1. 1897
1840

4. General “Victorian” Background
#1 - “Empire” development
Increased industrialism, plus trade & manufacturing, equals increased wealth

5. General “Victorian” Background
#2 - Increase in rights for the middle and lower-middle classes

6. General “Victorian” Background
#3 - Improved working conditions for the labor class

7. General “Victorian” Background
#4 - Questioning of long held beliefs/perceptions
Spurred by the development of various sciences and scientific discoveries
Biology
Geology
Astronomy

8. General “Victorian” Background
#5 - Drastic increase in inventions and developments which impacted many aspects of life

9. Victorian Literature Novels Lengthy Often published in serials
Frequently featuring a protagonist in “social relationships of the middle-class society”

10. Victorian Literature Poetry Innovation in writing styles
i.e. Dramatic Monologue
Commonly employed themes of “social protest and reform”
Often features
substantial visual imagery
distinctive sound ( i.e. rhythm, rhyme, etc)
“poetry of mood and character”

11. Victorian Literature Prose
i.e. history, biography, theology, criticism, essays
On “a wide range of controversial topics…writers [sought] to convince their readers to share their convictions and values”

12. Victorian Literature Drama/Theater Very popular throughout the age
Frequently featured musicals, like those of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
Did not achieve critical acclaim, for the most part, until late in the age, with writers including George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde

13. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

14. “Cry of Children”

15. Sonnets from the Portuguese

16. “Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point”

18. Robert Browning’s Poetry
(robert browning reading his work)
(last duchess)