The Victorian Novel

1)      Why is fiction so important during the Victorian age? List at least four reasons.

Fiction is so important during the Victorian age because: it reflects Victorian age’s social changes; It contributes to form opinions in the reading public; also provide the reader with a portrayal of reality.

                                                                                                

2)Who was the ideal reading public of the Victorian novel?

The ideal reading public was wealthy families but after the success of libraries books become accessible to lower class.

3)Why were novels published in istolment?

 

4)What are the main concepts of the Victorian novel?

The main concepts of the Victorian novel are: the contrast between social classes, middle class family life, children ill-treatment and the effects of industries on the society.

5)With reference to industrial revolution process explain why class was one of the most important topics of the novel

Class is one of the important topics of the novel because during the industrial revolution the urbanization became an important problem. Too many people moved from the country to the city searching jobs increasing the bad sanitary condition. Also long working hours for men, women and children employed in factories and high food prices. It is clear that the hole between workers and capitalists became worse.  That’s why novelists decided to present to the reader the bad conditions of their society.

6)Illustrate the most important stylistic choices in Dickens’s fiction.

The most important stylistic choices in Dickens’s fiction are: the third person intrusive omniscient narrator; hyperbolic use of language that creates exaggeration; metaphor and metonymy in order to create a mental picture to the mind of the reader; Dickens uses also the language of sense impression because he probably wanted to underline all the bad atmosphere of the childhood world or the alienation of industries.

7)Explain what pathos is and how it works.

Pathos is a technique used to involve the reader in the narration. The sense of pathos is conveyed by using victims people oppressed by villains people.

8)The grotesque is one of the main ingredients of Victorian fiction. Explain what it is and how it works

The grotesque is one of the most important techniques used to describe characters. It contributes to the comic effect that the writer wants to add to his novel. Also the writer uses humorous strategies to create peculiar characters.

 

 

9)Explain how philanthropy worked as an alibi for people.

Philanthropy is a charitable attitude used by middle class as an alibi because rich people gave money to poor people in order to reduce feels their selves less guilty. They were guilty because they were the promoters of Industrialization that created poverty in the low social class.

10)Explain why the Victorian novel played a fundamental role on legislators and opinion formers.

The Victorian novel played a fundamental role on legislators and opinion formers because writing novel became a kind of industry itself. During the Victorian age reading was something popular as a consequence of that in the middle class the public’s opinion was able to influence the stylistic and theme choices of the novelists.

11)Characterization in Victorian fiction is one of the features intelligent reader cannot forget. Discuss

Characterization in Victorian fiction can be not forgotten because it strikes in the reader’s mind a relevant problem in a humoristic and apparently simple way. Indeed the middle class reader on one hand read the novel like a unreal story but on the other hand is pushed to think about the real essence of the novel.

 

12)Explain the role of caricature.

Caricature works as a filter giving the reader the possibility not to recognize his own through the distorting mirror of the novel so that the image presented can rise both shudders of horror, disgust, laughter.

13)Say why the Victorian novel mainly reproduces the contradiction of the middle class. Try to say what in contemporary culture is very much similar to the Victorian production in the word of the media.

The link between the Victorian novel and contemporary culture is the technique of subliminal language. Subliminal means that the writer say to the reader something important in an indirect way in order to don’t let the reader understand critics or bad reality.

14)Facts is a key word in Dickens production. Discuss

Facts is a key word in Dickens production because they are the consequence of Utilitarianism