19th century
British society was vibrant with much creativity from
writers, scholars, philosophers, explorers - who churned out
novels, ideas and concepts, developed theories, advanced
knowledge. In fact, European dynamism and sense of
superiority grew in the 17th century with the Turkish defeat
in Vienna and the triumph of Newtons mechanics. The 18th
century witnessed scientific progress, industrial take-off
as well as the rise of the British novel and Empire.
18th
century
Daniel Defoe (c1660-1731) was
an English novelist and journalist. He wrote The Adventures
of Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll
Flanders (1722). Literary critic Edward Said
commented that: although Britain was just embarking on its
imperial project, "Robinson Crusoe is unthinkable without
a colonising mission that allows him to create a new world
on distant shores..." (Culture and Imperialism, 1993)
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote hard hitting
anonymous critiques of politics and the Church and after the
death of Queen Anne in 1714, he retired to live in Dublin
where he became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral. He wrote
A Tale of a Tub (1704) and Gulliver's Travels
(1726). The latter was a far reaching satire on his own
society, the England of the 1720. Lilliput stood for England
constantly at war with the French. The story became highly
popular. His friend Alexander Pope wrote to
tell him: "It is read from the highest to the lowest,
from the Cabinet council to the nursery. The whole town,
men, women and children are full of it." [Daily Mail, 08
Apr 1996:]
19th century novels & poetry
Ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_literature
Major political and social changes at the end of the
18th century, particularly the French Revolution, prompted a
new breed of writing now known as Romanticism. William
Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge began the trend for bringing emotionalism and
introspection to English literature, with a new
concentration on the individual and the common man. About
the same time, William Blake, was constructing
his own highly idiosyncratic poetic creations, while the
Scottish nationalist poet Robert Burns was
adapting the folk songs of Scotland into national poetry for
his homeland.
Jane Austen began writing about the life of
the landed gentry, seen from a woman's point of view.
Walter Scott launched Waverley, his first
novel in 1814 followed by Ivanhoe. From the mid-1820s
to mid-1840s, fashionable novels depicting the lives of the
upper class dominated the literature market.
Charles Dickens emerged on the literary scene
in the 1830s and wrote vividly about London life and the
struggles of the poor. Started with The Pickwick
Papers. It was in the Victorian era (1837-1901) that
the novel became the leading form of literature in English.
The best known works of the era include the emotionally
powerful works of the Brontλ sisters; the satire
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace
Thackeray and Anthony Trollope's
insightful portrayals of the lives of the landowning and
professional classes. George Eliot's novels
combined high literary detail combined with intellectual
breadth. The rural and country scene may be seen in the
novels of Thomas Hardy. Literature for
children include the work of Lewis Carroll
such as Alice in Wonderland.
Victorian poets include Alfred Tennyson
(1809-92),
Robert Browning (and his wife, Elizabeth
Barrett Browning), and Matthew
Arnold, whilst John Ruskin and Dante
Gabriel Rossetti wrote both stories and
poetry.
Scottish literature in the 19th century, following the
example of Walter Scott, includes Robert
Louis Stevenson's short novel Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886),
Kidnapped and Treasure Island.
Major British novels - 19th century
Ref:
www.columbia.edu/cu/english/orals/19cBritNovel1.htm
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1803/1818)
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1816)
Persuasion (1818)
Walter Scott, Waverley (1814)
The Antiquary (1816)
Ivanhoe (1819)
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)
Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers (1837)
Oliver Twist (1838)
David Copperfield (1850)
Bleak House (1853)
Little Dorrit (1857)
Great Expectations (1861)
Our Mutual Friend (1865)
Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton (1848)
Cranford (1853)
Charlotte Bronte, The Professor (1846/1857)
Jane Eyre (1847)
Villette (1853 )
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847)
Anne Bronte, The Tennant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848)
Pendennis (1850)
Henry Esmond (1852)
Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers (1857)
Can You Forgive Her? (1864)
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1860)
The Moonstone (1868)
George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860)
Felix Holt, The Radical (1866)
Middlemarch (1869)
Daniel Deronda (1876)
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
Tess of the D' Urbervilles (1891)
Jude the Obscure (1895)
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
George Gissing, New Grub Street (1893)
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (1895)
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(1892)
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
---------------------------------
It is clear that the British were extremely creative
in the 19th century.
France
and especially England have an unbroken tradition of
novel-writing, unparalleled elsewhere.
(Edward Said, Culture & Imperialism, 1993 pg xxii).