Victorian Literature

[sun-star]

Originally posted by crickhollow
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?

I agree with you in terms of his early poetry (Ravenna was written while he was still at university; I'm not sure about Serenade). When he came to England from Ireland he immersed himself in English poetry - Tennyson, Arnold, Milton, Wordsworth etc, and his poetry shows a lot of their influence. I think, though, that his plays (including Salome), short stories and above all his deliberately-cultivated image were always meant to be subversive and contrary to accepted values. He saw himself as having more in common with French, "Celtic" and Greek literature than Victorianism, IIRC, and believed he was an outsider in 19th century England - and of course he got his wish when his work was banned for the next 50 years.

Thanks for reminding me of the poetry - I hadn't read it in a while

(I should be more careful about writing "I'm sure we all agree", shouldn't I )