Victorian Literature Overview

The Golden Age of the English Novel

• Victorian era: a period of contrasts (prosperity vs. poverty, morality vs. depravity, peace vs. protests)
• Influenced by Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901)
  • Era of rapid change (Industrial Revolution)
  • Influence on writers directly and indirectly

Growth of Prose Fiction

• Over 60,000 works published in Britain during Victoria's reign
  • Rise due to:
    • Spread of education
    • Emergence of middle classes
    • Availability of affordable reading materials
  • Increase in literacy led to a higher demand for literature
  • More than 7,000 authors emerged

Impact of the Industrial Revolution

• Advances in communication and railway network
  • Boost in print production and distribution
• Novels were initially published in three-volume format
  • Expensive for middle/working classes
  • Serialization made novels more affordable

Serialization and Popular Formats

• Novels serialized in installments
  • Authors like Dickens, Thackeray, Eliot used cliffhangers
  • "Penny Bloods" or "Penny Dreadfuls" offered sensational stories for a penny
• Cross-class appeal of fiction
  • Social reality depicted through various genres:
    • Social problem novels
    • Adventure tales
    • Science fiction
    • Detective fiction
    • Fantasy

Influence of Science and Technology

• Prince Albert's support for arts and sciences
  • Great Exhibition of 1851
• Rotary press invention enabled industrial scale printing
• Cheaper editions (yellowbacks, paper-bound) broadened audiences

Non-Fiction and Poetry

• Non-fiction works (philosophical, political) influential
• Victorian poetry developed distinct style
  • Focus on realism, skepticism, responsibility

Literary Hub: London

• City of London as a literature center
• Dickens' popularity and Queen Victoria's admiration

British Empire and Literature

• 19th-century imperial expansion
  • British Empire covered one-fifth of Earth's surface
  • Experiences of explorers and colonial administrators documented

Legacy of Victorian Writers

• Reflect enormous changes of the era
• Absorbed neoclassical and romantic traditions
• Set the stage for literary modernism