All Themes of Victorian Era Literature

Victorian Literate..Themes in Details..Very Useful and Amazing

1. Themes of Victorian poetry Presented by AILYA RAZA SHEEZA REHMEEN

2. Theme The underlying meaning of a literary work Central idea of a literary work The whole story revolve around the theme

3. Victorian age 1832-1900 It commenced in 1832, the year first reform bill was presented. It was the period of QUEEN VICTORIAN’S reign (1837-1901) It was the period of great literary expansion Victorian England was the period of grandeur and prosperity along with the expansion of wealth, poverty and culture.

4. Periods of Victorian Literature EARLY VICTORIANS (1830-1880); LATE VICTORIANS (1880-19 0) – fin de si è cle . Early Victorian Novel (1830-1880): Ch. Dickens, W. M. Thackeray, Ch., E., A. Bronte, G. Eliot, E. Gaskell Early Victorian Poetry (1830-1880): A. Tennyson, R. Browning, M. Arnold, A. H. Clough Late Victorian Novel (1880-1930): A. Ch. Swinburne, O. Wilde, T. Hardy, H. James Late Victorian Poetry/Drama (1880-19 0): O. Wilde

5. ICONIC THEMES OF VICTORIAN POETRY Realism Humanism Idealism Socialism Criticism Naturalism Glory of Past Modernism Philosophical ideas feminism Romanticism Intellectualism Pre-Raphaelitism

6. Realism The attempt to produce art and literature an accurate portrayal of reality. Realistic detailed descriptions of everyday life, and of its darker aspects. Themes in realistic writing included Families Religion Social reforms

7. Humanism Deals with Ordinary concerns of human life Tenderness of English life Emotions of everyday life Glory of soul through senses individually

8. Socialism Social aspects of contemporary life Social disintegration Life affected by industrialism Conflicts between upper and lower class Homeliness of middle and lower class

9. Criticism On social life of that time On contemporary industrialism On political situation On the ways of English thoughts On mid-century skeptical unrest Indirect criticism on slavery

10. Naturalism "A belief of Aesthetics” Events and actions are not resulted from human intentions but from the uncontrolled external forces Description of green pastures and still waters Man is corrupted by social institutions

11. Glory of the Past Culture and anarchy of the past Positive effects of Puritanism Propinquity with the Romantic Movement Religious and social ideas of past

12. Modernism Certain aspects of existence Life in industrial North Individuality and seniority of modern era

13. Philosophical Ideas Institutionism and utilitarianism were the two basic philosophies used in Victorian literature To deals with the serious moral issues of that time For example : religion , thoughts and above all social life

14. Feminism Wrote about their own emotions and inmost thoughts and feelings Love of a wife and mother Spiritual geography of hopes, fears and loves from a woman’s point of view

15. Romanticism Some of the Victorian literature influenced by Romantic movement Themes of love with nature revived Nature is a part of God Imaginations in fiction gained power again instead of Realism but for a short time

16. Intellectualism Geological discoveries Philosophical generalization Biological investigation

17. Pre-Raphaelitism School against the intellectualism of Victorian age “Science has nothing to do with art” Followed the Aesthetic movement “Art for art sake” Tractarian Movement “Science has nothing to do with religion”

18. Poets of Victorian literature Matthew Arnold Rudyard Kipling Emily Bronte Gerard Manley Hopkins Elizabeth Browning Christina Rossetti Robert Browning Oscar Wild

19. VICTORIAN POETRY Wrote on the themes Morality Believe in faith Poetry was a lucrative literary enterprise during the Victorian age, often selling as well as the best-selling fiction. Long narrative poem

20. 20 20 Victorian Poets A. Tennyson, the Brownings, M. Arnold Victorian poetry also developed in the shadow of Romanticism. Poets such as Rossetti and Swinburne mirrored the Romantics in their expression of intimate thoughts and personal emotions. Others, such as Arnold, adopted realistic approach Doubts and conflicts regarding the Victorian society, with the emphasis on science, progress and materialism at the expense of faith and spiritual sentiment preferring to write from a more objective point of view in order to comment on social and political issues.

21. 21 21 Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892) Early poems in the style of those of Keats, which delighted in the senses In The Princess, A Medley (1847) theme of equality of the sexes.. The first three books of poetry (1833, 1832, 1842) include Tennyson´s best work e.g. Mariana, “The Lady of Shalott ”, “Ulysses”,” Morte d´Arthur ”, “The Lotos -Eaters”. Later, new developments in scientific progress led him to contemplate on the changing world. For Tennyson, doubt was the basis of his inspiration. In, “In Memoriam” A.H.H. – a series of elegies (1833-1850), - comments on change and evolution and contemplates the question of man’s destiny and immortality in the age of new discoveries. Queen Victoria declared that she valued it next to the Bible. Despite Tennyson’s Romantic spirit, he was a Victorian who shared the fundamental ethos of the Victorian age. “Ulysses”(1833), illustrates the Victorian morality of self-control and self-discipline as a means to continue and succeedis about the great hero searching for life in spite of old age and coming death. “ Tithonus ” concerns the weariness of life on earth when all one wants to do is fade into the earth and no longer linger on. “The Two Voices” is a debate about whether or not to commit suicide. “The Idylls of the King” (1859-72) his popular series of poems on episodes from the legends of King Arthur. Tennyson - in constant protest against the individualism, which the Victorian era inherited from the Romantic period.

22. 22 22 Robert Browning (1812 – 1889) A ware that he was writing poetry in an age of science, of technology and prose. Interested in the study of human soul. From the very start he discussed in monologue, problems of life and conscience. His poem, “Pauline” was a fragment of personal confession. In “Paracelsus” (1835) he described the strange career of the Renaissance physician, in whom true science and charlatanism were combined. B‘s main literary inspiration - P.B.Shelley . His early long poem” Sordello “(1840) poem - the relationship between life and art - recognized as one of his most extraordinary and important works. Browning’s admiration for the’ subjective poet´ soon gave way to a desire for greater objectivity which led him to his ‘dramatic monologues ‘ MY LAST DUCHESS The dramatic monologue - Browning’s main achievement B’s mature poetry, portrays exciting controversial characters, some based on historical figures, some products of his imagination: Dramatic Romances and Lyrics ( 1845 ) , Men and Women (1855 ), Dramatis Personae ( 1864). Many poems consider the impending nature of death as a melancholy context to balance the joy of life. Examples are "Love Among the Ruins" and "A Toccata of Galuppi's ." Other poems find strength in the acceptance of death, like " Prospice ," "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," and "Rabbi Ben Ezra." Some poems – like "My Last Duchess," "Porphyria's Lover," " Caliban upon Setebos ," or "The Laboratory" – simply consider death as an ever-present punishment. Browning’s most ambitious work, the long narrative of a 17th-century murder story is” The Ring and the Book” (1868 - 69). The poem consists of 10 verse narratives, all dealing with the same crime, each from a different viewpoint. Based on an actual trial, the record of which Browning discovered in Florence. Browning´s fame rests on the volumes, published between 1842 and 1864, which contain his love poems and dramatic monologues.

23. 23 23 Elizabeth Barett-Browning (1806 – 1861) Began writing in old-fashioned form I influences : the Bible, the Greeks, Byron and Shelley. A n imitation of Coleridge in her impressions of the Middle Ages W rote many of her short poems for magazines, the most important contribution” The Cry of the Children” (1844) , a protest against the employment of children in factories. In 1845, Robert Browning met her, fell in love with her, and persuaded her to elope with him to Italy. She wrote 44 sonnets as the sonnets were deeply personal,wrote for her love R. Browning she decided to present them as translations, calling them “Sonnets from the Portuguese”. They were published in 1850 in the volume Poems. B. - a passionate supporter of Italian independence - in her work by “Casa Guidi Windows” (1851) “Aurora Leigh”(1857) deals with the themes of social responsibility and the position of women. Mrs. Browning's distrust of the theories of contemporary French socialists. She believed that in the kind of state envisioned by the radical socialists there would be no place for artists and poet ,this was the important theme used by her in her work

24. 24 Matthew Arnold (1822-88) Poet, prose writer, critic and educationalist wrote a series of essays on literary and social topics . constantly looked to the classics for symbols of permanence and stability. Arnold's use of nature is in "A Wish," in which the speaker's dying wish is to be placed by a window as he dies, so that he may look out at the beautiful landscape that will be there long after he is gone. In Dover Beach he remarks on the disparity between what faith used to be and what faith is now. Arnold’s turning to the past and his praise of classical writers reflect his dissatisfaction with the present. In "Bacchanalia,“ themes on the impact of the revolutions in industry and science was not comforting, and Arnold, like other Victorians sought refuge in faith. Other themes used by him were time , criticism on labor and classical mythology.

25. 25 25 Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Born in Bombay (India). 1872 – sent to Boarding school in England 1882-89 – worked as a journalist in India. 1888- Plain Tales from the Hills (short stories, Barrack-Room Ballads – poetry (1892), The Jungle Book (1894-95), Recessional (1897) Kim (1901), Just So Stories (1902) Kipling exalted English imperial power as a sacred duty „The white man´s burden“ The job of the whites and Anglo-Saxons -to carry progress and civilization to the wilds. It was a burden – it involved exile, personal sacrifice and dedication to an ideal of duty. Kipling became the first Englishman to recieve the Nobel Prize for Literature (1907). Lure of the East in “Mandalay”, Indian society was portrayed by him. In "Tommy", "Danny Deever ", "Boots", and "Gentlemen-Rankers" in particular, Kipling shows life at the front as monotonous, depressing, and full of toil for the poor soldiers

26. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson 1830-1886 Death is one of the foremost themes in Dickinson’s poetry. No two poems have exactly the same understanding of death. In “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” Dickinson investigates the physical process of dying. In “Behind Me dips – Eternity,” death is the normal state, life is but an interruption. Dickinson is fascinated and obsessed with the idea of truth, and with finding it in her poems. She knows that this is close to impossible—like “To fill a Gap” teaches, answering one question just leads to further questions. Dickinson wrote many poems dealing with fame and success. These poems almost always elucidate the negative sides of these ostensibly positive things. In “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” to gain fame one must advertise oneself, use one’s own nature. Her famous writings were “Some -- Work for Immortality --“ , "There came a Day at Summer's full“ , "I like a look of Agony" "A Light exists in Spring“ , "To fill a Gap“ and "The Bat is dun, with wrinkled Wings.