12th meeting Late Victorian and Edwardian Literature 22 A

LATE VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN LITERATURE

English Literature Development

Queen Victoria ruled during the Victorian Era, which lasted from 1837 to 1901. It shaped expectations for behavior and created a vision of the ideal man. Industrialization brought wealth, but also poverty and suffering. Citizens of the working class were granted the right to vote, which marked the beginning of human rights. As society shifted to modernism, the Victorian Era's optimism was on the decline.

LATE VICTORIAN ERA

Literature in the Victorian Era had the following characteristics:

• commented on issues in society, religion and the economy

• urbanization

• criticized industrialism 

• satire

• criticized the social classes

• women's rights

• morality

• emphasizes hard work and values

The period between King Edward VII's 1901–1910 reign is known as the Edwardian Era. It's sometimes believed that the Edwardian Period included the years of the First World War. The Edwardian era's literature reflected the anxiety individuals felt about the new millennium. There was some uncertainty about the future of the UK due to technological and human rights advances. The majority of writing during the Edwardian Era was centered on the idea that society was about to implode due to the new, rapid pace.

EDWARDIAN ERA

Characteristics of Edwardian Era literature are as follows:

• focused more on the individual

• poets wrote in free verse opposed to traditional rhyme schemes 

• often times a variety of styles was used in one work

• often times bleak themes

• used precise language and imagery

• not usually lengthy or wordy

The Edwardian Era gave women, children, and members of the lower class more equal rights by enabling society to break free from the small, exclusive group of people born into wealth or power. With the rapid advancement of technology, Henry Ford's Model T was a significant turning point. In 1903, the Wright Brothers flew for the first time, creating a world of new opportunities for travel and exploration. Science's discoveries of the atomic structure, vitamin A and D, and quantum theory made society uneasy about the future. Authors like Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling attempted to revive Victorian-era customs while making commentary on the key challenges of the new era.

The Edwardian Era was characterized by a variety of viewpoints on how society should develop in the future, with the younger generation believing that science and technology have enormous promise while the elder population had a more cautious and anxious outlook on the future.

One of Manley Hopkins' more famous pieces of work would be the short poem 'Andromeda' (below). Its knowns as a classic Late Vcitorian era poem for it was published in 1918, and one of the main themes in mythology.

NOW Time’s Andromeda on this rock rude,
With not her either beauty’s equal or
Her injury’s, looks off by both horns of shore,
Her flower, her piece of being, doomed dragon’s food.  
Time past she has been attempted and pursued        
By many blows and banes; but now hears roar 
A wilder beast from West than all were, more
Rife in her wrongs, more lawless, and more lewd. 
  
Her Perseus linger and leave her tó her extremes?--
Pillowy air he treads a time and hangs        
His thoughts on her, forsaken that she seems,  
All while her patience, morselled into pangs,
Mounts; then to alight disarming, no one dreams,
With Gorgon’s gear and barebill, thongs and fangs.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Rudyard Kipling is a very prominent poet in the Late Victorian era.

Kipling writes the characteristics of a man without using showy words and there is no mention of a man being heroic, rich or famous. To Kipling, a real man must be true to himself and genuine to others. Even though this poem was written in the early 1900’s, the characteristics and virtues of man are still the same. This poem reflects the style of the Edwardian era since Kipling was writing this for the next generation of society. He wanted his son to know what really makes a man and not what society says makes one. In this sense, Kipling believed the new century would see the collapse of society and he wanted to try to prevent it. 

Rudyard Kiplin

W.B Yeats was an influential Irish poet who served as an Irish senator and was heavily involved in government. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923 and was heavily influenced by his political philosophy. He met Maude Gonne in 1889 and was close friends with fellow poet Rabindranath Tagore. His poetry was heavily influenced by her and Tagore.

W.B Yeats

W.B Yeats and Rabindranath Tagore were two of the most important Edwardian poets. Tagore was the first non-European person to win the Nobel Prize in literature (1913) and was an essayist, playwright, songwriter and painter. His works ranged from classical formation to comic visionary and ecstatic. 'Gitangali' is a collection of poems that are internationally known as some of the best literature of this time period and earned him his Nobel Prize.

Rabindranath Tagore

Multiple Select

Choose the characteristics of late Victorian literature from the following options, more than one answer is possible.

• women's rights

• used precise language and imagery

• criticized industrialism 

• focused more on the individual

Multiple Select

Choose the characteristics of Edwardian literature from the following options, more than one answer is possible.

• satire

• poets wrote in free verse opposed to traditional rhyme schemes 

• not usually lengthy or wordy

• emphasizes hard work and values