维多利亚时期文学.docVIP

Part Ⅷ The Victorian Age(维多利亚时代) The Victorian Age It refers to the period of the reign of Queen Victoria, from her accession in 1937 and her death in 1901, but the era of literature is from the Reform Bill（改革法案） in 1932 to the end of the Boer War（布尔战争） in 1902. Three phrases : The early Victorian Period (1832--1854), the time of troubles, the Reform Bill Chartism Mid—Victorian Period (1855—1879), a time of economic prospering, highest point of development as a world power Last Period (1880—1902), a time characterized by decay of Victorian values (e.g. Self-control, family loyalty, thrift, hard work, etc). The background Amid the multitude of social and political forces of this great age, four things stand out clearly. First, the age of democracy; Second, the age of popular education, of religious tolerance; Third, the age of comparative peace; Fourth, the age of all the arts and sciences and in mechanical inventions. Chartist Movement(宪章运动) Chartist Movement (1836-1848) was organized by the English workers in big cities and brought forth the People’s Charter, in which they demanded basic rights and better living and working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the government, with hundreds of thousands of peoples signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people. Literature Current(文学思潮) Chartist literature(宪章文学) The English working class created a literature of its own which can be, in full justice, called the Chartist Literature. The Chartist writers introduced a new theme into literature — the struggle of the proletariat(无产阶级) for its rights. Some great Chartist poets are Ernest Jones (1819-1869), Thomas Cooper (1805-1892), and William James Linton (1812-1897). Critical Realism(批判