Concetti Chiave
- The Victorian era was divided into three periods: early (industries, reform, conflicts), mid (prosperity, middle-class growth), and late (decline due to contradictions).
- Britain pioneered the industrial revolution, leading to social issues like women's and children's exploitation, social inequality, and urban slums.
- The novel emerged as a prominent genre to reflect middle-class life, with Charles Dickens addressing themes like children's conditions and industrialization's dark side.
- Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" introduced natural selection, influencing societal attitudes and ideologies like Imperialism and Utilitarianism.
- Emily Dickinson's poetry, shaped by her Calvinistic background, explored themes of death, nature, and solitude with a distinctive style using symbols and varied punctuation.
Le tre fasi dell'età vittoriana
In the Age of This Age had 3 period:
• The early victorian period (1832- 1848) with industries, reform and conflicts.
• The mid-victorian period (1848-1870) with prosperity and the growth of the middle-class.
• The late victorian period 1870-1901) with a decline due to the contradictions.
Britain was also the first Nation to begin the industrial revolution with many side effects on the landscape and the people: slavery of women and children, social gap, Imperialism, migration and slums/workhouses.
To talk about this complexity of the society and the time was created the novel which was referred to the middle class. In was a realistic and social genre. Main themes were the children’s condition, workers and the dark side of industrialization (C. Dickens)
With the publication of “On the Origin of Species” by Darwin in 1859, the thought of natural selection influenced also the society and the behavior toward the others (Imperialism, Colonialism, Utilitarianism)
Charles Dickens(1812-1870)
Hard Times- themes
- Reason/ lack of imagination (Thomas Gradgrind and Bitzer)
- Utilitarianism: what is useful is also good (FACTS)
- Imagination as an enemy (Sissy Jupe)
- Corrupted city (Coketown)
La città di Coketown
The city of Coketown offers nothing that is not severely workful. The “triumph of facts” is the main focus of Dickens criticism. In the city the people see their life wasted due to the repetition of meaningless action. Also, the landscape represents this lack of imagination.
Emily Dickinson
She was born in Boston from a Calvinistic family so her believes were “work, prey and don’t commit sin”. However, religion for her was a private matter due to her readings of Emerson’s poems. She wrote an enormous number of poems in her period of segregation after her father’s death in addition to the previous 681 poems (almost 1200 poems totals). She wrote about death, religion, nature, solitude, love, but never about war. Her way of writing was various with influences from German and the use of riddles, nursery rhymes, symbols, dushes, exclamation marks…
Wild Nights! Wild Nights!
In this poem Dickinson seems to celebrate love in its yearning and its consummation. The poet condenses her thoughts in a few images associated with the sea, using an extended metaphor. She associates the stormy sea with tumultuous passion and to suggest the love is worth embracing even though it takes courage to take on such a troublesome voyage. In the end, the journey might lead to a taste of heaven on earth.
Dreams - are well- but Waking’s better
In this poem Emily Dickinson talks about the reality as something that is better than the dreams only in the morning, when the sun is rising and the day is beginning. However, we use to wake up in the darkest hours of the day so it is better to dream about beautiful and imaging thing rather than see the reality and the day that is dying.
Domande da interrogazione
- What were the key characteristics of the early Victorian period?
- How did Charles Dickens address the social issues of his time in his works?
- How did Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" influence Victorian society?
- What themes did Emily Dickinson explore in her poetry, and how did her background influence her work?
The early Victorian period (1832-1848) was marked by industrialization, reform, and conflicts. It was a time when Britain led the industrial revolution, which had significant impacts on the landscape and society, including issues like the exploitation of women and children, social inequality, and the rise of slums and workhouses.
Charles Dickens used the novel as a medium to explore the complexities of Victorian society, focusing on themes such as the condition of children, workers, and the negative aspects of industrialization. In "Hard Times," he criticized the lack of imagination and the utilitarian mindset, exemplified by characters like Thomas Gradgrind and the depiction of the corrupted city of Coketown.
The publication of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" in 1859 introduced the concept of natural selection, which influenced societal behaviors and ideologies such as Imperialism, Colonialism, and Utilitarianism. It challenged existing beliefs and contributed to the intellectual and cultural shifts of the mid-Victorian period.
Emily Dickinson, influenced by her Calvinistic upbringing and readings of Emerson, wrote extensively about themes like death, religion, nature, solitude, and love. Her poetry often employed riddles, symbols, and varied punctuation. Despite her religious background, she viewed religion as a private matter and did not write about war, focusing instead on personal and existential themes.
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