English Literature of the Victorian Age 维多利亚时期的英国文学.docVIP

English Literature of the Victorian Age 1. The Victorian Period: Chronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria who ruled over England from1836 to 1901. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history. II. Historical Background 1. economy: Industrial Revolution (1760 – 1840) 2. politics: Chartist movement (1838 – 1848) 宪章运动 3. science: Darwin’s theory of evolution(1859) 4. society: the women question Queen Victoria ( 1837 – 1901) The early years of the Victorian England was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems. III. Critical Realism 1. definition----English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the 40s and in the early 50s. It found its expression in the form of novel. The critical realists, most of whom were novelists, described with much vividness and artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. 2. Features: Victorian literature, as a product of its age, naturally took on its quality of magnitude diversity. It was many-sided complex, reflected both romantically realistically the great changes that were going on in people’s life thought. Great writers great works abounded. a. introduction of characters from the working class b. strong hatred for vices in the society c. an illusion of bringing about social justice and harmony by reforms d. an interest in woman emancipation (Charlotte Bronte) 3. Representatives: Charles Dickens; William Thackeray etc.  4. Features of Victorian novels　　In this period，the novel became the most widely read the most vital challenging expression of progressive thought. While sticking to the principle of faithful representation of the 18th-century realist novel, novelists in this period carried their duty forward to the criticism of the society the defense of the mass. Although writing from different poi