英国文学简史-常耀信-Chapters-11-12.pptVIP

Key Points in Chapter 11 The Victorian Period Time Range Social, Cultural and Political Life Thomas Carlyle John Stuart Mill The Victorian Period Time Range The Victorian period spans well over half a century (1837-1901). The Victorian Period Social, Cultural and Political Life The growth of the middle class The development of a very conservative kind of morality The predominance of the moral aesthetic that proved binding to most Victorian writers. The wide currency of utilitarianism The advent of the theory of evolution Faith in progress and a sense of earnestness Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) In his lifetime Carlyle was a dominant force in Victorian poetry and prose. He was an angry man. All his life he fretted, fumed, lamented and self-tortured. His most famous works are: Sarter Resartus, Past and Present and On Hero and Hero Worship. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Mill was a well-known utilitarian philosopher. His revision of utilitarianism is mainly recorded in one of his most significant works, Utilitarianism. His emphasis on individual freedom constituted an important part of 19th-century English liberalism. He has been seen as a champion of women’s liberation and explains his position in his famous essay: On Women. Key Points in Chapter 12 The Victorian Fiction Three Phases of the Period Some Salient Features of Victorian Novels Charles Dickens Introduction Works Great Expectations William Makepeace Thackeray Introduction Vanity Fair The Victorian Fiction Three Phases of the Period First Phase: 1830s to the middle of the century Life had not become totally impossible. Writers who wrote then such as Dickens were basically optimistic. Second Phase or High Victorian Phase: the 1870s The country had changed from an agriculture to an industrial nation. This was a period of dichotomy and high complexity. Writers such as George Eliot dealt with it with subtle dexterity. Third Phase: from the late 1880s onward Dramatic changes had occurred. The ag