Victorian Literature

sun-star · 04-22-2004, 05:03 PM

Does anyone else have a special fondness for Victorian novels and/or poetry? Personally I'm a big fan of George Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope and Wilkie Collins. Not Dickens so much, though I'm sure I'd get it if I tried...

Mercutio · 04-22-2004, 10:03 PM

I like Dickens, esp. "A Tale of Two Cities"; "Great Expectations" was ok...not as good as < though.

Planning to read George Eliot...once my term paper and other projects...and school entirely...is over.

Grey_Wolf · 04-23-2004, 09:28 AM

My favourites among 19th century literature are Frances H Burnett's The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.

Mercutio · 04-23-2004, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grey_Wolf
My favourites among 19th century literature are Frances H Burnett's The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.

I forgot about those--they're fun. And Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Grey_Wolf · 04-24-2004, 03:39 AM

And of course,

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books
(I think they are absolutely terrific)

sun-star · 04-26-2004, 05:22 PM

I forgot to mention Thomas Hardy. He's great

Mercutio · 04-26-2004, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sun-star
I forgot to mention Thomas Hardy. He's great

Tess of the D'Urbevilles? Or am I thinking wrong again...

sun-star · 04-26-2004, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mercutio
Tess of the D'Urbevilles?

Yep.

Mercutio · 04-26-2004, 05:36 PM

I've only read bits of that--We do it next year in English Lit. Its good (as far as I can tell).

Janny · 04-29-2004, 04:17 PM

Or 'Tess of the Ubersomethings' as my friend has it. I've never really read this stuff, nor, an example off the top of my head, corrected my headteacher over the finer details of Thackery in a mock interview...

Mercutio! I'm not a potato head!

dawningoftime · 04-30-2004, 03:04 PM

I like reading Wives and Daugthers by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Shadowfax · 05-02-2004, 06:37 PM

I like the poetry of the VIctorian era. My favourite Victorian poet is by far Tennyson. I love his poems, especially, "The Lady of Shalott." I'm not much of a fan of Victorian novels, though.

Forkbeard · 05-02-2004, 11:39 PM

Victorian lit! Good stuff........

No one has mentioned yet Jane Austen or the Brontes. I'm not a big fan of Hardy myself, Tennyson rocks. One of my favorite poets of all time. George MacDonald is a favorite as well, and of course, you must love Dickens.

Forkbeard

*SIGH* So many books, so little time.

**crickhollow** · 05-03-2004, 03:23 AM

The Brontes=yuck. I read Jane Eyre, and was depressed by the end of it, that I hadn't the heart to touch Wuthering Heights.

But Dickens...Great Expectations excluded, I really like Dickens. I think the reason that so many people can't stand him is that everyone reads Great Expectations in their English classes first. Before you get to the good stuff, like Tale of Two Cities, or even, A Christmas Carol. Seriously. Why is Great Expectations so great? An abused child who grows up into an arrogant young man, an ice queen, and a loopy old woman who runs around in her wedding dress 50 years after she was jilted at the altar. Magwitch is a colorful character, yes, but he only livens things up at the very beginning and ...ehm, maybe I shouldn't give away the whole thing. So help me out here--why is Great Expectations assigned first? It isn't to help keep the characters straight--Hard Times is the novel with the fewest characters.

Current Favorite Dickens read: Our Mutual Friend (or Pickwick! Pickwick was hilarious!)

[edit: Yay for G. MacDonald! I love his Fairy Tales. Has anyone read The Light Princess?]

**crickhollow** · 05-03-2004, 03:26 AM

Y'all left out Oscar Wilde. Ravenna is a beautiful piece of poetry. And then there's An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

sun-star · 05-03-2004, 10:10 AM

Oh, I forgot Oscar Wilde! His life gets more attention than his writing usually, which is a pity IMO.

Yuck indeed for the Brontes

Quote:

Originally posted by Forbeard
No one has mentioned yet Jane Austen

Jane Austen wasn't Victorian...

As for Dickens, I actually quite liked Great Expectations, though I preferred Hard Times. Somehow, as with Shakespeare, you know the characters and stories of Dickens quite well without having read the books, so I haven't finished one of his in ages.

I like reading the sensation novels too - I'm currently loving Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

dawningoftime · 05-03-2004, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Forkbeard
Victorian lit! Good stuff........

No one has mentioned yet Jane Austen or the Brontes. I'm not a big fan of Hardy myself, Tennyson rocks. One of my favorite poets of all time. George MacDonald is a favorite as well, and of course, you must love Dickens.

Forkbeard

*SIGH* So many books, so little time.

Jane Austen was more Georgian/Regency peroiod literature

Forkbeard · 05-03-2004, 06:45 PM

Sheesh.....Austen died after publishing Northanger Abbey in 1817, Victoria was born in 1819 and took the throne in 1837. Heaven forfend that we should be off by 2 years, because we all know that in those two years, or in those 20, the world and society of Britain changed so drastically as to make Austen so clearly Regency in contrast to Victorian.

Apparently we can't say that Dickens is Victorian either. Born in 1812, he published his first "fiction" story in 1833, Sketches by Boz began to appear in 1836 as did the first of the Pickwick Papers. Note that he is born before Victoria and begins to publish before she takes the throne. By definition, not Victorian.
Niether is Conan-Doyle, some of whose Sherlock Holmes stories were written while Victoria was on the throne.....but ooooppppsss, she died before he did and he continued to write afterwards. Huh, guess he's not Victorian either.

Periodization is all well and good folks, but let's not be ridiculous. If you love Victorian literature you're likely to enjoy Austen and Regency literature and at least some Edwardian literature, even if it isn't "technically" Victorian.

FB

sun-star · 05-04-2004, 10:39 AM

OK, calm down

Those twenty years were actually very significant both culturally and politically, but I won't quibble with you on that.

In fact, what we mean by "Victorian literature" is an interesting question, leaving aside the literal 1837-1901 dates. Some say it didn't really end until 1914 and the outbreak of WW1

Personally I think that "Victorianism" took a lot longer to die than it did to emerge, and of course the dates are inexact. The Victorian era saw such a great deal of change in society that as a term it's hardly applicable to one style of literature. The 1890s were very different to the 1850s (Oscar Wilde was not very Victorian in spirit or style, I'm sure we all agree

). In general I would echo your points, except in the case of Jane Austen. I still maintain there was very little of the Victorian about her

**crickhollow** · 05-04-2004, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sun-star
Oscar Wilde was not very Victorian in spirit or style, I'm sure we all agree .

Serenade seems pretty Victorian to me...how does it differ from Tennyson? (Serious question, I'm not being sarcastic) Though I would agree that the light-hearted mockery of The Importance of Being Earnest isn't very Victorian, what about Ravenna--the piece that made him famous?

04-22-2004, 05:03 PM	#1
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	Victorian Literature Does anyone else have a special fondness for Victorian novels and/or poetry? Personally I'm a big fan of George Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope and Wilkie Collins. Not Dickens so much, though I'm sure I'd get it if I tried... __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

04-22-2004, 10:03 PM	#2
Mercutio Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Narnia Posts: 1,656	I like Dickens, esp. "A Tale of Two Cities"; "Great Expectations" was ok...not as good as < though. Planning to read George Eliot...once my term paper and other projects...and school entirely...is over. __________________ Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries.

04-26-2004, 05:22 PM	#6
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	I forgot to mention Thomas Hardy. He's great __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

04-26-2004, 05:36 PM	#9
Mercutio Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Narnia Posts: 1,656	I've only read bits of that--We do it next year in English Lit. Its good (as far as I can tell). __________________ Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries.

04-29-2004, 04:17 PM	#10
Janny The Blobbit Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Kent, England (Not Oxford! ... yet...) Posts: 1,596	Or 'Tess of the Ubersomethings' as my friend has it. I've never really read this stuff, nor, an example off the top of my head, corrected my headteacher over the finer details of Thackery in a mock interview... Mercutio! I'm not a potato head! __________________ Janny's Songs Janny's lyrics and random photographs Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who happen to be walking about. ~ Mercutio... erm, GK Chesterton.

04-23-2004, 09:28 AM	#3
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	My favourites among 19th century literature are Frances H Burnett's The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.

04-24-2004, 03:39 AM	#5
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	And of course, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books (I think they are absolutely terrific)

04-30-2004, 03:04 PM	#11
dawningoftime Enting Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 90	I like reading Wives and Daugthers by Elizabeth Gaskell. __________________ Audio Editor

05-02-2004, 06:37 PM	#12
Shadowfax The Fleet-Footed Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: British Columbia Posts: 913	I like the poetry of the VIctorian era. My favourite Victorian poet is by far Tennyson. I love his poems, especially, "The Lady of Shalott." I'm not much of a fan of Victorian novels, though. __________________ Jesus saved me "To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child" (Cicero, 106-43 B.C.) "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth" (Picasso)

05-02-2004, 11:39 PM	#13
Forkbeard Elven Warrior Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 369	Victorian lit! Good stuff........ No one has mentioned yet Jane Austen or the Brontes. I'm not a big fan of Hardy myself, Tennyson rocks. One of my favorite poets of all time. George MacDonald is a favorite as well, and of course, you must love Dickens. Forkbeard SIGH So many books, so little time.

05-03-2004, 03:23 AM	#14
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	The Brontes=yuck. I read Jane Eyre, and was depressed by the end of it, that I hadn't the heart to touch Wuthering Heights. But Dickens...Great Expectations excluded, I really like Dickens. I think the reason that so many people can't stand him is that everyone reads Great Expectations in their English classes first. Before you get to the good stuff, like Tale of Two Cities, or even, A Christmas Carol. Seriously. Why is Great Expectations so great? An abused child who grows up into an arrogant young man, an ice queen, and a loopy old woman who runs around in her wedding dress 50 years after she was jilted at the altar. Magwitch is a colorful character, yes, but he only livens things up at the very beginning and ...ehm, maybe I shouldn't give away the whole thing. So help me out here--why is Great Expectations assigned first? It isn't to help keep the characters straight--Hard Times is the novel with the fewest characters. Current Favorite Dickens read: Our Mutual Friend (or Pickwick! Pickwick was hilarious!) [edit: Yay for G. MacDonald! I love his Fairy Tales. Has anyone read The Light Princess?] __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

05-03-2004, 03:26 AM	#15
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	Y'all left out Oscar Wilde. Ravenna is a beautiful piece of poetry. And then there's An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest. __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

05-03-2004, 06:45 PM	#18
Forkbeard Elven Warrior Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 369	Sheesh.....Austen died after publishing Northanger Abbey in 1817, Victoria was born in 1819 and took the throne in 1837. Heaven forfend that we should be off by 2 years, because we all know that in those two years, or in those 20, the world and society of Britain changed so drastically as to make Austen so clearly Regency in contrast to Victorian. Apparently we can't say that Dickens is Victorian either. Born in 1812, he published his first "fiction" story in 1833, Sketches by Boz began to appear in 1836 as did the first of the Pickwick Papers. Note that he is born before Victoria and begins to publish before she takes the throne. By definition, not Victorian. Niether is Conan-Doyle, some of whose Sherlock Holmes stories were written while Victoria was on the throne.....but ooooppppsss, she died before he did and he continued to write afterwards. Huh, guess he's not Victorian either. Periodization is all well and good folks, but let's not be ridiculous. If you love Victorian literature you're likely to enjoy Austen and Regency literature and at least some Edwardian literature, even if it isn't "technically" Victorian. FB

05-04-2004, 10:39 AM	#19
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	OK, calm down Those twenty years were actually very significant both culturally and politically, but I won't quibble with you on that. In fact, what we mean by "Victorian literature" is an interesting question, leaving aside the literal 1837-1901 dates. Some say it didn't really end until 1914 and the outbreak of WW1 Personally I think that "Victorianism" took a lot longer to die than it did to emerge, and of course the dates are inexact. The Victorian era saw such a great deal of change in society that as a term it's hardly applicable to one style of literature. The 1890s were very different to the 1850s (Oscar Wilde was not very Victorian in spirit or style, I'm sure we all agree ). In general I would echo your points, except in the case of Jane Austen. I still maintain there was very little of the Victorian about her __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. Last edited by sun-star : 05-04-2004 at 10:40 AM.

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