ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

--- CONTENT ---
Victorian literature is understood as that produced in the United Kingdom and its colonies during the reign of Victoria (1837-1901). The so-called Victorian era is an important cultural stage in the history of England and Europe. It is the great moment of England, and although it does not have the bright splendor of the isabelin and Jacobin period - the death of Lord Byron points to the sunset of a heroic age - it presents, on the other hand, a mixed coherence, an organized tenacity in all fields of human activity, and shows a determined will to transform the world and the forces of nature for the well-being and service of man.

The essential characteristics of that time are: an indisputable concern for decency, with the consequent rise in moral level; a growing interest in social improvements and the awakening of a strong humanitarian spirit; a certain satisfaction derived from increased wealth, national prosperity and immense industrial and scientific development; awareness of the right, and an extraordinary sense of duty; undisputable acceptance of authority and orthodoxy; a remarkable lack of humor. The Victorian era is a time of political and social transformation, religious concerns, firm moral disorder, the rapid expansion of English trade and the culmination of the Industrial Revolution.

In general, British literature, unlike French, consists primarily of individuals and not of schools.

In literature, Victoria's long reign is one of the most glorious in English history. The Victorian era covers practically from Romanticism to the end of the century, and literally represents a change of style in a realistic sense. The border date between Romanticism and the Victorian era is 1832. In fact, Victoria did not ascend to the throne until 1837, but by then most of the great writers of the first third of the century, whom we could call "late Georgians," had been mute: in 1832 Walter Scott died; Keats, Shelley, Byron and Hazlitt no longer existed; Coleridge and Lamb were coming to the end of their days, and Wordsworth, although he would still live for quite a few years, had already written the best of his production. Similarly, Southey, Campbell, Moore, Jeffrey, Sydney Smith, De Quincey, Miss Edgeworth, Miss Mitford, Leigh Hunt, Brougham and Samuel Rogers still lived, but the essential part of their works was already done. The main authors who belong equally to the Georgian and Victorian epoch are Landor, Bulwer, Marryat, Hallam, Milman and Disraeli; none of whom, with the exception of the latter, approach the highest level in either epoch. At the same time, the first volumes of Tennyson, the future poet laureate representative of Victorian poetry, appeared. Although Romanticism was in fact continuing, its creative energy was exhausted, and literature was looking for other