2012-3-22 1
Chapter Ⅸ The Victorian Age
1832-1901
2012-3-22 2
1,Historical background,
The Victorian age can be roughly
divided into three periods,
(1) 1832-1848,a time of social unrest;
(2) 1848-1870,a period of economic
prosperity and religious controversy;
(3) 1870-1901,a period of decay of
Victorian values,
2012-3-22 3
2,The Victorian Poets
? Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892);
? Robert Browning (1812-1889);
? Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
2012-3-22 4
2.1 Lord Alfred Tennyson
? Poet Laureate,He wrote many lyrics in
memory of his friend Arthur Hallam,
including,Break,Break,Break”,
2012-3-22 5
2.2 Robert Browning (1812-1889),
“My Last Duchess”
? Duke of Epigraph Ferrara was an actual man,
In the 16th century,the duke of this Italian
city arranged to marry a second after the
mysterious death of his very young first wife,
? Questions,
1,What do you think happened to the Duchess?
2,To whom is the duke addressing his remarks
about the duchess in this poem? What is
ironic about the situation?
3,Why was the duke unhappy with his first
wife? What does this reveal about the duke?
What does the poem’s title suggest about his
attitude toward women in general?
2012-3-22 6
3,The Victorian novelists,
? Charles Dickens
? William Makepeace Thackeray
? Emily Bronte
? Thomas Hardy
? Oscar Wilde
2012-3-22 7
3.1 Charles Dickens (1812-1870),
? Dombey and Son (1847-1848)
Through the portrayal of Mr,Dombey,Dickens shows
the pride of the upper strata of the British
bourgeoisie in the mid-19th century,who considered
themselves the elite of the world,
? Dickens saw that the expansion of capitalism instead
of bringing benevolence and equality of human
society,produced of handful of commercial and
industrial magnates,
? And their pride of wealth,or,purse-pride”,is the
theme of the novel,
2012-3-22 8
3.2 William Makepeace Thackeray
(1811-1863)
? Life,
? Born in Calcutta,India; the son of a Collector in the East India
Company’s service,
? Father died when he was three; sent home to England in 1817,
? Educated at Charterhouse,Trinity College,Cambridge,Left in
1830 without taking a degree,
? In 1831,he entered the Middle Temple to learn laws,showing
little interest,
? 1833,lost all his fortune due to the collapse of the Indian
agency-houses
? 1834-1837,lived in Paris,making a meagre living from
journalism,
? During the 1840s,Thackeray began to make his name as a
writer,
2012-3-22 9
Thackerary,
Vanity Fair,A Novel without a Hero
? A classic social satire;
? The writer’s intention was not to
portray individuals,but the bourgeois
and aristocratic society as a whole,
? Bunyan:,a fair,wherein should be sold
all sorts of vanity… Therefore at this
fair are all such merchandise sold,as…”
2012-3-22 10
3.3 The Bronte Sisters
? Emily Bronte,Wuthering Heights
? Emily’s only novel,which was published in
December of 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis
Bell,It did not gain immediate success,Emily
Bront? died of tuberculosis a year after
Wuthering Heights was published,on
December 19,1848,
? Theme,Race/Class/Education ; Revenge;
Supernatural
2012-3-22 11
3.4 Thomas Hardy,
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
? Theme,mankind is subjected to the
rule of some hostile and mysterious fate,
which brings misfortune to human life,
Fatalism,chance and fate; Naturalism;
The final disintegration of peasantry in
England; Hypocritical morality
2012-3-22 12
3.5 Oscar Wilde (1854-1900),
The Picture of Dorian Gray
?,Fin de siecle”,(the end of the century)
literature;
? Art for art’s sake
? Ralph Fox:,’Art for art’s sake’ is only
the hopeless answer of the artist to the
slogan,Art for money’s sake”----
hopeless because ivory never was a
good material for fortifications,
2012-3-22 13
4,The Victorian Playwright
? George Bernard Shaw,
? The dramatic conflict in his plays is the
conflict of thought and belief,
? Discussion is the basis of the plays,
? Shaw proves that mental and moral
passion could produce absorbing
dramatic material,
Chapter Ⅸ The Victorian Age
1832-1901
2012-3-22 2
1,Historical background,
The Victorian age can be roughly
divided into three periods,
(1) 1832-1848,a time of social unrest;
(2) 1848-1870,a period of economic
prosperity and religious controversy;
(3) 1870-1901,a period of decay of
Victorian values,
2012-3-22 3
2,The Victorian Poets
? Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892);
? Robert Browning (1812-1889);
? Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
2012-3-22 4
2.1 Lord Alfred Tennyson
? Poet Laureate,He wrote many lyrics in
memory of his friend Arthur Hallam,
including,Break,Break,Break”,
2012-3-22 5
2.2 Robert Browning (1812-1889),
“My Last Duchess”
? Duke of Epigraph Ferrara was an actual man,
In the 16th century,the duke of this Italian
city arranged to marry a second after the
mysterious death of his very young first wife,
? Questions,
1,What do you think happened to the Duchess?
2,To whom is the duke addressing his remarks
about the duchess in this poem? What is
ironic about the situation?
3,Why was the duke unhappy with his first
wife? What does this reveal about the duke?
What does the poem’s title suggest about his
attitude toward women in general?
2012-3-22 6
3,The Victorian novelists,
? Charles Dickens
? William Makepeace Thackeray
? Emily Bronte
? Thomas Hardy
? Oscar Wilde
2012-3-22 7
3.1 Charles Dickens (1812-1870),
? Dombey and Son (1847-1848)
Through the portrayal of Mr,Dombey,Dickens shows
the pride of the upper strata of the British
bourgeoisie in the mid-19th century,who considered
themselves the elite of the world,
? Dickens saw that the expansion of capitalism instead
of bringing benevolence and equality of human
society,produced of handful of commercial and
industrial magnates,
? And their pride of wealth,or,purse-pride”,is the
theme of the novel,
2012-3-22 8
3.2 William Makepeace Thackeray
(1811-1863)
? Life,
? Born in Calcutta,India; the son of a Collector in the East India
Company’s service,
? Father died when he was three; sent home to England in 1817,
? Educated at Charterhouse,Trinity College,Cambridge,Left in
1830 without taking a degree,
? In 1831,he entered the Middle Temple to learn laws,showing
little interest,
? 1833,lost all his fortune due to the collapse of the Indian
agency-houses
? 1834-1837,lived in Paris,making a meagre living from
journalism,
? During the 1840s,Thackeray began to make his name as a
writer,
2012-3-22 9
Thackerary,
Vanity Fair,A Novel without a Hero
? A classic social satire;
? The writer’s intention was not to
portray individuals,but the bourgeois
and aristocratic society as a whole,
? Bunyan:,a fair,wherein should be sold
all sorts of vanity… Therefore at this
fair are all such merchandise sold,as…”
2012-3-22 10
3.3 The Bronte Sisters
? Emily Bronte,Wuthering Heights
? Emily’s only novel,which was published in
December of 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis
Bell,It did not gain immediate success,Emily
Bront? died of tuberculosis a year after
Wuthering Heights was published,on
December 19,1848,
? Theme,Race/Class/Education ; Revenge;
Supernatural
2012-3-22 11
3.4 Thomas Hardy,
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
? Theme,mankind is subjected to the
rule of some hostile and mysterious fate,
which brings misfortune to human life,
Fatalism,chance and fate; Naturalism;
The final disintegration of peasantry in
England; Hypocritical morality
2012-3-22 12
3.5 Oscar Wilde (1854-1900),
The Picture of Dorian Gray
?,Fin de siecle”,(the end of the century)
literature;
? Art for art’s sake
? Ralph Fox:,’Art for art’s sake’ is only
the hopeless answer of the artist to the
slogan,Art for money’s sake”----
hopeless because ivory never was a
good material for fortifications,
2012-3-22 13
4,The Victorian Playwright
? George Bernard Shaw,
? The dramatic conflict in his plays is the
conflict of thought and belief,
? Discussion is the basis of the plays,
? Shaw proves that mental and moral
passion could produce absorbing
dramatic material,
