Concetti Chiave
- The Victorian age marked the rise of the novel, driven by advancements in printing and distribution.
- Women played a significant role as both readers and writers, finding freedom of expression in literature.
- Several literary movements emerged, including Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Aestheticism, and Decadentism.
- The era can be divided into three phases: early, middle, and late Victorian age, each with distinct characteristics.
- Prominent writers include Dickens, Thackeray, Kipling, Wilde, and Stevenson, each exploring different aspects of society and human nature.
Literature in the Victorian Age
The Victorian age is the period of the reign of Queen Victoria. This period saw the spread of the novel, thanks to the improvements in printing and distribution of books. Novels were mainly published instalments (more episodes of the same series), so writers could change the plot following the public’s taste; that’s why this novels are usually long and plots are sometimes difficult, incoherent, melodramatic and with no deep analysis of characters.
Women, especially women from the middle-class, were great readers but even great writers, because they found in writing a way to freely express themselves. The middle-class wanted to improve its education but even to have fun, and the novel was perfect for that: it could have an educational aim but was even easy to approach, and reading became a ritual in the average middle-class family.
During the Victorian age there were several literary movements: later Romanticism, Realism (reality is reproduced in a faithful way), Naturalism (reality is approached in a scientific way; an example is Stevenson’s “Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), aestheticism (art for art’s sake: the perfect example is Oscar Wilde), Decadentism (Thomas Hardy).
The Victorian age can be divided into three phases:
- Earlier Victorian age, when writers strictly identified with the period;
- Middle Victorian age, that is a period of transition to new elements;
- Later Victorian age, when there is a sense of dissatisfaction that led to modernism.
There were several famous writers during the Victoria age: Dickens, who painted the lower middle class; Thackeray, who painted the upper middle class; Kipling, who described the imperialistic world; Wilde and Stevenson, who dealt with the dualism in human personality.
Alfred Tennyson is the most popular poet of the age for the beauty of his poetry and sentimental idealism; he wrote a collection of “Poems” and “Ulysses”, and was elevated to the rank of Lord for literary merits; he wanted to be a prophet, so his poetry reveals a teaching purpose.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali sono le caratteristiche principali dei romanzi dell'età vittoriana?
- Quali ruoli hanno avuto le donne nella letteratura dell'età vittoriana?
- Chi sono alcuni degli scrittori più famosi dell'età vittoriana e quali temi hanno trattato?
I romanzi dell'età vittoriana erano spesso pubblicati a puntate, permettendo agli scrittori di adattare la trama ai gusti del pubblico. Erano generalmente lunghi, con trame complesse e talvolta incoerenti, melodrammatiche e con poca analisi profonda dei personaggi.
Le donne, specialmente quelle della classe media, erano sia grandi lettrici che scrittrici, trovando nella scrittura un modo per esprimersi liberamente. La lettura divenne un rituale nelle famiglie della classe media, combinando scopi educativi e di intrattenimento.
Tra gli scrittori famosi dell'età vittoriana ci sono Dickens, che ha descritto la classe media inferiore; Thackeray, che ha dipinto la classe media superiore; Kipling, che ha descritto il mondo imperialista; Wilde e Stevenson, che hanno esplorato il dualismo nella personalità umana.
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