Victorian age
Aetheticism and Decadence= started in France and it reflect the sense of frustration and uncertainty of the artist -> he is against materialism and the restrictive moral code.
Late Victorian Novel:
Victorian Novel= growing communion between readers and writers thanks to the circulating libraries and periodicals essays -> the opinion of the readers became important in order to have success. new interest in Prose because it was the most popular form and because of the scientific progress it became realistic and humanitarian
reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1901, the workhouses (places where families could stay and eat in exchange for work and the hygiene contains were horrible) where created.
it was a golden age because of the economic and scientific progress, social reforms, industrialisation and the improvement of healthcare and education
bad age because poor people lived in appalling condition and if you were poor it was your fault. -> ipocrit society because they wanted to be richer but pretended not to see the poor.
women were seen as morally superior to men but unforgivable if they didn't marry and have a family (considered prostitutes and outcast)
themes:
adventures of social outcast (Jane Austen with the theme of a girl's choice of a husband)
they felt a moral and social responsibility= they gave description of the city as it was -> thanks to Didacticism the writes could correct the weaknesses of that age
Types of novel:
Humanitarian Novel= humor+ sentimental request for a reform for the poor (Charles Dickens)
Novel of formation= deals with the growth of a character from youth to maturity (Jane Eyre and David Copperfield)
Literary nonsense= nonsensical universe (alice's adventures in wonderland)
novel of Manners= deals with the economic and social problems of a specific class (Jane Austen)
Realistic
fantastic
Moral
lots of writes were women and they would talk about daily life and their value
Psychological novel= deals with the illogical and monstrous aspects of life and the double nature of victorian society
Colonial Literature= deals with the task of the white man -> to carry civilisation to the savages
Realistic novel= dels with society linked to a growing crisis in the moral and religious field (because of Darwin's theories
Thomas Hardy= strong individuals and forces of nature
George Elliot= more concerned about the psychological and moral complexity of humans
Stevenson with the Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Kipling= his short stories are set in distant lands colonised by England
Walter Pater is the most famous theorist -> he rejected religious faith and the only thing that could stop time was art, life should be lived in its spirit because the poet's task was to feel and transcribe the sense of the world = had nothing to do with morality and didactic
Main features: Excessive attention to the self, Hedonistic attitude, Perversity in subject of matters, Disenchantment with society= outcast, Evocative use of language (not didactic)
Bohemien= a person who embodies the protest against monotony with unconventional style and by pursuing sensations and excesses
Dandy= Oscar Wilde= a man who boosts his appearence, he is well dressed and takes care of himself -> Vanity and extravagance