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Slide 64

Slide 68
THE RENAISSANCE – 1500-1650
 It is considered to be the division between the
Middle age and Modern era. The Tudor Dynasty
 The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)  In 1485, a powerful nobleman named Henry
 The Renaissance Literature: Tudor defeated the King Richard III in the Battle
 'Old classics rediscovered’ of Bosworth Field, bringing to an end a strife
 Sonnet between noble families that last almost a century.
 Elegy Henry Tudor, the King Henry VII He was
 Pastoral declared the new king and given the tittle of Henry
VII.
Slide 65  He then established the powerful Tudor Dynasty,
an absolute monarchy which would rule Britain
The Renaissance (Etymology) for over 100 years. It made possible the flowering
 The word “Renaissance” is a French word which of England as a European political power and as a
means “rebirth”. center of literacy culture.
 The term was used to refer to the rebirth of
learning caused by the discovery of hundreds of Slide 69
Greek and Latin manuscripts which had been lost
during the Middle Ages. THE PRINTING PRESS
 Such texts made it possible for the artists of the  William Caxton was the person who introduced
Renaissance period to create a hole new vision of printing in England. Before that, the books were
themselves. written out in longhand, what meant a very slow
jog.
Slide 66  With the printing, it was possible to produce
books in large numbers and in a short amount of
OVERVIEW time. That way, more people could learn to read
 The Renaissance was a cultural movement that and write.
started in Italy and spread all over Europe. It is  The oral tradition began to loose power, both in
considered to be the division between the Middle literature and in the Church affairs.
Ages and the Modern era.  The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, printed in
 The thinkers of this period, also called 1473
“humanists”, believed that the man should be the
subject of study, and not God, as the Church had Slide 70
taught during the medieval period.
 Based on that, they began to investigate fields such Humanism
as astronomy, anatomy, science and many others  The new conception that the man had of himself
which had never been given much attention encouraged the in various art styles: painting,
literature, dance... Leonardo DaVinci and
Slide 67 Michaelangelo were the most notable, for their
accuracy on representing the human anatomy and
The Renaissance in England applying the laws of perspective to make their
works more realistic
 Tough it took many years for the “Modern”
England to arise, even when it had established
itself, many aspects of the medieval culture still Slide 71
remained side-by-side to the new order.
Nonetheless, two events in special stand out as a Adventure
signal that things were indeed changing in the  The spirit of adventure also reigned in more
British Isles: - The raise of the Tudor Dynasty and practical matters: for example, the explorers such
The Printing Press as Columbus and Cabral who ventured across the
open sea to discover the new world of the was published in 1611 and is considered a
Americas. masterpiece of English prose.

Slide 72 Slide 75

Thomas More: (1480-1535) William Shakespeare: (1564-1616)


 Thomas More was is considered one of the  William is considered the greatest of all English
greatest of all English humanists, mainly for the authors; his texts and plays are known worldwide
book “Utopia”, written in Latin, in which were and are updated constantly.
about an imaginary island where everything is  Though few is known about his life, he was born
perfect. Utopia means “nowhere” in Greek; in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon and went to
Thomas new clearly that such an island could London when still young.
never exist. This dream of a place where happiness  In 1611 - at the age of 47 - his plays already made
reigns and sorrow is banished is the most success on the stages, so he retired to his native
persistent of human fantasies and became a town.
recurrent theme in many other British literature  Between the many plays and poems he wrote:
works. Romeo and Juliet,
 A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet
Slide 73
Slide 76
Thomas More: (1480-1535)
 Though he was recognized as a very important Macbeth
contributor for the humanism, he was later in  MACBETH: Wherefore was that cry?
1535, beheaded for refusing to support his king’s  SEYTON: The queen, my lord, is dead.
( Henry VIII ) decision to break away from the  MACBETH: She should have died hereafter;
Catholic Church. In 1935, four hundred years after There would have been a time for such a word.
his death, he was canonized as a “patron saint of To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
politics for fighting against the English Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the
Reformation. last syllable of recorded time, And all our
yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty
Slide 74 death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking
shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his
The Reformation hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it
 Henry VIII wanted to divorce his queen in order is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
to marry Anne Boleyn. Besides the pope refusal, Signifying nothing.
he divorced anyway and married Anne. He also
confiscated all Church property and proclaimed Slide 77
himself head of a new religion: Anglicanism. This
was one in a series of other “reforms” in Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Christianity which changed the religious scenario  Macbeth’s speech reveals the astonishing
of Europe. quickness of Shakespeare’s mind, capable of
 This reformists Christians were called Protestants; expressing the strongest emotions and the deepest
they believed that God’s Word should be found philosophical questions in a series of complex
only in the Bible, instead of in the metaphors. Shakespeare’s knowledge of the
pronouncements made by popes in bishops. So human heart and his skill in expressing the heart’s
they undertook to translate the Bible from Latin mysteries are the bases of his genius. Macbeth
to various other languages, so that it was available compares life to a candle, then to a shadow, to an
to everyone. In 1604, King James I ordered forty- actor and finally to a story; this rapid shifting of
seven scholars to produce a translation of the metaphors is very characteristic of Shakespeare’s
Bible to serve as the official one of the work.
Anglicanism, the so-called “King James Bible”. It
Slide 78  Age of poetry

Some Significant Literary work in this period: Slide 82


The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)
 Romeo and Juliet CULTURAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
 When I was Fair and Young INFLUENCES
 Utopia  A. The Age of Reason or Enlightenment (1650-
 The faerie Queen 1800)
 Definition: A movement in Europe that spread to
Slide 79 America that advocated the use of reason and
individualism instead of tradition and established
Famous Author during this period: doctrine.
The Renaissance Period (1485-1660 CE)  Believed that systematic thinking might be applied
to all areas of human activity
 William Shakespeare  It was an attitude rather than a shared set of
 Sir Thomas More beliefs.
 Queen Elizabeth I 
 Edmund Spencer
Slide 83
Slide 80
CAUSES
Civil War and Revolution  a. England: King Charles I was beheaded ,
 Aristocrats (Landowners) Supported Anglicanism Puritans ruled under Cromwell-rough time, went
Supported the strong monarchy of King Charles I back to monarchy.
vs. Commoners (Merchants) Supported  b. Reaction against excesses or extremes of people
Puritanism Supported the Parliament to restrict of faith such as Puritans
the king’s power  c. Language of mathematics, scientific method,
 The war ended in 1649. The victory of the scientific development (Sir Isaac Newton)
Parliament. The execution of the King. Britain was  d. “If people operated by reason, the world would
ruled no more by monarchy, but by a radical be smoother and perfect.”
military dictatorship: the Commonwealth.  e. religion of Enlightenment:
 he Commonwealth was extremely strict, so the  1. Deism: god created the world and left
British asked for the dead king’s son to return
from exile in France. He became King Charles II Slide 84
Both him and his successor, king James II believed
in an absolute monarchy. The middle class didn’t GUIDING BELIEFS
accept that. The Parliament deposed King James  AGE OF REASON OR ENLIGHTENMENT:
II in 1688. The middle class had come to power to Science, scientific method, reason, systematic
stay. thinking, individualism (self reliance), moral
perfection
Slide 81  GOD ------ SCIENCE
Slide 85
LATER PERIOD OF LITERATURE
 THE RESTORATION & 18TH CENTURY – RATIONALIST WORLDVIEW
1650-1789  People arrived at truth by using reason rather than
 The Enlightenment Period (1660 BCE – 1790) by relying on the authority of the past, on religion,
 Referred to as The Age of Reason. or on non-rational mental processes like intuition.
 Era of Logic  People are basically good and perfectible
 Age of enlightenment  Human history is marked by progress toward a
 Rise of the novel & journalism more perfect existence
 Age of satire
 “Man was born free , and he is everywhere in  2. God chooses to reveal himself at a particular
chains. One man thinks himself the masters of times to particular people
others, but remains more of a slave than they.” –  3. Stressed humanity’s evil ways/ tendencies
Jean Jacques Rousseau  4. The best way to worship God is to go to
church/ read the Bible
Slide 86  5. Writing is private

GUIDING BELIEFS Slide 89


 Neoclassicism: Turning back to Greek and Roman
texts and ideals such as Democracy, the perfect KEY VOCABULARY
citizen, justice, liberty, equality, and representative  1. ALMANAC – a publication containing
government. astronomical and meteorological data for a given
 Deism: god created the world and then left; god is year and often including a miscellany of other
like a watchmaker – creates and leaves it because information.
it can run by itself; God is God who follows  2. ANECDOTE – a short account of a particular
reason incident or event, especially of an interesting or
amusing nature
Slide 87  3. AUTOBIOGRAPHY – the biography of a
person narrated by himself or herself . “bio”
IMPORTANT EVENTS THAT IMPACTED means life, “graphy” means “writing or
LITERATURE representation of”.
 Rise of scientific language and information – Sir  4. APHORISM – terse form of a truth or a
Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica sentiment
 Revolutionary War: people had to write texts like  5. ANTITHESIS – using strongly contrasting
the Declaration of Independence, Speech to the words, images or ideas
Second Virginia Convention, and the Crisis to Slide 90
communicate and educate colonists and Britain
about war and the just causes for it. KEY VOCABULARY
 Establishment of American printing presses and  6. ANAPHORA – repetition of a word/phrase at
influence of newspapers – propaganda and spread the beginning of successive clauses or verses
of important documents (Declaration)  7. ALLUSION – reference to a well-known work
 8.HYPERBOLE- exaggeration or overstatement
Slide 88  9. REPETITION – restating an idea using the
same words
HOW HAS THE PENDULUM SHIFTED?  10. RESTATEMENT – repeating an idea in a
PURITANS variety ways
 1. God created the world and left it to work on its Slide 91
own
2. God made it possible for all people at all times to RHETORIC AND RHETORICAL QUESTION
discover natural laws through their God-given power RHETORICAL QUESTION
of reason RHETORIC
 3. Stressed the goodness and orderliness of the  Asked merely for effect with no answer expected
universe: each individual, through reason is
perfectible  The art of speaking or writing effectively
 4. The best way to worship is to do good for others  The study of principles and rules of composition
/ create a better society formulated by critics of ancient times;
 5. Writing is a public  The study of writing or speaking as a means of
communication or persuasion
RATIONALIST
Slide 92
 1. God takes an active role in the workings of the
universe.
THREE TYPES OF APPEAL
 1. EMOTIONAL APPEAL (PATHOS): To Slide 96
reader’s feelings
 2. LOGICAL APPEAL ( LOGOS): appeal to AUTHORS AND WORKS
logic to show an argument is correct  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN – The Autobiography
 3. ETHICAL APPEAL (ETHOS): to show an of B.F. and Poor Richard’s Almanac
argument is just or fair  (Aphorisms)
 PATRICK HENRY – Speech to the Second
Slide 93 Virginia Convention
 THOMAS JEFFERSON – The Declaration of
PARALLELISM Independence
 The use of a series of words, phrases, or sentences  THOMAS PAINE – The Crisis, Common Sense
that have similar grammatical form.
 It emphasizes items that are arranged in a similar Slide 97
structures.
 Parallel structure means using the same pattern of Some Significant Literary work in this period:
words to show that two or more ideas have the The Enlightenment Period (1660 – 1790)
same level of importance. This can happen at the  All for love
word, phrase, or clause level.  The Rake of the Lock
 The usual way to join parallel structures is with the  Rights of Man
use of coordinating conjunctions such as “and” or  Elegy written in a Churchyard
“or”
Slide 98
Slide 94
Famous Author during this period: The
PARALLELISM EXAMPLES Enlightenment Period (1660 – 1790)
 With the –ing form (gerund) of words:
 Parallel: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and  John Dryden
bicycling  Alexander Pope
 With Infinitive phrases:
 Thomas Paine
 Parallel: Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a
 Thomas Gray
bicycle. or Mary likes to hike, swim and to ride a
bicycle.
 (Nota Bene: You can use “to” before all the verbs Slide 99
in a sentence or only before the first one)

Slide 95 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790)


 Inventor, Scientist, Statesman, Printer,
PARALLELISM: CLAUSES Philosopher, Musician and Economist
 A parallel structure that begins with clauses must  What we remember him for: - American Dream
keep on with clauses. Changing to another pattern and Humor
or changing the voice of the verb (from active to  Some favorite quotes:
passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism.  Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but
 Example: Not Parallel: The coach told the players death and taxes
that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should  Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days
not eat too much, and to do some warm-up  Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and
exercises before the game. half-shut afterwards.
 Parallel: The coach told the players that they
should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat Slide 100
too much, and that they should do some warm-up
exercises before the game.
PATRICK HENRY (1736-1799)  Inspired by untamed nature & the exotic far
 Born in Virginia, USA east
 Elected to Virginia Houses of Burgess in 1765  Folk traditions & medieval tales of knights
 Lawyer and a gifted speaker  Gothic novels
 Vehemently opposed British authority
 First post-colonial Governor of Virginia from Slide 116
1776-1779
 Famous for his line: “Give me liberty or give me A Time of Opposition
death!”  The Romantic Period was a time of reaction
 After his speech- less than 1 month later April against the aristocratic social and political norms
19, 1775, the Revolutionary War began. of the Age of Enlightenment.
 It was also a movement that opposed the
Slide 101 scientific rationalization of nature.
 The literature, music, and other arts of the time
THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809) became avenues for individual expression and
 Migrated to British Colonies when he was 37 speaking out. In England, many literary thinkers
 Wrote the 48 page pamphlet: Common Sense in wanted the opportunity to establish a
1775-76 harmonious social structure in the face of a
 Published CS anonymously and sold 500,000 rapidly changing society.
copies in the first year
 Donated all of his royalties to George Slide 117
Washington’s army
 He was buried in New York, but his body was A little History
disinterred (dig up something that has been  The Industrial Revolution, began 1760
buried, especially a corpse).  – New inventions meant mass production of
 Its whereabouts are unknown goods could be produced more efficiently
 – Rural workers in cottage businesses and
Slide 114 agriculture had little choice but to seek work in
factories, mills, and mines
Popular Types of literature during this period:  – Women and children worked to help support
The Enlightenment Period (1660 – 1790) the family– Cities became centers of “poverty
 The chief products of the Revolutionary period and deprivation”(Oosthoek)
are mostly nonfiction:  – Building new physical and commercial
 Essay infrastructure took priority over the individual
 Melodrama  and nature
 Letters
 Fables Slide 118
 Documents
 Writing of a practical, persuasive nature A Little History
 The American and French Revolutions, 1776 and
Slide 115 1789
 – public meetings, to prevent an uprising
THE ROMANTIC PERIOD – 1789 – 1837 (Norton)
 Great Age for the Novel  – During the revolution, thousands people were
 Emphasize on Emotion, Imagination and killed in France, and fighting extended to
Individualism neighboring countries, there was widespread
 Use of everyday language political and social instability
 Imagination essential
 Overflowing emotions common
 – It was during the French Revolution that  – Encouraged people to follow their interests
Romantics clarified their opposition to the and limited state involvement in economic
Enlightenment age activity
 – Motivated by the desire to take political  – Communal land was taken over by
power from the land-owning aristocracy, with individuals, resulting in a large number of
the goal of liberty, fraternity, and equality for all displaced people– The gap widened between
men the very wealthy and the very poor,
 – Loss of the American colonies caused a loss of  – Working conditions were terrible, with long
prestige as well as economic loss for England hours, low wages, and child labor exploitation
 – England’s literary thinkers saw revolution as in factories, mills, and mines
an opportunity to establish a better social  – Rapidly growing towns became polluted and
structure overpopulated, disease was rampant
 – English conservatives feared the French  Frustrated with the current political and social
Revolution ideals might spill over to England, so situation, Romantic poets responded with
repressive measures were initiated, including a poetry that was private, spontaneous and
ban on collective bargaining and public lyrical – a shift from earlier formal and more
meetings William Blake and Samuel Taylor public poetry.
Coleridge were among those who saw the
French Revolution as fulfillment of apocalyptic Slide 121
prophecy.
New Themes
Slide 119  Emotion and the individual experience
 – A new emphasis on the subjective human
A Little History experience, with emotion, passion, and feeling,
 The Napoleonic Wars– Napoleon was initially the scientific and objective experience of the
considered a liberator, a symbol of change, and Enlightenment is rejected
several Romantic writers were in support of  – Romantic poetry is intimate, individual, and
revolution original, concerned with truth of the heart -
 Many saw the rise of Napoleon as a previous poetry was written for the public
revolutionary figure and bringer of a new  – Romantics saw the individual human
freedom, others saw the violent excesses of the experience as influenced by their social setting
French Revolution and Napoleonic War as signs and their time in history
of the apocalypse  “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
 Romantics became less enthusiastic over the powerful feelings” -William Wordsworth, from
course of the Napoleonic wars with Napoleon’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads
increasing cruelty and aggressive imperialism
 It wasn’t until after 1815, when Napoleon was Slide 122
defeated at Waterloo, that England started
addressing social problems New Themes
 As a result of revolutions and war, there is an  The awesomeness of nature
undercurrent of tragedy, death and despair in  – By studying nature, men hoped to better
much of the later Romantic literature. understand the world and mankind
 – Writers of the Romantic Era had an increased
Slide 120 interest in nature as a positive influence in an
uncertain world
A Little History  – Many writers avoided the industrial scene of
 England’s laissez-faire(let it be) philosophy the cities, turning to nature to escape the trials
of an unstable economy and political systems
 – Nature was seen as powerful, awesome, and  – He co-wrote Lyrical Ballads with Wordsworth,
sometimes horrifying which many say marked the literary beginning
 – Experiencing nature was believed to inspire of the Romantic Period
human creativity and free the spirit  – Coleridge had an alcohol and opium addiction,
and his poetry often expressed emotions
Slide 123 associated with sin
 – Using everyday language he often created
New Themes strange or dream-like imagery
 Creativity and imagination  – Unlike other writers of the Romantic era, he
 – Romanticism rejected the Enlightenment retained his religion and most of his beliefs
period’s ideals of rules of order  – Coleridge was accused of plagiarism
 – It was a time of reaction and self-expression in  – Best known for his long and narrative
all the arts poetry…like “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
 – Poetry in particular became a tool for self
expression, often using subjects that were not Slide 127
believable
 – Imagination was believed to be the power
behind creativity – a human version of God’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner lines 68-82
power to create  And a good south wind sprung up behind;The
 – Imagination was needed to cope with (and Albatross did follow,And every day, for food or
escape from) the political, economic and social play,Came to the mariners hollo!In mist or cloud,
problems during this time on mast or shroud,It perched for vespers
nine;Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke
white,Glimmered the white Moon-shine.God
Slide 124
save thee, ancient Mariner!From the fiends, that
plague thee thus!—Why lookst thou so?—With
Some Significant Literary work in this period: my cross-bowI shot the Albatross.-Samuel Taylor
The Romantic Period (1790 – 1830) ColeridgeA crop of Gustave Doré’s illustration
 I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud for TheRime of the Ancient Mariner (1876
 Kubla Khan edition)by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
 Song of Innocence and of Experience
 Mathilda Slide 128

Slide 125
Romantic Era Writers
Famous Author during this period:  William Blake, 1757-1827
The Romantic Period (1790 – 1830)  – Blake was a painter and engraver
 – He used Christian symbols but didn’t ascribe
to Christian theology
 William Wordsworth
 – He was a radical and non-conformist, his
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge
artwork and poetry reflected his belief that
 William Blake
“ideal forms should be constructed not from
 Mary Shelley
observations of nature but from inner visions”
(American Academy of Poets)
Slide 126  – Believed poetry could be read and understood
by common people(American Academy of
Poets)
Romantic Era Writers
 – “I must create my own system or be enslaved
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772-1934
by another man’s” He rejected the ideals of the
 – Smart and enthusiastic as a child
past and found his own way of doing things
 Songs of Innocence and Experience are fellow-creatures as if I had been guilty of a
collections of Blake’s poetry that contrasts the crime. Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I
blossoming of the human spirit when it is perceived that I had become; the energy of my
allowed to befree with it’s withering when purpose alone sustained me: my labors would
constrained by rules. soon end, and I believed that exercise and
amusement would then drive away incipient
Slide 130 disease; and I promised myself both of these
when my creation should be complete.

Romantic Era Writers Slide 132


 Mary Shelley, 1797-185
 – Born to radical and influential parents: Mary Romantic Era Writers
Wollstonecraft who was a feminist writer, and  Percy Blythe Shelley, 1792-1822
William Godwin who was an atheist and  – Came from a strong conservative family, yet
former minister loved freedom
 – She married Percey Blythe Shelley, they  – He was bullied in school and said he “saw the
eloped after Percey abandons his wife petty tyranny of schoolmasters and
 – Strongly influenced by events of the French schoolmates as representative of man’s
Revolution inhumanity to man, and dedicated his life to a
 – In 1818 her book Frankenstein was published war against injustice and oppression” (Norton)
anonymously, the book was written in a  – Published several political pamphlets in
response to a dream and discussion about a support of Ireland’s independence, and a
ghost story contest pamphlet “The Necessity of Atheism”, believing
 Mary Shelley uses contrasting elements in that religion was an instrument of oppression
Frankenstein that mirror the experience of life  – Believed language can be used to create and
in Europe at her time in history: justice and protect moral and civil law.
injustice, light and dark, nature and nurture…
Slide 133
Slide 131
A Defense of Poetry, written by Percey Blythe Shelley
in 1821
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley  “Sorrow, terror, anguish, despair itself are often
 Final paragraph chapter 4: the chosen expressions of an approximation to the
 Winter, spring, and summer passed away highest good. Our sympathy in tragic fiction
during my labors; but I did not watch the depends on this principle; tragedy delights by
blossom or the expanding leaves--sights which affording a shadow of the pleasure which exists in
before always yielded me supreme delight--so pain. This is the source also of the melancholy
which is inseparable from the sweetest melody.
deeply was I engrossed in my occupation. The
The pleasure that is in sorrow is sweeter than the
leaves of that year had withered before my pleasure of pleasure itself.”
work drew near to a close; and now every day  -Percy Blythe Shelley
showed me more plainly how well I had
succeeded. But my enthusiasm was checked by Slide 134
my anxiety, and I appeared rather like one
doomed by slavery to toil in the mines, or any
other unwholesome trade, than an artist Romantic Era Writers
occupied by his favorite employment. Every  Lord Byron, 1788-1824
night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I  – Byron was a nobleman by birth, spoiled by his
became nervous to a most painful degree; the mother
fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my
 – He was born with a foot deformity causing a  During the Victorian age, Britain was the worlds
limp and self-consciousness, but he was also his most powerful nation. By the end of Victoria’s
own best promoter reign, the British empire extended over about
 – A “Byronic Hero” – a flawed but idealized one-fifth of the earths surface. Like Elizabethan
character, who is rebellious, avoids society, England, Victorian England saw great expansion
seductive, arrogant, much like Lord Byron and of wealth, power, and culture. But as Victorian
the character in several of his writings England was a time of great ambition and
 – He had trouble exercising moderation, with grandeur, it was also a time of misery, squalor,
exercise, food, money, and women (maybe men and urban ugliness.
also)
 – He was an advocate for social reform, seeing Slide 139
industrial machines as producing inferior goods
and taking away jobs The Growth of the British Empire
 – A master at using metaphor, his best known  England grew to become the greatest nation on
work might be Don Juan, which related to the earth
social, ideological and political issues of the  Empire included Canada, Australia, New
Romantic Era Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa,
Kenya, and India
Slide 136  England built a very large navy and merchant
fleet (for trade and colonization)
THE VICTORIAN AGE – 1837-1901  Imported raw materials such as cotton and silk
and exported finished goods to countries
 Transition period around the world
 Melancholic and political poetry  By the mid-1800s, England was the largest
 The Reign of Queen Victoria. exporter and importer of goods in the world. It
 The literature of this Era expressed the fusion of was the primary manufacturer of goods and the
pure romance to gross realism. wealthiest country in the world
 Because of England’s success, they felt it was
Slide 137 their duty to bring English values, laws,
customs, and religion to the “savage” races
WHAT IS VICTORIAN LITERATURE? around the world
 Victorian literature refers to the literary works
written during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837- Slide 140
1901).
 It was the transition between the Romantic The Industrial Revolution
period and 20th century literature.  It started at the end of the eighteenth century,
 It can be divided into two periods: High when theoretical knowledge and practical
Victorian literature (1830-1870) and Late technology were connected. Scientific ideas were
Victorian literature (1870-1901) applied to the making of machines that
transformed the way things were made and
Slide 138 dramatically changed people’s lifestyles. A
formerly agricultural nation was now based on
The Victorian Age urban and industrial growth. But as industry grew,
 “The Victorian” era of British history was the it was accompanied by a rapid increase in the
period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 until numbers of the urban working-class poor.
her death in 1901. It was a long period of peace, Workers in the cities lived in miserable conditions.
prosperity, refined culture, great advancements in Urban squalor and misery were signs of a massive
technology, and national self-confidence for change in the English society.
Britain.  The Age of Steam
 Mass Production
striking as his singularity, an instance of the
Slide 141 effect of Evangelicalism and Romanticism on an
only child.
The Impact of the Industrial Revolutions  e. John Henry Newman: The master of Victorian
 I. The Emergence of Over crowded Cities One Non-Fictional prose
result of the advance of technology was the  (1801-90)
unprecedented growth of cities. People, in search
of work left the country side to work in factories VICTORIAN THINKERS
in the different cities of Britain. They had to live
in very dirty and unhealthy conditions. There were  f. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): Applied
too many workers and not enough houses. People Darwinism to human society: as in nature, survival
were living like animals. Diseases raged, hunger, properly belongs to the fittest, those most able to
poverty, and deprivation prevailed, crime survive. Social Darwinism was used by many
accelerated, and misery increased. Victorians to justify social inequalities based on
 II. Child Labor Children were expected to help to race, social or economic class, or gender
support their families. They often worked long  g. Adam Smith - 18th century economist, held
hours in dangerous jobs and in difficult that the best government economic policy was
situations for very little wages. For example, to leave the market alone—to follow a laissez
there were the climbing boys employed by the faire or “let it be” policy of little or no gov’t
chimney sweeps, the little children who could intervention
scramble under the moving machinery to
retrieve the cotton fluff; boys and girls working Slide 145
down the coal mines, crawling through tunnels
too narrow and low to take an adult. The Role of Women
 The Woman Question
Slide 142  Changing conditions of women’s work created
by the Industrial Revolution
 The Factory Acts (1802-78) – regulations of the
Victorian Thinkers conditions of labor in mines and factories
 a. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)-philosopher who  The Custody Act (1839) – gave a mother the
created two ideas: right to petition the court for access to her
 Utilitarianism: the object of moral action was to minor children and custody of children under
bring about the greatest good for the greatest seven and later sixteen.
amount of people  The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act –
 Liberalism: governments had the right to established a civil divorce court
restrict the actions of individuals only when  Married Women’s Property Acts
those actions harmed others, and that society
should use its collective resources to provide for Slide 146
the basic welfare of others. Also encouraged
equal rights for women.
Working Conditions for Women
Victorian Thinkers  Bad working conditions and underemployment
 b. Charles Lyell (1797-1875): Showed that drove thousands of women into prostitution.
geological features on Earth had developed  The only occupation at which an unmarried
continuously and slowly over immense periods of middle-class woman could earn a living and
time
maintain some claim to gentility was that of a
 c. Charles Darwin (1809-1882): Introduced the
governess.
survival of the fittest theory
 d. John Ruskin: The most Romantic prose of the
Victorian (1819-1900). Ruskin’s greatness is as
Slide 147  Hard work and strong virtue are always
romanticized and rewarded, and poor behavior
Gender and Sexuality is punished at the end.
 The New Woman of the 1880s and 1890s  Literary works are full of passion and
 – Smoking, swearing, riding a bike, debating in characters are often tempted by evil, but they
public, wearing men’s clothing, refusing show restraint against wild emotions (as
marriage opposed during the romantic period)
 – A figure of greater sexual, social, and
economic independence
 • 1890s: women experience greater access to Slide 151
education, employment, political and legal
rights, and civic visibility. 1880s the term Literacy, Publication, and Reading
“homosexual” enters the English language  By the end of the century, literacy was almost
 – Until this time, no real conception of universal.
homosexuality as an identity  Compulsory national education required to the
 – Homosexual acts between men were illegal age of ten.
and punishable by death until 1861; Labouchere  Due to technological advances, an explosion of
Amendment of 1885 mandates imprisonment things to read, including newspapers,
for any man found guilty of a sexual act with periodicals, and books.
another man.  Growth of the periodical
 Novels and short fiction were published in
Slide 148 serial form.
 The reading public expected literature to
Gender and Sexuality illuminate social problems.
 The term “lesbian” emerges in the 1890s, but do
not suffer the same persecution as gay men Slide 152
 – Rationale: women unmotivated by sexual
desire, intense, passionate “friendships” seen VICTORIAN LITERATURE
as innocent GENRES
 End result: feminized male characters (the  NOVELS – dominant literary form; “social
dandy, the aesthete, the fop) and masculinized problem novel” and “domestic novel”
female characters (the New Woman) in  POETRY – influenced by Romantic Period;
literature. drama monologue – a lyric poem in the voice of
a speaker who is not a poet.
Slide 149  DRAMA – frivolous, romantic, witty; mocked
contemporary values (satirical)
Common Themes  NON-FICTION – essays, criticism, history,
 Critique of Industralization biography, newspapers and magazines. – “The
 Critique of the deterioration of the rural Age of Periodicals” and “The Age of Reading”
lifestyle  GOTHIC AND SUPERNATURAL LITERATURE
 Celebration of the past (including chivalry)  CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
 Conflicts between classes
 Women´s rights Slide 153

Slide 150 NOVEL


 Was the dominant genre during the Victorian
Morality period
 Most works were written to teach moral lessons  High Victorian novels tended to be edifying
to readers. moral stories that portraited difficult lives, and
where hard work, love and perseverance were  The sisters published their works under the
always rewarded. male pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Ashton Bell,
 Late Victorian novels were more complex, as as it was common practice for female writers
they reflected an inner struggle to conquer the that wanted to be taken more seriously.
flaws of human nature through effort and  Their novels include some unconventional
virtue. themes for this era, such as violence, a deep
 desire for freedom, a wilderness of spirit,
feminism and even the supernatural.
Slide 154  Their work was considered controversial but
they eventually achieved the success they
DIVISION OF NOVEL deserved.
 A. EARLY-VICTORIAN NOVEL (or social-  Some of their works: Charlotte: Jane Eyre
problem novel) dealing with social and  Emily: Wuthering Heights
humanitarian themes  Anne: The Tennant of Wildfell Hall
 realism, criticism of social evils but faith in
progress, general optimism Slide 157
 The main representative was CHARLES
DICKENS.
 B. MID-VICTORIAN NOVEL (novel of purpose) Some Novelists
showing Romantic and Gothic elements and a  William Makepeace Thackeray began as a
psychological interest. The main representative parodist and satirist but later started to write
writers were the BRONTË sisters and ROBERT novels with a very strong satiric component.
LOUIS STEVENSON.  He enjoyed great success during his lifetime
 C. LATE- VICTORIAN NOVEL (naturalistic novel but today his best known work is Vanity Fair.
near to European Naturalism) showing a  In it, he satirizes British society of the 19th
scientific look at human life, objectivity of century, although it is set during the
observation, dissatisfaction with Victorian Napoleonic Wars.
values. The main representative writers were  There have been several film adaptations of
THOMAS HARDY and OSCAR WILDE. this novel and it is still one of the best loved

Slide 155 Slide 158


POETRY
Some Novelists  The most famous poet of the Victorian period
 Charles Dickens is probably the most widely read was Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
author from this time.  His poetry mostly re-told classical myths,
 His novels achieved immense popularity during although it also covers religious dilemmas and
his lifetime and there were even spin-offs and scientific discoveries.
merchandise made of them.  Although he experimented with metric, he
 Most novels criticized society and represented mostly followed a strict pattern, a reflection of
its poorest, but in line with the literature of the the formality of the era.
era, there was a very strong moral element to  Husband and wife Robert and Elizabeth Barrett
the tales. Browning enjoyed great popularity because of
their love poems to each other.
Slide 156  Elizabeth Barrett was already a successful
author before she met her husband, and was
For the first time, Women Were Major Writers: also an involved activist in social issues.
 Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are the most  Her prolific work made her a rival to Tennyson
original novelists of this period. as a candidate for poet laureate in 1850 after
the death of Wordsworth.
 The plot usually takes place in monasteries,
Slide 159 castles and cemeteries.
 They were hugely popular but panned by critics.
POETRY
 There was also a group of writers and artists, the Slide 163
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, of which Dante
Gabriel Rossetti and his sister Christina were part. Children‘s literature
 Their aim was to replace the academic  The Victorian period was the first one in history
approach to art with the more natural approach where children were targeted as readers.
taken before the Italian Renaissance. Several  This was a consequence of the evolution of
writers joined this movement, echoing a social attitudes towards childhood.
simpler, less formal approach to literature.  Literature became a popular way to teach
 The Rossettis are the greatest poets of this children lessons and morals. They were only
movement. rarely enjoyable works.
Slide 160  Later, when reading for pleasure became
Theater socially accepted, folk and fairy-tale
 Theater became an extremely popular form of compilations became very popular There were
entertainment for all social classes during this era different types of publications written for boys
and Queen Victoria promoted it. and girls. Girls stories were domestic and focus
 Plays usually had a strong comedic element, on family life whereas boys focus on heroism.
both high and low, and the plots were full of
mistaken identities, coincidences and Slide 164
mistimings.
 Oscar Wilde was the leading dramatist of the Some Significant Literary work in this period:
late Victorian period and his comic masterpiece The Victorian Period (1832 – 1901)
The Importance of Being Earnest is a satiric  The Pickwick Papers
reflection of the time.  How do I love Thee
 Ulysses
Slide 161 Slide 165

Nonfiction Famous Author during this period: The Victorian


 The Victorian era was a period of great scientific Period (1832 – 1901)
discovery and the Victorians tried to describe and  Charles Dicken
classify the world they lived in.  Elizabeth Browning
 Among others, Charles Darwin with On the  Alfred Lord Tennison
Origin of Species, Friedrich Engels with his
Condition of the Working Classes in England and Slide 166
John Stuart Mill with his philosophical works,
changed the way the Victorians thought about Victorian literature today
themselves and about the world.  Many view it with skepticism because of the
stereotypes of the era: current readers may see it
Slide 162 as prudish, rigid and excessively formal.
 However, many contemporary authors
Supernatural and Gothic literature criticized these same trends, and there were
 Gothic literature combines romance and horror in many brilliant works that were considered
attempt to thrill and terrify the reader. unconventional even then.
 Possible features in a gothic novel are monsters,  Those works have passed the test of time and
ghosts, curses, hidden rooms, mad women in are today considered masterpieces of classic
the attic and witchcraft. literature.

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