Notes of the 4^th/05/2012

• The Victorian Novel

The novel was very important for people of the period. Exploitation of work of children was in the novel. It had the role that today has television for people’s opinion.

In English society people could see the effects of the Industrial Revolution. People read novels creating opinions about their society. The novel had a documentary feature: people can see there something that is near the reality. In England in 1840 there was compulsory education. People read a lot, above all novels which were documents of the reality. Great Britain, from agricultural country became an industrial country (see Toynbee). In the novel the reader could see the problems and the suffering of the English society: for example the conflict between employers and employees, the closing of the factories. In the Victorian novel there were also elements of entertainment. The fiction was used to attract reader’s attention, the writer knew the way to keep the reader’s attention alert. During the Victorian age the publishing business spread. Many novels were published in installments for growing the curiosity of the readers and for making him to buy the magazines where it was published. Victorian novels written till the first half of the 19^th century expressed the optimistic view of life, society and progress the people had. After 1950 begins the crisis of values. There were conflicts for finding a job and for surviving because there wasn’t a law that settled the supply and the demand. On the other side the Industrial revolution brought some improvements. Thus the Victorian age is a period of contradictions. Malthus stated that often progress doesn’t bring wellbeing. (It can be see a link with the present condition of our country and Europe in general).

Great Britain is the country from where the Industrial revolution took place. London was the market more important of the world and his position of supremacy was given by the colonies. At that time there were other social conflicts between riches and pours, workers and owners. The Darwinism theories spread also in economical fields. Utilitarism, Puritanism were the other fundaments of Victorianism. The religion had a very important role in the society.