The Victorian Period (1837

The Victorian Period (1837–1901)

🌹 The Victorian Period (1837–1901)

The Victorian Period in English literature corresponds to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). It is marked by rapid industrial growth, social reform, scientific progress, and moral seriousness, along with deep anxieties about class conflict, faith, and modernity.

📜 Historical Background

Reign of Queen Victoria
Industrial Revolution → urbanization & class divide
Expansion of the British Empire
Growth of middle class
Scientific discoveries (Darwin’s Theory of Evolution)
Religious doubt vs faith

📅 Why Is It Called the Victorian Age?

Named after Queen Victoria, who ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901
Longest reign in British history (till that time)
Symbol of:
- Moral seriousness
- Stability
- Imperial confidence

👉 Exam Line:

The age is named after Queen Victoria because her reign shaped the social, political, and moral character of the period.

🏛️ Political Background of the Victorian Age

1️⃣ Constitutional Monarchy

Britain functioned as a constitutional monarchy
Real power lay with Parliament, not the monarch
Two major parties:
- Whigs (Liberals) – supported reform
- Tories (Conservatives) – supported tradition

📌 Exam Note:

Victorian politics emphasized gradual reform, not revolution.

2️⃣ Reform Acts (VERY IMPORTANT)

These Acts expanded democracy step by step.

Reform Act of 1832
- Extended voting rights to middle class
Second Reform Act of 1867
- Gave vote to urban working class
Third Reform Act of 1884
- Extended franchise to rural workers

👉 Impact on Literature:

Writers focused on common people, not just aristocracy
Rise of social realism in novels

3️⃣ Industrial Revolution & Capitalism

Rapid growth of factories, railways, machines
Creation of two major classes:
- Industrial bourgeoisie (owners)
- Working class (laborers)

📌 Social Problems:

Child labor
Poor housing
Long working hours
Urban poverty

👉 Literary Reflection:

Dickens, Gaskell, Hardy exposed industrial evils

4️⃣ British Imperialism

Britain became the largest empire in the world
Colonies in:
- India
- Africa
- Australia
- Canada

📌 Belief in “White Man’s Burden” and civilizing mission

🎯 Major Characteristics of Victorian Literature

Realism over romance
Focus on social problems (poverty, child labor, women’s rights)
Strong moral and ethical concerns
Conflict between science and religion
Psychological depth in characters
Literature as a tool for social reform

📚 Major Literary Forms

1️⃣ Novel (Dominant Genre)

Victorian age is often called “The Age of the Novel.”

Themes:

Social injustice
Class struggle
Industrial life
Morality and reform

Major Novelists & Works:

Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Great Expectations
George Eliot – Middlemarch
Thomas Hardy – Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure
Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre
Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights

2️⃣ Poetry

Victorian poetry reflects intellectual doubt, loss of faith, and inner conflict.

Major Poets:

Alfred Tennyson – In Memoriam, Ulysses
Robert Browning – Dramatic Monologues (My Last Duchess)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Sonnets from the Portuguese
Matthew Arnold – Dover Beach

3️⃣ Prose & Essays

Used to discuss religion, science, politics, and society.

Thomas Carlyle – Past and Present
John Ruskin – Unto This Last
J.S. Mill – On Liberty

👩 Women Writers of the Victorian Age

Rise of female novelists
Focus on women’s education, marriage, identity

Examples:

Charlotte Brontë
Emily Brontë
George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans)

⚖️ Victorian Compromise

A key concept:

Victorian literature balances moral idealism with harsh social reality.

📝 Key Terms for Exams

Industrialism
Utilitarianism
Dramatic Monologue
Realism
Social Reform Novel
Victorian Compromise

📌 Why the Victorian Period is Important

Foundation of the modern English novel
Literature as a mirror of society
Bridge between Romanticism and Modernism

🔖 One-Line Exam Note

The Victorian Age is characterized by realism, moral seriousness, and concern with social reform.

📚 Victorian Period: Important Writers & Works

🖋️ Major Novelists

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist (1837–39)
David Copperfield (1849–50)
Bleak House (1852–53)
Hard Times (1854)
Great Expectations (1861)

William Makepeace Thackeray

Vanity Fair (1847–48)

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

Adam Bede (1859)
The Mill on the Floss (1860)
Middlemarch (1871–72)

Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre (1847)
Villette (1853)

Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights (1847)

Anne Brontë

Agnes Grey (1847)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)

Thomas Hardy (Late Victorian)

Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891)
Jude the Obscure (1895)

🧠 Major Poets

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850)
Idylls of the King
Ulysses
The Lady of Shalott

Robert Browning

My Last Duchess
Fra Lippo Lippi
The Ring and the Book

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnets from the Portuguese
Aurora Leigh

Matthew Arnold

Dover Beach
The Scholar-Gipsy
Thyrsis

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The Blessed Damozel

Christina Rossetti

Goblin Market

✍️ Prose Writers & Essayists

Thomas Carlyle

Sartor Resartus
Past and Present

John Ruskin

Unto This Last
The Stones of Venice

John Stuart Mill

On Liberty
The Subjection of Women

Matthew Arnold (Criticism)

Culture and Anarchy
The Function of Criticism at the Present Time

🧪 Science & Thought

Charles Darwin

On the Origin of Species (1859)

👩‍🎓 Women Writers

George Eliot – Middlemarch
Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre
Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Aurora Leigh
Christina Rossetti – Goblin Market

📘 Victorian Period (1837–1901): 20 Imp MCQs

1. The Victorian Age is named after

A) Queen Anne
B) Queen Elizabeth I
C) Queen Victoria
D) King Edward VII

✅ Answer: C

2. The reign of Queen Victoria lasted from

A) 1800–1850
B) 1820–1870
C) 1837–1901
D) 1848–1900

✅ Answer: C

3. Which political system operated in Victorian England?

A) Absolute Monarchy
B) Military Rule
C) Constitutional Monarchy
D) Theocracy

✅ Answer: C

4. Which Reform Act first extended voting rights to the middle class?

A) Reform Act 1867
B) Reform Act 1884
C) Reform Act 1832
D) Reform Act 1918

✅ Answer: C

5. The Second Reform Act was passed in

A) 1832
B) 1848
C) 1867
D) 1884

✅ Answer: C

6. Victorian Age is often called the

A) Age of Drama
B) Age of Lyric
C) Age of the Novel
D) Age of Romance

✅ Answer: C

7. Which novelist is most associated with social reform in the Victorian period?

A) Jane Austen
B) Charles Dickens
C) Walter Scott
D) Joseph Conrad

✅ Answer: B

**8. Hard Times is a critique of**

A) Romantic love
B) Utilitarian education
C) Religious dogma
D) Feudalism

✅ Answer: B

9. Who introduced the Dramatic Monologue as a major poetic form?

A) Tennyson
B) Arnold
C) Robert Browning
D) Rossetti

✅ Answer: C

**10. In Memoriam A.H.H. deals primarily with**

A) Political reform
B) Love and marriage
C) Faith and doubt
D) Imperial expansion

✅ Answer: C

11. The concept of “Victorian Compromise” refers to

A) Political treaty
B) Balance between idealism and reality
C) Religious tolerance
D) Imperial diplomacy

✅ Answer: B

**12. Who wrote Middlemarch?**

A) Charlotte Brontë
B) George Eliot
C) Thomas Hardy
D) Elizabeth Gaskell

✅ Answer: B

**13. Wuthering Heights was written by**

A) Anne Brontë
B) Charlotte Brontë
C) Emily Brontë
D) George Eliot

✅ Answer: C

14. Which scientific work caused a crisis of faith in the Victorian Age?

A) Principia Mathematica
B) The Wealth of Nations
C) On the Origin of Species
D) The Descent of Man

✅ Answer: C

15. Who propounded the theory of evolution?

A) Herbert Spencer
B) Charles Darwin
C) J.S. Mill
D) T.H. Huxley

✅ Answer: B

16. Utilitarianism is associated with

A) Ruskin and Carlyle
B) Bentham and J.S. Mill
C) Arnold and Tennyson
D) Darwin and Huxley

✅ Answer: B

**17. Dover Beach reflects**

A) Imperial pride
B) Romantic optimism
C) Loss of faith
D) Medieval nostalgia

✅ Answer: C

18. Which writer strongly criticized industrial capitalism?

A) John Ruskin
B) Matthew Arnold
C) Robert Browning
D) Oscar Wilde

✅ Answer: A

19. Thomas Hardy is often described as a

A) Romantic idealist
B) Victorian optimist
C) Transitional figure toward Modernism
D) Pure realist only

✅ Answer: C

20. Victorian literature primarily aimed at

A) Entertainment only
B) Aesthetic pleasure
C) Moral and social reform
D) Escapism

✅ Answer: C

U NET : NET SET PHD EXAM

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