Concetti Chiave
- Victorian literature was closely connected with its audience, largely due to the expanding middle class who were enthusiastic readers.
- Literary works, including novels, were initially published in instalments in periodicals, requiring authors to keep each segment engaging to maintain readership.
- The novel was the dominant literary form, serving both as entertainment and a medium for social critique, reflecting societal changes from the Industrial Revolution.
- Victorian novels often highlighted social issues such as poor working conditions and child exploitation, emphasizing a social responsibility among authors.
- Didacticism was a key characteristic, with omniscient narrators guiding moral judgments and concluding with retribution, often set in cities symbolizing industrial civilization.
What is Victorian literature and its audience?
During the Victorian Age, there was a communion of interests and opinions between writers and their readers.
One reason of this close relationship was the enormous growth of the middle class, who were avid consumers of literature.
Victorian literature was first published in this form: essays, verse and even novels made their appearance in instalments in the pages of periodicals; because of that, the writer was obliged to maintain the interest of his story at certain levels, because one boring instalments would cause the public not to buy that periodical any more.
The role of the novel
The Novel was the most popular form of literature and the main form of entertainment; the novel was realistic and analytical, but also social and critical.
It also had a social responsibility: it should reflect the social changes created by the Industrial Revolution or by the growth of towns.
Novelists were aware of the evils of their society, such as terrible conditions of manual workers and the exploitation of children.
Didacticism and narrative style
The Victorian novelists conceived literature also as a vehicle to correct vices and weaknesses of the age, in fact didacticism is one of the main features of their work.
There was an omniscient narrator, which commented the plot and erected a barrier between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
In the final chapter there were the retribution and the punishment.
The setting chosen by most Victorian novelists was the city, which was the main symbol of industrial civilisation and the expression of anonymous lives and lost identities.
Usually the characters were created and there was a deep analysis of the character’s inner life.
Domande da interrogazione
- What was the relationship between Victorian writers and their readers?
- How did Victorian novelists use didacticism in their works?
During the Victorian Age, there was a close relationship between writers and their readers, largely due to the growth of the middle class, who were avid consumers of literature. This connection was strengthened by the publication of literature in instalments in periodicals, which required writers to maintain the interest of their audience consistently.
Victorian novelists used literature as a means to correct societal vices and weaknesses, with didacticism being a key feature of their work. They employed an omniscient narrator to comment on the plot and distinguish between 'right' and 'wrong,' often culminating in retribution and punishment in the final chapters. The city was a common setting, symbolizing industrial civilization and the anonymity of urban life.
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