Victorian Literature - Genres and Authors

Victorian Literature

British authors in the Victorian period privileged in particular prose novels, which aimed at educating and entertaining the readers. Charles Dickens is considered one of the main representatives of this genre, he is as a matter of fact particularly moved by the social issues that tormented the country at the time. Equally as popular was the naturalistic novel, that sprung up in France thanks to Emile Zola and in England thanks to Thomas Hardy. This novel was characterized by the typical pessimist and scientific view of life in addiction to the fact that existence, according to these authors, was determined by heredity, environment and historical background and influence.

Fiction and Poetry

The propeller of the "condition of England novels" was Thomas Carlyle, who published "Past and present" in which he commented on the negative effects of the rapid industrialization and raissex-faire system that according to him was the main cause and reason behind of issues such as inequality, tensions in the country and various divisions. Furthermore, later novelists abandoned faith in Christianity and introduced a new character: the non industrial worker. Poetry was mainly evolved by Tennyson, who had a strong interest in the development of the human mind, all his characters depicted as a matter of fact different types of the individual psychology.

Horror and Short Stories

The first traces of horror stories date back to Gothic novels and Frankenstein, they now take place in altering places that stress suspence. Events in these cases can be rational (we can always find a rational explanation to events that especially revolve around science-fiction) but also irrational (we can notice supernatural connotations as well, in novels like Dracula).
Short stories have always been part of the international literature, such as tales, anecdotes or parables. In the 19th century new elements of plot were introduces: not precise description of the social setting, begins with a climax and minimum number of characters.

Aestheticism

A literary and artistic movement that sprung up in England thanks to the theorist Walter Pater, who was influenced by Gautiers' motto "Art for art's sake" and his work "Mademoiselle de Maupin". This represents the cult of art, where life should be enjoyed and lived as a work of art filled with extreme emotions. However, art had a non didactic aim and was as a matter of fact described as "The first duty in life is to be as beautiful as possible".