The Victorian Period was known for its tone of prudery and propriety within the literature and also this period was a clear reaction to the feeling and emotion of the Romantic Era. The Victorian Era was named after the Queen Victoria who pushed reforms to make the lives of Britons better. She was very prideful of her position and her characteristics. Because of that, people started to imitate her and then prudish behavior and sexual restraint became the sensibility of that era. The Reform Bill of 1832 drastically increased the political power of the middle class, which gave way to a new era and changed in culture. Although the industry and commerce flourished, this bill also takes power from the already politically weak lower class and eventually led them to large industrial cities where they lived in poor conditions. During the Romantic Era, society started to shift away from the logic and reasoning, for example, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, talked about a completely fictional character and had a mysterious mood throughout the novel. Comparing to Victorian Era, Romantic Era had completely different view and value upon society. The ideas were basically opposite of each other, even though it all happened within 150 years. The writers during the Victorian era had a great influence on culture and especially literature, with the works from this era still being read and admired present day. A few writers are Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, William Gladstone and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Charles Darwin, an English writer, wrote literature that any common man can relate to. A few of his writings consist about poverty and social stratification of society, while making claims of Anti-Semitism and racism. In conclusion, Victorian Era was clearly the reaction of the previous era.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Victorian Era Synthesis Ash. P3. T5
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Victorian Era Synthesis Asher.P1.T1
Just like the Romantic Era was a backlash against the sensibilities of the Enlightenment Era, the Victorian Era was a reaction to Romanticism. The Enlightenment Era was a movement of reason and reform, and the Romantic period responded with its freeform expression and emotions. Novels like Frankenstein by Mary Shelley encouraged thought about moral and personal issues – for example, is one responsible for actions, or can others effect changes in another person? The Victorian Era found a different reversal of the more inner-minded attitudes of Romanticism and brought about a very outward approach of life. Victorian literature displayed a great emphasis on restraint and propriety. Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is comparable to Moliere’s Enlightenment piece The Misanthrope in that cultures in both eras were less concerned about discovering inner selves but were rather troubled over social status.
A strong social code of conduct established in the Victorian Era reflects a reaction against the emotion-oriented Romantic period. As Europe and American began to modernize, practical ideas dominated over emotion and nature and would only encourage further industrialization. The days of intuition and imagination were long gone.
Wylie. Period 1. Team 6. Victorian
The Victorian Era is characterized by prudery and more of a moralistic focus that is a reaction to the Gothic, mysterious and grotesque Romantic Era. During the Romantic Era, arts that reflected connections with nature and unclear themes and motifs were highly stressed. For example, in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the literature has an eerie feel to it and at the end of the novel there is really no author’s message or clear purpose. The Romantic Era was also a time for the grotesque and Gothic arts to flourish; gross mystical creatures, events and unexplained almost “magical” occurrences were often present in paintings, literatures and sculptures. The Victorian Era essentially put a halt to the imagination so to speak, almost as if it were getting “out of hand”. This Era consisted of no connections with nature or inner spirituality whatsoever, no grotesque images—the Era in fact became rather prudish in nature—and logical, proven science became embraced. For example Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution, completely discarding the Romantic Era’s theories on mystical and unreal happenings (i.e Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). This Era also stressed moral values and the literature of the time actually had clear messages. Oscar Wilde wrote A Picture of Dorian Grey and The Importance of Being Earnest, both works that exemplified clear moral lessons. This prudishness and stress on moral values was also seen by the attire of the time; women barely exposed skin and often stayed indoors all day, heaven forbid coming in contact with nature or engaging in supernatural experiences. The Victorian Era was certainly quite the overreaction in regards to the previous Romantic Era. But the concern was much needed in order to advance society forward.
-Team Waka
Lillie Moffett, Sooji Hong, Lauren Wakabayashi, Nicole Lussier
Victorian Era Synthesis - Asher P3 Team 7
The Victorian Period was a reaction to the intuition and feeling of the Romanticism Era. During the Victorian Era, the rapidly growing middle and lower classes moved to the city and thus influenced many writers. The authors of the Victorian Era, for the most part, wrote thickly plotted and lengthy works that included lots of characters to entertain their readers. This is clear in Anthony Trollepe’s famed Barsetshire novels, where he describes the lives of the people of the country town of Barsetshirte. Trollepe’s detailed account of each town member, goes on and on about the interesting and fascinating life of these people. His work is described as “complete appreciation of the usual,” the very essence of Victorian literature. Trollepe make the life of normal people interesting by sharing with the reader detailed accounts of action in the countryside town. As people grew tired of the emotional literature of the Romanticism Era, they inspired work that was creative and took their mind off the hardships of reality. This comes across in the fantasy worlds that mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) created. In his complex books such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Dodgson sweeps the reader off their feet and brings them to another dimension. Dodgson uses incredible amounts of fantasy and humor to take the mind of the common man off of his hardships. However, literature of the time also held a sense of moral righteousness. An example of this is Oscar Wilde’s novel Picture of Dorian Gray. This horror story follows the life of Dorian Gray as he slowly degrades into believing that he has turned ugly. This story, like many of the time, focuses around a moral; in this case it is the unimportance of good looks. Fueled and inspired by the pervious era, writers looked into the life around them for inspiration and ideas. The literature that came out of the Victorian era was that of detailed plots and moralistic lessons which gave the reader a sense of rectitude.
Team 1 Period 3 Victorian Era
While the Victorian era was ruled with the same strictness and prudishness that Queen Victoria was known for it was a stark contrast from the free and loving society that existed during the previous era or Romanticism. The Victorian era had little ideological reasoning, but instead took a more laid-back, detached view on things. In addition, the Victorian era has condescending overtones in every aspect from the people to the literature. These qualities contrast against the ideological standpoints that were taken for everything in the Romantic era. The Romantic era cultivated self-expression and even encouraged it.
The complete difference between these two eras is well seen in the literature from the era. In Romantic era literature such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley there is a mysterious nature, but at the same time one of self-discovery as the era itself demonstrated. The literature of the Romantic era tries to delve into human nature and the spirit behind oneself. As the era shifted the aura of the literature shifted as well, instead as the people of the time became much more condescending and prudish the characters in plays, such as The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde, did too. The Victorian era rejected the ideas of humanity and instead took on a snobbish attitude towards others, as is demonstrated in this literature.
Victorian Era Synthesis- Asher Period 3, Team 8
The Romantic Era was one of self discovery, and unbridled expression and social freedom. As this movement came to a close, people looked to the upper class for social direction (as the Romantic movement had died out for the most part). This resulted in a general movement towards the snobbery of the upper class (also seen from royalty of the time).
This movement towards prudery is very evident in literature. There is a definite shift away from soul-searching works (such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) which sought an answer to humanity and nature. Literature instead began to reflect a sense of apathy towards any social or political happenings, and instead a self-aware kind of humor intended to impress its audience. This is seen in such works as Oscar Wilde, where there is rarely a serious comment or thought about any part of life.
Whether its effects were positive or negative, the Victorian Era was necessary. After such an socially inverted time (the Romantic Era), society had to turn its gaze outwards. This offered new perspective which the previous era neglected. Modern culture's self-awareness and propriety hit an all time high as man struggled to impress man.
Synthesis for Victorian Era -Asher Period 1 Team 3
Throughout history, the Victorian era has been classified as a bridge proceeding the Romantic era. The Victorian and the Romantic era had a very significant impact on each other’s culture, literature, and environment. Although both are technically classified as to be in the 19th century, they both have diverse and polar values and views.
Romanticism initiated in the late 18th century as an artistic movement. Romanticism believed in the priority to soak in one’s emotions and humanity within nature, and also to revolt against the industrialization movement which was taking place in society. This era’s values transformed itself into literature and art, and soon it was considered to be the reference to Victorian art, poetry, and literature. In response and in contrast to the Romantic era, the Victorian Era was classified as possessing high values in style, architecture and culture as well as the importance of social and sexual restraint. For example, a Victorian author that bloomed during this time in response to Romantic values was Emily Bronte who wrote Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights was composed in 1847 which reflected a gloomy, gothic atmosphere and a strong urgency to connect with nature. All of the characteristics and values from her novel were the mirrored response of the previous Romantic period’s values and ideas. In addition to the blooming of the value of nature in the Romantic and Victorian period, spiritually and industrialization grew. In response to the Romantic period, the Victorian era expanded its horizons concerning spiritually by making tarot cards and hosting séances. Spirituality was key to the 19th century and was considered to be of high importance as it traveled within these two eras. Industrialization is another example as to how the Romantic era cascaded into the Victorian era. Before, industrialization was looked upon with hating eyes, but as the Victorian age became to arrive, new inventions such as the telegraph and iron and steel ships sprang forth. With new industrialization inventions, the importance of architecture and home beauty arose. Architecture was now looked upon with more admiring eyes and minds that desired to step up their standard of living. All in all, the Victorian era is clearly a potent reaction to the Romantic era.