Victorian Literature Essay - 2858 Words

Viktor E. Frankl, the Austrian psychologist, once stated that â€Å"When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves†. A Victorian society condemned to a period of forced adjustment into a life of despotism, as a result of radical change and revolution, dictatorial upper-class tyranny and a life absent of pleasure and happiness, serves as an example of the great psychologist’s words. The industrialisation and development of Britain acted as a major catalyst for the way society would respond, reforming the lives of many. Not only did the British industrial revolution of the nineteenth century enforce drastic social reforms, it also shaped Victorian literature. Great literary authors exposed the injustices†¦show more content†¦In Tennysons The Kraken, the bold use of imagery in the description of the metaphorical sea creature, representative of the working-class unnumberd and enormous polypi suggests the size of the workforce that laboured in factories similarly to Dickens. The use of the words enormous and unnumberd† makes it near impossible for the reader to gauge an estimate at the amount of labourers in the Victorian era, revealing that society was largely working-class. He uses the biblical phrases fire shall heat the deep also he shall rise in an attempt to portray the habitat of the fictional creature, almost as if it were hell itself. From a religious readers viewpoint, it would be apparent that by doing so, Tennyson uses the hostile image of hell to mirror the callousness of the life of a Victorian factory worker. Both writers expose the working-class to be excluded from a purpose in life aside from labour, limited to arduous living conditions, possessing little value for their worth as individuals. In the gothic thriller, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson adopts a similar vision to that of Dickens and Tennyson in aiming to reveal the apparent disparage of the working-class. Within the novel, the dissimilarity between Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde â€Å"Jekyll had more than a fathers interest; Hyde had more than a sons indifference† emphasises the vast gap between the lower and upper classes. Stevenson usesShow MoreRelatedCharacteristics Of Victorian Literature1437 Words   |  6 Pages Are the Victorians Romantics? Characteristics of Victorian literature are largely artists that are inspired by both the art that came before them and the event that occurred during the time that they were working. 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Along with Sto ker, Charles Dickens and Lord Alfred Tennyson also address the individual’s pursuit forRead MoreEssay Double Lives in Victorian Literature1407 Words   |  6 PagesThe existence of a â€Å"dark double† abounds in many literary works of the Victorian Era. These â€Å"dark doubles† are able to explore the forbidden and repressed desires of the protagonist, and often represent the authors own rebellion against inhibitions in a morally straight-laced societal climate. The â€Å"dark doubles† in these stories are able to explore the socially unacceptable side of human nature, and it is through these â€Å"dark doubles† that many of the main characters (and through themRead More Victorian Gothic Literature: Scientific vs. Medieval Thinking1751 Words   |  8 PagesVictorian Gothic Literature: Scientific vs. Medieval Thinking      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Creatures of the night have always held a fascination and horror for people in all cultures. The English fascination with sensational and gothic literature came to a peak, after slacking slightly following the Romantic period, in the late Victorian period with such works as Dracula, The Strange Adventures of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The literate populace avidly devoured this type of literatureRead More The Reflection of Victorian Britain in Literature Essay4711 Words   |  19 PagesThe Reflection of Victorian Britain in Literature Queen Victoria reigned in Britain between 1937-1901. During this time in British history a large degree of change occurred. The writers of the time often reflected these substantial changes in their literature focusing on the interests of society. I have studied a variety of literature from the Victorian period and have chosen to write about three particular pieces; The Signalman by Charles Dickens (a short story), the novel Frankenstein