英国文学史维多利亚时期文学背景及特点

1、The Victorian Age (1832-1902) Objectives1. To have the basic knowledge about the brief history of the Victorian Period.2. To know something about the critical realist 3. To be familiar with Charles Dickens writing styles and major contribution to English literature.Historical Background - began with

2、 the passage of the Reform Bill in 1832 and closed at the end of the Boer War in 1902. Victoria age: Victoria ； the queen Victorias accession in 1837 and her death in 1901. She ruled for 63 years, the longest in English history. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in t

3、he English history. Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603) and Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The English people were proud of two queens in their history: Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603) and Queen Victoria (1819-1901). There are similarities between the two queens. First, both queens were on the throne for a long pe

4、riod of time, Queen Elizabeth being on the throne for over forty years (1558-1603) and Queen Victoria more than 60 years (1837-1901). Secondly, during their long reigns England developed rapidly both politically and economically. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, capitalism first took its shape,

5、and the small island country defeated the strong naval power Spain in 1588. During the long reign of Queen Victoria, England grew the workshop of the world as well as its financial and political center. Thirdly, during their reigns, literature flourished. In the age of Queen Elizabeth drama flourish

6、ed and with it there was the greatest dramatist William Shakespeare. whereas in the age of Queen Victoria, novel flourished and with it a galaxy of brilliant novelists appeared on the literary scene. The Victorian age can be roughly divided into three periods the early period 1832-1854, a time of so

7、cial unrest; the middle period 1855-1879, a period of economic prosperity and religious controversy; the last period 1880-1901, a period of decay of Victorian values. It can be divided into 2 periods: - Early Victoria Period （1832-1868） - Late Victoria Period （1869-1902）the first fourteen years were

8、 filled with unrest, alarm and misery, and they contrasted with the growing prosperity and general good feeling of the succeeding twenty-two years when England, having committed herself to industrialism and free trade, because for a theme the workshop of the world 一一 Political 1 Reform 2 Chartist Mo

9、vement (1838-48)The Progress of Reform great changges in administration leadership/ financial policyWhig Toriesemancipation of slaves (dominions)effect other areas The impetus of refom A series of laws ;child Labour in factories in 1833 Factory Act ( 1833) Poor Law Amendment Act (1834 )The repeal of

10、 the Corn Laws in 1846 Ten Hours Act in 1847 The Reform Bill of 1832 extended the right to vote to all men owning property worth ten pounds or more. This bill extended the right to vote to the industrial capitalists and the lower middle class, but not the workers (they had to wait until 1867 when a

11、second Reform Bill was passed) The second accomplishment of the Reform Bill was to eliminate the “rotten boroughs” and gave the vacant seats to the industrial cities. This Bill broke the monopoly in Parliament of the conservative landowners and ended the long reign of the Tory party which had been i

12、n power almost continuously from 1783 to 1830. The Whig party, which represented the interests of the industrial capitalists and businessmen, came into power. With the introduction of the steam engine, it was possible for the capitalists to hire unskilled workers, such as women and children. Many sk

13、illed workers were unemployed, and what made the situations worse was the enforcement of the Corn Laws, which forbade importing any grain from foreign countries when the price of wheat dropped to a certain price; this measure kept wheat at a high price in the interests of the landed class. In 1845 s

14、erious crop failures in England and the potato blight in Ireland kept the price of bread still higher. Under the economic policy of Laissez faire (a policy based on the Utilitarian philosophy) which asserted that the function of private property and not to interfere with the economic operation of th

15、e country, the capitalists did not feel they were responsible for the poverty of the working people. In order to demand their own rights, the working people launched large-scale demonstrations. They put forward their political demands in the form of a Charter and organized meetings to collect signat

16、ures. In the 1830s and 1840s the country was threatened by social unrest. The Chartist Movement reached its peak in 1838, 1842, and 1848.Chartist Movement The major contradition in the political arena became more definite between labour and capital. The workers for social justice and a better life F

17、or want of possessing votes and leadership,a unified purpose and fundsThe Movement Fizzled Out Reson: 1 Toomas Carlyle 2 Hungry Forties threantig cloud Ruling classes two fears; pestilence and rising mobThough it failed, Chartism signifified the first great political movement of proletariat(无产阶级） in

18、 English history. 二二 Economic An age of prosperity and progress the richest and most powerful; the 1st urban and industrial society in the world; The development of science and technology: railways, telegraphs, journalism; 三三 Culturally 97% people able to read by 1900; cheaper paper; faster printing

19、; easier circulation; more working readers demanding cheap literature:Victorian novels are characterized by the common features below:1. The plot is unfolded against a social background which is broader than what it had been in previous novels. The plot draws materials from society and relates them

20、in such a way that the Victorian novels reflect the complexity of human relations in a capitalist society and reveal the writers attitudes towards the society.2. The cause-effect sequence is much more striking than in previous novels. Generally speaking, a motive or a set of circumstances gives rise

21、 to an event which produces an effect on a character, and through the mechanics of internal causation, it gives rise to another event which in turns becomes another cause. And all this is centred around the central character. This kind of development of plot is called “linear causation,” which makes

22、 the Victorian novels better constructed than previous ones. 3. Most of the Victorian novels were first published in serial form, that is, by instalment, before they were fully published in a single book. They first appeared in pamphlets, periodicals, or newspapers. This was true of Charles Dickens

23、works and William Thackerays Vanity Fair. The serial form may be detrimental to the plot, as Henry James (1843-1916) characterized the works of Dickens as “large loose baggy monsters.”However, this was not necessarily so. The later novels of Dickens were well constructed. Like an actor or public spe

24、aker, the Victorian writers had a sense, during the process of their writing, of how their readers would respond to their works. They had to meet the challenge that was put to the writers to hold the interest of the readers in every issue and had to provide them delight and entertainment.4. The Vict

25、orian novels were tainted by the spirit of Puritanism of the Victorian age. The Victorian capitalists were notorious for their hypocrisy. Though cruelly exploiting the working class and living luxuriously themselves with little care for the miseries of the poor, they preached that the key to success

26、 was that they were sober, earnest, hard working, and that they abstained from worldly pleasures. Their Puritan standard of sexual behaviour was very strict. Women should be kept innocent, i.e., ignorant. Their Puritan code had much bearings on the literature. For whenever sexual matter was touched,

27、 Victorian writers would try every means to keep away from it. It was especially so since novels were commonly read in family gathering and it was necessary not to include in the novel what might cause embarrassment to the ladies.5. The Victorian novels were characterized by their moral purpose. Man

28、y writers wrote novels with a purpose to edify readers and to bring about reforms. Of course, this was no new thing in English literature. But the Victorian writers, living in an age when there were striking differences between the rich and the poor and when the evils of the capitalist society were

29、so conspicuous, invariably criticized certain aspects of the society and advocated their remedy. Some Chinese scholars called them critical realistic novelists, an epithet or label too vague to be applied to such a variety of writers.Literarily poetry Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): poet laureate Robert Brow