dealt with moral and
psychological problems. William
Makepeace Thackeray also represents
the Critical Realism. He wrote novels
especially against snobbery and
hypocrisy. In his best novels Vanity
Fair and The Book of Snobs he
shows very different characters.
 The list of authors writing in the
realistic period wouldn’t be
complete without Charles Dickens,
a master of showing the life of the
lower classes. He described truly
the life of poor people in England
in the 19th century. He himself
suffered in his childhood and his
bitter experience can be found in
his masterpieces like David
Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Little
Dorrit, The Posthumous Papers of
the Pickwick Club or Great
Expectations.
 Criticism in their works was very strong, so some scholars
called them Critical Realists, and the trend to which they
belonged — Critical Realism. 'Hard Times' by Charles
Dickens and 'Mary Barton' by Elizabeth Gaskell are the bright
examples of that literature, in which the Chartist movement is
described. The contribution of the writers belonging to the
trend of realism in world literature is enormous. They created
a broad picture of social life, exposed and attacked the vices
of the contemporary society, sided with the common people in
their passionate protest against unbearable exploitation, and
expressed their hopes for a better future.