The Victorian Era is portrayed as a more realistic and moral era of time. This is a reaction to the gothic like behavior in the Romantic Era. During the Romantic Era, art seemed to be something that had to do with nature and almost represented something abstract with feelings. An example of this is Emily Bronte’s writing in Wuthering Height, throughout the story there holds a strong sense of mystery and darkness. This shows the gothic side of the Romantic Era, but also in the story there was no real plot or story line that drew it to a conclusion. The Romantic Era also portrayed many mystical creatures that were unreal and weren’t really realistic. The Victorian Era is pretty much stopping what “imagination” this ear has and is bringing the abstract art into a sense of real art. An example of putting a halt on the imagination is in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Things were not taken through emotions but through what was seen through observations. The theory of evolution was a time period where people either accepted the facts or argued against it. This showed the transition between the period of feelings to the period of believing facts. The next generation of the time wanted to take things outside of how people felt. The Romantic Era and the Victorian Era show a strong transition of morals and ethics. The Victorian Era was an overreaction to the Romantic Era because of its drive to keep moving forward.
Nancy Lai, Janelle Li, Zachary Lindecamp, Kelsey Nakamura
First off, we wanted to say that your group did an excellent job answering this synthesis question. You guys showed us how the Victorian era was a reaction to the romantic era by comparing Wuthering Heights to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Wuthering Heights was a great work of art that really showed the zeitgeist of the Romantic Era, and you explained how it portrayed the gothic side of the era. However, I do not think that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was a good comparison. Although it was an example of people used real life observations instead of imagination, it does not capture the sensibilities of the Victorian Era as well as Wuthering Heights. An easy example of a work of art that shows the reader the zeitgeist of the era would be The Importance of Being Earnest. This play really shows the prudery and restraint that existed during the Victorian Era. Again, a great job on the synthesis.
ReplyDeleteAdrian Little, Max White, Eren Cameron, Seth Moore, James Kawakami