19th Century Literature: An Introduction
The 19th Century is an incredibly important era in the history of modern literature. Novels and other forms of the written word were becoming more widely available to the general public and more people had the ability to read — especially towards the end of the century when compulsory education was introduced in statute. Books were now the easiest, most accessible form of entertainment for most of the population, so the content that people were consuming is especially important to understand.
It’s not a secret that this era was a time of change like never before. The population of Britain tripled in this century, and 20 million Britons migrated across the globe. Internal migration, furthermore, led to the growth of towns and cities and the diminishing of rural communities and, ultimately, London became the largest city in the world at the time. Huge strides were made in science, transport, and communication and peoples’ lives were tangibly changing as a result; all of a sudden, life was easier but also better understood. Social classes were being felt more viscerally: the growth of the middle class left many working-class people feeling left behind and more aware of the inequality in society than ever. This, naturally, became a topic explored in the literature of this period.
So, what was popular to read in the 19th Century? Many turned to traditional modes of literature as they craved a sense of normalcy and familiarity in a time of significant change, but others felt inspired by the new opportunities this change was presenting which led to a surge in popularity for books which included self-invention narratives. Domestic novels were widely read by women in the middle of the century, and these generally featured an independent female protagonist who would find herself during the story, usually developing a strong sense of self-worth. Considering the firmly patriarchal nature of this era in history, the presence of strong female characters is quite remarkable. Colloquial poetry which observed the happenings of society was the most popular form of poetry at the time, popularised in part by William Blake at the end of the 18th Century.
Social factors are also seriously important to consider when discussing literature at the time. The widening readership that authors had available to them was exciting and previously struggling writers had the opportunity to explore new mediums in which to publish and reach an audience. A famous example of this is Arthur Conan Doyle. His Sherlock Holmes novels were published in installments in a magazine after he struggled to find a publisher who would publish his favourite novels he’d written. Magazine publishing gave him an opportunity to reach people with his work for the first time, and others found similar opportunities in open doors that were previously closed.
Furthermore, the Victorian era coincided with the advent of mass production which cultivated a new culture of materialism. People now had access to things which they’d never had before, and this developed within some a collector mentality. Many wanted books simply to line their shelves and appear well-read and cultured — the most famous example of this in media is perhaps The Great Gatsby, published early in the following century.
Romanticism
Romanticism was a movement that began in the 1700s and lasted until the mid-19th Century that focused on inspiration, the individual, and subjectivity. It was literary realism’s equal and opposite during this era. While some were writing conservatively about people’s ordinary lives, others chose to explore the more creative and expressive sides of themselves in their writing. It was regarded with suspicion for the sympathy felt towards the ideals of the French Revolution, but featured reverent reactions to nature, emotional spontaneity, a capacity for childlike wonder, emphasis on imagination, and a concern for the outcasts of society.
Romantic authors included themes of folk literature, as they looked to stories of the past and revived them, creating a minor renaissance in the literary world. Gothic literature also became more popular within this genre as the Bronte sisters gained traction. Wuthering Heights, for example, includes intense emotions, romance, elements of the supernatural, and a gloomy setting. The emphasis on heroes was featured widely in an idealistic portrayal of love and relationships, and inner turmoil was focused on heavily as more works began to feature the ‘Byronic Hero’, a man who wrestles with his inner feelings and beliefs — a struggle which is deeply romanticised with hints of tragedy and crime in his past.
As literature tends to do, novels and poetry at this time were reactionary in nature and responded to and addressed the Industrial Revolution. Dickens is perhaps the most famous example of this: Great Expectations and Hard Times both focused heavily on the impact of an industrialised world on regular people. William Wordsworth, too, pondered the place of the artist in a mechanical age throughout his poetry. Some viewed the industrial revolution as a threat to the individual, which in turn led to some doubling down on the romanticised nature of literature, while others turned to literary realism instead. A lot of the features of romanticism were quelled slightly as the Industrial Revolution picked up steam. Nature was focused on less as an urban era set in and the reality of people’s lives didn’t live up to the emotional spontaneity or hope and wonder that romanticism required. As such, literary realism became much more prevalent as the next century drew closer.
Literary Realism
Literary Realism is the term used for presenting subject matter truthfully, avoiding the supernatural and speculative fiction, and came to prevalence more and more as the century progressed. Realist authors depicted everyday, banal activities, and experiences. Jane Austen is a good example of this: she had a conservative world view and avoided the romantic tendencies of many of her female contemporaries. Literary realism also abstained from romantic idealism and dramatisation, realistically depicting the middle and working classes. Its parallels in the philosophical school of thought suggest that this kind of writing implies that reality is separate from man’s whimsical beliefs, perceptions, and idealisations, so depiction in media must be objectivised and adapted.
Romanticism was also very prevalent in this era, particularly at the start of the century, and it was considered the reaction to rationalism in the ‘Age of Reason’ popular in the 1700s. As such, literary realism counteracted romanticism, and because romanticism was seen as a revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms of times gone by, realism has been considered an insult and referred to in a derogatory manner as ‘bourgeois realism’.
The novel at this time was often concerned with realistically described relationships between regular people which was similar in nature to philosophical realism. This is particularly interesting because it meant that the content of these books directly catered to the interests of the new middle-class readers.
Another interesting development that began in this era, likely as a result of literary realism, was the depiction of crime. A taboo subject, this topic had previously been avoided by authors — not many wanted to dirty their stories with thievery and murder. Dickens, however, decided that he wanted to respond to what he saw going on around him and wrote Oliver Twist. He saw crime as glamourised, an attractive topic that others would also be fascinated by, and he was right — to an extent. The rawness of his work didn’t appeal so much to the ‘proper’ upper class, including Lord Melbourne (PM), though funnily enough, a young Queen Victoria found it very intriguing.
Dickens believed his novel was a ‘service to society’ as he painted the criminals ‘in all their deformity’ as no-one had ever done before. The bloody code, the term which refers to the staggering number of crimes that warranted the death penalty, was active at the time of his writing, which led to more public interest in crime, especially since executions were public, cheerful events in which people would party and get drunk. Some scholars have referred to this as the ‘attraction of repulsion’.
Overall, significant changes were felt in the literary sphere during the 19th Century, which is hardly surprising: the huge social upheaval being felt by many at this time was bound to reflect itself in the art being produced, and that’s exactly what we see. Literature is reactionary, it’s a way to express oneself or see your own experiences be reflected back to you, and as times changed and industrialisation ploughed on, it’s only natural that the response changed from a romantic, idealised worldview to a more realistic one. Some of the Western Canon’s most famous novels were written in this century, proving it further to be a hugely impactful and important era for literature as new ideas were explored, topics broached for the first time, and new genres emerged with exciting new authors alongside them, gifting us fascinating novels and poetry to enjoy, two centuries on.
Source(s):
https://english.wustl.edu/19th-century-british-literature
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/crime-in-oliver-twist
https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-industrial-revolution/
