For ease of study, literary historians divide English literature into segments of time which
they designate “periods”. Abrams (1999), remarks that the exact number, names and dates of
these periods vary. However, having considered the varying opinions of some scholars, this
paper, in examining the Victorian Age, adopts the most common name(s) and date of the
Victorian Age. The Victorian era, otherwise known as Victorianism, in English literature
refers to the period 1837-1901 which marks the beginning through the end of Queen
Victoria’s reign in England and of course, in the British empires of Scotland, Ireland and
Wales. For Long (2007), the Victorian Age is the period 1850-1900. Some writers like
Cuddon (1999) and Abrams (1999) observe that the Victorian Age is sometimes dated from
1832 (the passage of the first Reform Bill). But Cuddon (1999), Abrams (1999), Fletcher
(2002), and Njoku and Okezie (2003) unanimously agree in delineating the Victorian Age as
the period 1837-1901, which indicates the accession of Queen Victoria through her death. In
view of these opinions, we shall stick to the most acceptable description of the Victorian Age:
1837-1901.
Queen Victoria was the only daughter of King George’s first son the Duke of Kent. It should
be noted that Britain operated and still operates a monarchical government and it was Queen
Victoria, the monarch of that time, after whom the era was named. Queen Victoria’s reign,
which lasted over 63 years, is the longest British monarchy, lasting roughly twice as long as
the preceding Romantic era. The Victorian Age has also come to be synonymous with “the
nineteenth century” (Jowitt, 182), “an age of realism” (Long, 455), “an age of doubt and
pessimism” (Long, 456), and “the age of prose” (Long, 454). It is on account of the last
epithet that Long declares thus, “The novel in this age fills a place which drama held in the
days of Elizabeth; and never before, in any age or language, has the novel appeared in such
number and in such perfection” (455).
On account of the Industrial Revolution, at that time, Britain was the world’s major industrial
figure. There is no gainsaying, therefore, that when imagining the Victorian era, royalty,
fancy and elaborate living often comes to mind. Sandwiched between the Georgian period
and the Edwardian period, the Victorian period was marked by prosperity, refined
sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. That is why William J. Long describes
the era as “an age of democracy and education…of comparative peace” (453). In this
connection, the Victorian era was also a time of unparalleled demographic increase in Britain
due to growth in fertility rates and morality rate. All these were possible because for Britain,
the 19th century was the first century in which a major epidemic did not occur.
In the words of Njoku and Okezie, the Victorian period was an age of “immense and
variegated and often self-critical activity which reflected the current issues: social, economic
and intellectual problems…” (188). Abrams (1999) has described the Victorian era in
England as one whose “rapid and wrenching economic and social changes” was
unprecedented – changes which placed England on the pinnacle of world fame.
INFLUENCES ON THE VICTORIAN PERIOD
The Religious and Intellectual Atmosphere of the Victorian Age
The influence of Christianity on the Victorian Age cannot be overstressed. This era witnessed
an unprecedented spread of Christian ideals throughout social and political activities. Many
Victorians believed that the Bible was the best and only guide to a moral life. Jowitt notes
that,
In Victorian Britain, religion continued to be an issue in politics; to feature prominently in
art, literature and music; to determine the use of leisure time, so that the Bible remained the
most widely read book; to exercise the minds of thinking men and women even when, like
George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, they became agnostics; and to be a powerful reinforcement
of the almost universally accepted notions of “respectability” which prevented trading on
Sunday and restricted the hours of opening of “pubs”. (191)
However, major scientific advancement such as Darwin’s evolutionism, Ludwig Andreas
Feuerbach’s The Essence of Christianity and David Friedrich Strauss’ Life of
Jesus (1846) undermined faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The Victorian period
witnessed a great development in science. Long points out that the era was “especially
remarkable because of its rapid progress in all the arts and sciences and in mechanical
inventions” (454). Apart from the literary works of the period, one non-literary book which
influenced society and literary works was Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
Darwin’s theory of evolution had a great impact on the ideas the Victorians had about
themselves and their place in the world. Darwin postulated in his theory that men evolved
from apes and that the evolution of humanity was a matter of the survival of the fittest. This
theory affected religion greatly such that it raised doubts in the hearts of people concerning
their long-held religious beliefs. Besides, other non-literary works which affected literature
and the Victorian society include the philosophical writings of John Stuart Mill, the
influential historical and political writings of Thomas Carlyle and Freidrich Engels.
