Introduction
Victorian Novel is marked with a shift from the novel of adventures to the novel for life. As the name suggests, Victorian Novel denotes to the novels and novel writers that appeared in the Victorian Era, an era that is known for the dynamic rule of Queen Victoria. The Victorian Era in history began from 1837 to 1901 but in literature, it began in 1832 as a shift from romantic poetry because the mature poets of the romantic era (1800 - 1828) met an uncertain death and no quotable literary genius was produced between 1820 to 1830. It was the political and industrial revolution that sparked a whole new level of creativity in Novelists. Let's explore the political and social background of the Victorian Era to get ourselves acquainted with changes taking place in that epoch.
Political Background
As mentioned above, the Victorian Era directed towards a new direction for politics. There took many political reforms that increased the power of the Merchant Class while the collapse of the Feudal Class was gradually on the horizon. The political revolution began when in 1832, a bill was approved that allowed the merchant class to grant the right to vote. In 1846, Corn Law appeared that reduced the artificially high price of grains, thus making bread, much affordable. More noticeable political achievements were attained through the National Education Act of 1852 and reform bills of 1867 and 1888. All these political reforms affected the lives of the common people.
Social Background
Victorian Era, like Elizabethan Era, witnessed scientific and social development but on a massive scale. It was an age of industrialization in which more opportunities to earn a livelihood was opened in the urban areas while rural areas had to change themselves significantly. Darwin's theory of Evolution recked religion significantly. Meanwhile, the discovery of the Solar System and Universe made people realized that they were not the only one who were superior beings as there were (and still are) chances for the other intelligent life on other planets in a different solar system. People questioned when two plus two makes four, why one god? It filled people with pessimism and a sudden change in morals was observed. But people like John Ruskin marched ahead for spiritualism. While the Oxford Movement tried to test Old Testament on scientific rules.
Manifestly, a host of writers took to the art of writing novels and they can be divided into three major categories:
- Pre Victorians
- Early Victorians
- Later Victorians
Before discussing at length about the writers of this era, let's discover the basic features of Victorian Novel
Basic Features
The basic features of Victorian Novel are explained below:
Expansion of Novel
As education became reachable to more people, their outlook on life was diversified. Similarly, the political and social growth expanded the subject matter of novels from being a genre of adventure to the inclusion of more democratic characters, themes; more realistic picture of the society and voyages and discoveries of new islands etc. was introduced in the novel. The new outlook of the people added new possibilities for more new genres in Novel.
Increasing Number of Novelists
Novel-Reading grew exponentially during the Victorian Era because of the more educated public as well as an easy and cost-effective access to libraries. Sometimes, libraries moved on a cart to deliver a book on a person's doorstep at the cost of a few pennies. Such growth proved a beneficial opportunity for the people who could not attain their livelihood after education could just become a writer. So, a large number of people became authors. Their construction eclipsed poetry in a way poetry eclipsed novel in the Romantic age.
Popularity of Social Novel or Novel of Manners
Social Novel is a novel that highlights the social issues of a particular age or ages. This genre of novel grew popular among Victorians. Benjamin Disraeli was the first person who wrote on the very subject. He published Vivian Gray in 1826, critiqued politics of his time and favoured church and Jews.
Pre-Victorian Novels
Pre Victorian Novelists levelled the plainfield for the early Victorian Novelists through their work. Some honourable mentions may include Verbal Little for his historical novels and novel of crime; Miss George for her Silver Fork which is a novel showcasing the life of aristocratic people; Peasse Hagen portrayed the lives of the people belonging to the lower class; Benjamin was seen critiquing political problems of that era; William H. J. was famous for his historical and romantic novels while a navy captain wrote about the naval life. In short, the Pre-Victorian Novelists had offered a variety of subjects for the Early Victorians to work on.
Early Victorian Period
The Early Victorian era proved very fruitful for the growth of novel as more and more people were tempted to adopt novel reading as their habit. It seemed as if a novel could be written on almost every subject. Charles Dickens and Thackeray were two shining stars among the early Victorian Novelists but there were some minor novelists as well who wrote on more subjects. They were Benjamin Disraeli, Bronte Sisters, Mrs. Gaskell, Charles Kingsley, Charles Reade, William Collins and Trollope. They were fairly large in number but they had much more in common. They were the spokesmen of their society and they did not criticize their society as severely as the novelists from the later Victorian Era like Thomas Hardy and George Meredith. In short, their criticism of society was light-hearted.
They believed that due to the rapid income they had been claiming through the industrial revolution and colonization, their financial suffering would come to an end. So, they were optimistic in their approach. They gave a considerable importance to morality in their society. They avoided any sexual reference in literature. For instance, Thomas Bowdler presented a book called The Family Shakespeare in which he removed sexual and blasphemous material from Shakespeare's famous plays to be read aloud in the family without any embarrassment. Novelists also followed a stern approach to morality as compared to Fielding or Richardson of the previous era whose novels had an obvious sexual tone.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens is the signature name to highlight the concerning epoch and novel in Britain. He was and is still famous in both England and around the world due to his distinctive but not-so-pessimistic approach to life. Born in 1812 and died in 1870, Dickens created some fictional characters that are remembered till this very day. His first published novel was The Pickwick Papers. His novels mostly centre around showcasing the plight of the working class and the oppressed. Let's explore some of the features of his novelistic genius.
Weaker Plots
Dickens followed the picaresquian adventurous style of Smollett and Henry Fielding. Due to the adventurous tales in their picaresque novels, their genius lacked connection in between incidents or they were devoid of any strong plot. Dickens' novels also suffer from the same problem. The incidents described in his most novels lack a proper beginning, middle and end. For instance, The Tale of Two Cities mixes many stories under one plot that take place in two cities. However, in his later novels, he seems to have matured his plot construction but despite his attempt, weaker plots remain one of the core weakness of his novels.
Idealism
Dickens idealizes his novels. He acquired idealism through sensational feelings which were derived from the romantic adventures of the previous novelists. Dickens is seen idealizing honour, courage, sacrifice, magnemity and fidelity. For instance, in A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens idealizes love and sacrifice through the character of Sydney Cartoon who sacrifices himself for Lucie and Darney. Dickens stealthily gives a Biblical reference for Cartoon:
Greater love hath no man than this.
Optimism
Dickens believes that the humans are overall good and our world is a place worth living. Thus, he is mostly optimistic regarding his approach to life despite belonging to a poor family and struggling hard. His novels mostly go through hard times but they end optimistically.
Humour
Dickens is blessed with a strange quality to mix pleasure with pain. He uses humour as a tool to create an optimistic atmosphere. Two of his novels are known for their homouristic identity. They are Martin Chuzzlewit and The Old Curiosity Shop. While David Copperfield is regarded as a pure comedy.
Realism and Reformation
Dickens, despite being an idealist, is a realist in the sense that he removed Romantic Medievalism from his society through his work. While he tried to reform his society from social problems like Child Labour or revolutions.
William Makepeace Thackeray
Thackeray is the second name that scored name and fame in the Early Victorian Era. He was born in 1811 in Kolkata, India and he breathed his last in 1863 in England. He was contemporary to Dickens and a direct rival too. Although he came off of a wealthy family, yet pessimism could be traced easily from his novels. Being from a well-off family, he scanned his class and presented their problems as well as their crooked behaviour.
As a Realist
Thackrey is utterly a realist because he writes what he observes as compared to Dickens who idealizes certain things. Thackrey himself says,
I have no brains besides my eyes. I describe what I see.
As a Satirist and a Moralist
Thackrey was a cynical writer. He was sensitive and he was offended by the wrongs of society. Just like Dickens, he was good at heart and he tried to morally reform his society. But that was not an artistic move since a writer's duty is to present the two sides of a picture and led the reader to decide for themselves. But his prose style was pure, simple and charming that attracted many readers. His most known work is Vanity Fair that appeared in 1846. While the second novel he wrote was Pendennis that was an autobiography just like Dickens David Copperfield. This novel debuted in 1849. The third most renowned novel of Mr. Thackrey was a historical one that was titled as The History of Henry Esmond featuring Queen Anne. This novel appeared in 1852. It showcased his deep knowledge regarding the history and converting it into a story. The Newcomes that hit the shelves in 1858 was regarded as the best novel by critics. While The Virginians was a sequel to The History of Henry Esmond that ended on 1859.
Minor Novelists
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli was an accomplished writer who was not only good at writing but also good at maintaining his political position as the prime minister of England during the reign of Queen Victoria. His novels dealt with the political issues of his time. He believed that the working class should be uplifted by the aristocratic class. His notable works are listed as under:
- Vivian Grey - 1826 - 27
- Comingsby - 1844
- Sybil - 1845
- Tancred - 1847
Brontë Sisters
Brontë Sisters was a group of three sisters who acquired a great deal of fame through writing novels in the Early Victorian Era. Those sisters were Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë.
Charlotte Brontë was the eldest of the trio. She depicted strong romantic passions in her novels. Jane Eyre was the defining work of Charlotte that appeared in 1847. While two of her other novels are Villette and The Professor.
Emily Brontë was the second sister in Brontë Sister Trio who only lived for thirty years (1818 - 1848). Her famous work is Wuthering Heights that appeared just 1 year before her death. In this novel, Emily illustrated the problems of romantic relationships. It is still recalled as a tragedy of love.
Anne Brontë was the youngest of the bunch. She also died earlier. Her famous work is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Mrs. Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell was also a known English novelist who wrote about the social evils and the problems caused by industrialization. Her famous works are given below:
- Mary Borton - 1848
- Cranford - 1851 to 1853
- Ruth - 1853
- North and South - 1855
She even featured Charlotte Brontë in her biography that appeared in 1857.
Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley was a Christian Socialist. So Yeast and Alton Locke are considered to be his socialist novels. While some notable works are listed below:
- Hypatia - 1853 - Deals with the early form of Christianity
- Westward Ho! - 1855 - As the name suggests, this novel portrays the adventurous spirit of Elizabethan navigators.
- Hear World The Wakes - 1865 - Narrates the story of the attacks of the descendants of Vikings
Wikie Collins (1824 - 89)
Wikie Collins is yet another name who acquired his fame through writing about crime with suspense. He tried to reveal the (psychological) mystery behind crimes. His famous novels are:
- The Woman in White
- The Moonstone
Later Victorian Novelists
Later Victorian novelists began a new trend for novels. They are, sometimes, loosely referred as "modern" novelists because they changed the way a novel was presented. The novel of this age discussed the problems of the very age with a clear view of character's inner minds. The chiefs amongst the Later Victorian Novelists were George Eliot, Thomas Hardy and Meredith. When Eliot published her first novel, Adam Bade in 1858, Dickens and Thackrey published A Tale of Two Cities and Virginians which signified a major change on how those three writers saw different things through their lens of distinction. Before discussing about the novelists of this age, let's make clear the features that were traced in the novels of the very age.
Improvement of the Plot
Later Victorian Novelists improved the deficiency of somewhat unconnected events those were found in the novels of the Early Victorians. They added well-knit events those were the result of a precious event. For example, in The Mill on the Floss, the suffering of Maggie is interconnected with different incidents that come in sequence, from her childhood to her adulthood.
More Philosophical
The novels produced by Later Victorians are more philosophical as compared to the ones written by Early Victorians. Early Victorian writers followed Dafoe, Richardson and Fielding. Those writers were more adventurous by nature. But the Later Victorians discussed problems of humanity in a coherent way. For example, in Meredith's novel, The Ordeal of Richard, Meredith asserts that a stern watch over one's children can turn a child into a villain for his father.
Poetic Seriousness
As mentioned before, The Early Victorians wrote about adventures. So they lacked poetic seriousness in their work. What is poetic seriousness? A French novelist, Flaubert, puts it as thus:
To want to give to prose the rhythm of verse (but keeping it very much prose), and to want to write about ordinary life as one writes history or the epic (without denaturing the subject) is perhaps an absurdity. That's what I wonder sometimes. But perhaps it's also a grand undertaking and very original!
Here, Flaubert is referring to the Poetic Seriousness as an experiment. Which is undertaken by Meredith because he got educated in Germany where there he read about French Literature. He looked at English Literature through his critical eyes. Both Eliot and Meredith used Poetic Seriousness to discuss serious thoughts.
Psychological Realism
The most significant achievement of Later Victorian Writers is their introduction to Psychological Realism. Psychological Realism is a technique in which a writer fully indulges himself to comment on a character's motives behind his actions in a story. This type of novel is based upon a technique called Direct Method. While Indirect or Dramatic Method revolves around creating a character, letting it do its job on its own and making readers decide about the story. George Eliot is the first novelist who introduced the world with psychological realism. Later, psychological Realism transitioned into the Stream of Consciousness technique to illustrate the inner workings of the human brain.
Mary Ann Evans
The actual name of George Eliot is Mary Ann Evans. She is also known as Mary Anne or Marian. George Eliot is one of the most renowned novelists of the Victorian Era in general and among Later Victorian Novelists in particular. She opened her eyes in 1819 while she breathed her last in 1880. Eliot as a novelist witnessed a major shift from adventurous novels to the ones centring around the innermost instinct of mankind. The famous works of George Eliot are listed as under:
- Adam Bede (1859)
- The Mill on the Floss (1860)
- Silas Marner (1861)
- Romola (1862)
- Middlemarch (1872)
The features of Eliot's novels are explained below:
Rural Background
Eliot used to live with her father in Warwickshire. Her stay in a rustic locality like this one made it easy for her to observe the habits and psyche of the people of rural areas. Unlike Dickens and Thackrey, who depicted the life in the city and the problems faced by the Aristocratic class respectively, Eliot tends to show the simply complex life of the people of the countryside. For example, in The Mill on the Floss, Eliot showcases the narrow-mindedness of the people at St. Oggs towards Maggie when the news of forced elopement is revealed.
Unified Plot
As mentioned before, Eliot wrote novels at a time when there was no unity of action(s) in a story. Like many other Later Victorian Novelists, Eliot wrote stories with a well-structured plot. The events of her novels are interlinked.
Serious Thoughts
Her novels are written to promote the Poetic Seriousness of Flaubert. When Eliot was writing novels of her age, people were greatly baffled by the new but worrying theories prevailing in their society like Theory of Evolution, the significance of God and religion began to be questioned openly. Industrialization had disrupted the natural flow of humanity. Such seriousness is clearly visible in her Mill on the Floss in which a serious impact of industrialization is depicted as how losing a lawsuit can bankrupt the owner of a mill.
Gradual Development of Characters
The characters in Eliot's stories do not undergo from a sudden change. The development of characters is gradual but persistent in some cases. For instance, Maggie's persistent devotion to her brother, Tom Tulliver does not permit her to get into a permanent company of philosophical discourse of Philip Wakem. But in Romola, we see the gradual development of characters. For instance, the first initial impression of Titu is somewhat good in the eyes of Romola. But Titu's true manipulative personality is revealed when he mistreats his adopting father who is a prisoner and when he betrays his brother-in-law to leave the city of Florence.
George Meredith
George Meredith is one of the most greatest novelists and poets of the Victorian Era. He was born in 1828 while he kicked the bucket in 1909. Besides being a successful novelist, Meredith was initially a poet who was mainly impressed and influenced by John Keats. Due to his poetic nature, his novels were also enriched in complex but beautiful poetic rhythm. Oscar Wilde puts it as thus,
chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning
Due to his poetic novels he is, sometimes, regarded as Flaubert of English Novels. His novels mostly deal with the social problems of his characters through their psychological bent of mind. Meredith was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. His famous works can be included as:
- The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859)
- The Egoist (1879)
- Diana of the Crossways (1885)
The prominent features of his novels are:
Subjective View of the Novel
Meredith did not follow the specific traditions of the novel. Nor did he form a specific school of thought. He added subjectivity to his novels so that the idea of a character should be made prominent through his own judgement.
Poetic Element
Novel before Meredith was written in prose with prosaic nature. But Meredith wrote prose with poetic seriousness. As mentioned before, in this regard, he carried forward the experiment of Flaubert and added his own version of success to it.
Philosophical Thoughts
As discussed earlier, Meredith and Eliot transitioned from adventurous novels to the ones those provided indirect solutions to complex problems of life through the means of philosophical proceedings.
Psychological Realism
Another feature of Meredith's novels is the inner mechanics of characters' mind and their true motives behind a certain action. Dickens used to present the action in his novels through external narration while Meredith and Eliot showcase the prevailing action through internal narration.
Optimism
While Hardy was pessimistic about mankind, Meredith was optimistic in his own scientific ways. Meredith believed in the theory of Evolution and he had a belief that men are still evolving. Their problems would come to an end when their evolution is completed.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy is yet another big name among the novelists (and the poets) of Later Victorian Era. He was born in 1840 in Dorchester, while he breathed his last on January 19th, 1928. Hardy was influenced by the novelists of his time and the romantic poetry during romantic era, especially that of William Wordsworth. He sharply criticized the declining morals of the people living in Rural England. His novels carry a stream of tragic pessimism. His famous novels are:
- From the Maddening Crowd (1874)
- The Return of the Native (1878)
- The Woodlanders (1887)
- The Mayer of Casterbridge (1886)
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891)
- Jude the Obscure (1895)
Here are the prominent features of his novels:
Pessimism
Thomas Hardy's novels are primarily geared towards a pessimistic outlook of life. Therefore, the stories presented in his novels are mainly tragic in contrast to the comic scenery in Meredith's novels. In some novels, the intensity of pessimism is low but Tess of the D'Urbervilles is among those novels which are manifested in pessimism.
Role of Chance
We know that Hardy's vision of life is pessimistic. But how does he achieve his level of pessimism? The simple answer to this question is the use of role of chance. Although in real life, chance, at times, plays an important role in moulding a person's way to his success. But in Hardy's novels, it is chance that brings about the tragic destruction of a character. For example, Tess has been trying to tell Angel Clare about her rough "history" before her marriage and she writes a letter to let him know indirectly about the situation. But the letter is eaten up by the carpet and it isn't discovered by Angel. If the letter was not confiscated by the carpet, Angel would have known about her past and he would have taken the necessary actions.
Wessex Element
Most of Hardy's novels (and short stories) are based in an imaginary town known as Wessex. This town symbolically denotes to the South-west area of England where there grew up and observed life.
Poetic Seriousness
Hardy also used novel as a medium to broadcast serious thoughts and philosophies like Meredith and George Eliot.
Minor Novelists of Later Victorian Period
R L Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish story teller and romancer. He was born in 1850 and died in 1894. He is best known for his adventurous stories those still lure small children. His notable works are:
- The Treasure Island
- New Arabian Nights
- Kidnapped
- The Black Arrow
- Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
He was writing a novel during his death bed and critics regarded his last uncompleted novel as the finest representation of his art.
George Gissing
George Gissing was rather an unpopular novelist but the themes in his novels matched those in Dickens' novels. He was of the view that poor people cannot revolt against the callus authorities because rich people cannot afford to yield their influence while an intellectual person stuffers the most because intellectuals are sensitive to the pangs that are inflicted upon the poor people. His famous novels are:
- The Worker in the Down
- The Unclassed
- Dones
- New Grub Street
- Born in Exile
- The Old Women
Conclusion
Victorian Novel has some merits and demerits of their own. Firstly, the plot structure of Victorian novels is not strong. Secondly, Victorian Novelists give uncontrollable importance to moral values. That's why, the novels like Tom Jones were kept away from the sight of children because the frank expression of sex was tabooed. While this age of the novel provided a stout foundation to strong story-telling; more realistic sketches of life and psychological realism to read through the minds of characters. Surely this age of the novel was not as impactful as Elizabethan Drama and Romantic Poetry but it proudly comes after the third good contender in English Literature.
Sources and Suggested Readings
- Lectures of Sir Fazal
- https://crossref-it.info/articles/263/characteristics-of-victorian-britain
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Makepeace_Thackeray
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bront%C3%AB
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gaskell
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsley
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romola
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meredith
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Louis_Stevenson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gissing
