Asher.P4.T6: Victorian Era Synthesis Answer #2
One aspect of the Victorian Era’s reaction to Romanticism was to embrace realism – and see things for what they really were in the midst of the Romantic era’s blurred lines of reality and fantasy. Charles Dickens’ novels, for instance, conveyed the truth behind urban life for all classes during the era. Novels like Hard Times, which emphasized poor conditions or child labor for the lower class were able to catalyze the world around him to react to social problems with tools like labor unions and an increased focus on education. Anthony Trollope’s novels did the same, exploring and questioning England’s social, political, and ecclesiastical life. Jane Austen’s novels like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility opted to reveal the truth behind people – the situations they face, the humor they produce, and the thoughts in their minds. Victorians did react with realism, but they also were undoubtedly inspired from the sentiments that the remnants of Romanticism left behind. In the humanities, the Victorians tried to combine Romantic ideals like emotion, the individual, and imagination in a way that would distract from the lasseiz-faire capitalistic mindset that drove the era forward, and decreased quality of life. Many novels circled in on teaching lessons of morality in the time period, like Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, which teaches the lesson that physical appearances are minimally important – borrowing imaginative Romantic methods by utilizing a special painting to teach the internally hideous man a lesson. Also, Lewis Carroll’s famous story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, for example, reflected that the Romantic era’s imaginative qualities had trickled down into the Victorian era, to help create distraction and fun in the midst of Queen Victoria’s “prudish” rule, which centered around a low crime rate, sexual restraint, and heightened morals. The literature of the extensive Victorian era, overall, showed that authors embraced Romantic ideals to fit their advancing culture and society.
Overall, great effort! The response definitely highlights the important aspects of the Victorian era as you guys talk about the merging of reality and fantasy. This era certainly shows the how society treats different class people. You guys also give good examples to prove your thesis! The example Hard Times by Charles Dickens seems to be a great illustration of such and it is interesting how you guys tied it to realism as well. We thought that works in this era spawned an economy crisis like the great depression. Over population lead to a great number of unemployment which led to a even greater problem- crime. We thought Victorian novels were focused with representing a social behavior and reality and defined a place within this society. From your synthesis, it seems you agree with us on this point.
ReplyDeleteHowever, what might have further strengthened the synthesis answer would to cite different forms of art and literature. For example, in our synthesis we decided to talk about the Charles Darwin who believes that living things are forced to chance according to the society and circumstances. His book The Origin of Species caused a stir because of the innovative nature of the subject. Also, William Gladstone, a British Liberal statesman, was a really religious man who had a strong sense of right and wrong who believed that people should not be judge on their wealth or social position but it should be judge on their behavior, thought and merits. We liked how you referenced Alice in Wonderland and how the “prudish” nature of the queen is reminiscent of the era! Good observation! Keep up the good work!