The Victorian Age

Victoria became queen at the age of 18 (1837); she was

graceful and self-assured.
In 1840 she married a German prince, Albert of Saxe-Coburg.
They had 9 children and their modest family life was a model of
respectability.

POSITIVE ASPECTS NEGATIVE ASPECTS

OF THE AGE: OF THE AGE:
Industrial Revolution Pollution
Technological Advances Extreme exploitation
Economical progress Slums
 THE RISE OF THE NOVEL

The Victorians were avid consumers of literature.

At the beginning, novels appeared in instalments on the pages of
periodicals.
There was an ominscient narrator.
The favourite setting was the town.
Characters were deeply analysed in their inner lives.
 VICTORIAN WRITERS:
CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870)
Unhappy childhood.
He became a newspaper reporter and wrote articles about London.
Most famous novels:
-Oliver Twist
-David Copperfield
-Little Dorrit
-Bleak house
-Hard times
-Great expectations
His characters come from lower classes.
Favourite themes:family, childhood, poverty.
Style: rich in descriptions and analysis of characters.
 THE DARK SIDE OF MAN

Horror stories and detective These stories underlined the

stories had great success in contrast between modern
the Victorian Age. science and magic
superstition.
Horror stories explained the fear of regression to savage impulses
and desires.

Detective stories were very popular for 2 reasons:

1) People were very interested in crimes

2) People were very interested in rational explanations
 VICTORIAN WRITERS:
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON (1850-1894)

Scottish writer.
Suffered from tubercolosis.
Most famous novels:
-Treasure Island (pirate story)
-Kidnapped
-The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886):
Elements of theGothic novel and the
crime story.
Theme of the double personality: problem of evil within man.
Style: combination of realism and symbolism; psychological
realism;
shift of the narrative point of view; 3 narrators: the omniscient
narrator, Dr. Lanyon (a friend of Dr. Jekyll), Dr. Jekyll
himself.
 VICTORIAN WRITERS:
BRAM STOKER (1847-1912)

He was born in Dublin, Ireland.

Had a large family.
He was a Civil Servant but
his passion was theatre.

Most famous novel:

-Dracula (1897) (Gothic novel, horror story)
May be read as a metaphor of the cracks of the Victorian society.
The fear of invasion by foreign monsters is the fear of reversion to
a primitive or sub-human state.
Dracula (like Mr. Hyde) is a projection of the Victorian Age's fear of
Its less clear aspects. Those aspects had been removed at an official
level by the Victorian compromise.