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Chapter4 Victorian Period1836-1901
2. background
(1)early years： rapid economic development as well as serious social problems
(2)the next twenty years： prosperity and relative stability. a national spirit of earnestness，respectability， modesty domesticity
(3)the last three decades： the decline of the British empire and the decay of the Victorian values
3. idea：
(1)Darwin‘s The Origin of Species; The Descent of Man shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith
(2)Utilitarianism： whether it could promote the material happiness
(3)socially conscious writers criticized(2)‘s depreciation of cultural values， cold indifference towards human feeling
(4)literature： magnitude and diversity， romantically and realistically
4.critical realist writers： criticized the society， concerned about the fate of common people
Charles Dickens
1.theme：critical realist writers， criticize： poverty， injustice， hypocrisy， corruptness
2.works： Oliver Twist; The Pickwick Paper; David Copperfield; Domeby and Son; A Tale of Two Cities; Bleak House; Little Dorrit; Hard Times; Great Expectations
3.characteristics：
(1)he is skillful in the dialect and have a large vocabulary
(2)character portrayal
(3)characters are mostly innocent， helpless ，persecuted child characters
(4)a mixture of humor and sympathism
(5)bizarre figure， horrible
4.Oliver Twist： the cruelty and hypocrisy of the workhouse system and the dark criminal underworld life
The Bronte Sisters
1.scene：vast，rough，untouched moorland wilderness
2.Charlotte Bronte： Jane Eyre
Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre.
Rochester： a grim-looking， energetic， quick-tempered， but an understanding middle-aged man
Jane Eyre： has a burning spirit and a longing to love and be loved
Jane Eyre： struggles for recognition of her basic rights and equality as a woman. It‘s an individual conscious struggle towards self-realization. She gets joy through the sacrifice of herself or her weakness overcome
3.Emily Bronte： Wuthering Heights(uses flashbacks)
Nelly： Catherine‘s old nurse， narrator， told Mr.Lockwood， a temporary tenant the story
Alfred Tennyson
1.Crossing the Bar; Ulysses; Break， Break， Break
2.evaluation：Poet Laureate (Wordsworth， Southey)
3.features：a powerful expression of the poet‘s philosophical and religious thoughts， his doubts about life， soul.
Robert Browning
1.features：perfects “dramatic monologue”， keeps readers onmouseover， thoughtful and enlightened
2.works： My Last Dutches， in heroic couplets， dramatic monologue
George Eliot
1.idea：founder of “stream of consciousness”， focus on inner struggle. hereditary influences govern human action. concern forthe destiny of woman. the tragedy of women lies in their very birth(hereditary influences)
2.works features ：naturalistic and psychological novel
3.works：Middlemarch：a full view of life in a small EnglishtownThomas Hardy
1.evaluation：naturalist(D.H.Lawrance; Theodore Dreiser; George Eliot)，also critical realist writer (Dickens)
2.works：Wessex， The Return of the Nature; The Mayor of Casterbridge; Tess of the D‘Urbervilles; Jude the Obscure
3.features：nostalgic(Washington Irving; F.Scott Fitzergerald; William Faulkner)，also pessimistic
4.naturalism：Darwin‘s idea of “survival of the fittest”
(1)man is born with tragic，inevitably bound by his own hereditary traits
(2)man proves powerless before fate however he tries，he seldom escapes his doomed destiny
5.Tess of the D‘Urbervilles：
(1)criticize the society， hypocrisy of the society
(2)nauralism， the misery， poverty Tess suffers
