Lecture Notes: Victorian Poetry

Introduction

• Lecture by Team GradeUp, focusing on important aspects of poetry in the context of British history.
• Recap of Victorian Age characteristics: Age of reform, democracy, and conditions leading to popular literary movements.

Key Movements and Terms

Victorian Compromise

• Coined by J.K. Chesterton.
• Represents hypocrisy and double standards: growth alongside poverty, women's poor conditions despite a female monarch.

Important Movements

• Oxford Movement (Tractarian Movement)
• Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (supported by John Ruskin)

Important Victorian Acts and Events

• First War of Independence (Revolt of 1857 in India)
• Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species"
• 1870: Education made available to all; led to dissatisfaction due to unemployment among educated youth.

Influences on Victorian Poetry

• Darwinism, Industrial Revolution, British Empire
• Medievalism, melancholia, crisis of faith
• Shift from poetry overshadowing prose in the Romantic period to novels overshadowing poetry in the Victorian age.

Key Literary Figures and Works

Early Poems and Influences

• Emily Bronte: Early poems known as Gondal poems.
• Influence of medievalism, melancholia, crisis of faith (Darwin’s theories)

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

• D.G. Rossetti: Works like "The White Ship"
• Also members: Christina Rossetti, William Morris, A.C. Swinburne
• Called "Fleshly School of Poets"

Coventry Patmore

• Known as "laureate of wedded love" for "Angel in the House."
• Sequel: "The Victories of Love"

Victorian Poetry Characteristics

• Use of sensory images
• Verbal embellishment
• Melancholic nature

Notable Poetic Forms

• Dramatic Monologue
• Epic Poetry
• Sonnets

Important Victorian Poets

Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Influenced by Keats (Cockney School of Poetry)
• Works: "The Lotus Eaters" (Spencerian stanza), "In Memoriam"

Robert Browning

• Known for dramatic monologues
• Autobiographical work: "Pauline"

Matthew Arnold

• Works include "Rugby Chapel" and "The Scholar Gypsy"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• "Sonnets from the Portuguese"
• Influenced Browning with "Lady Giraldine’s Courtship"

Closing Notes

• Victorian poetry is vast with many influences and features.
• Remember to focus on the three forms: dramatic monologues, epics, and sonnets for the study.