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VICTORIAN LITERATURE
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In a Nutshell
It was the best of times for the serialized novel; it was the worst of times for
satire. Yep, that's the Victorian era for you. Named for a spiffy royal lady (you
guessed it: Queen Victoria), this period lasted sixty-four years—not too long
in the grand scheme of things, but that didn't stop writers from taking their
sweet ol' time. Remember A Tale of Two Cities ? Yeah, that was Dickens at his
most concise.
Satire wasn't exactly thriving in an age that prized all things bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed. In fact, if you were to slap a label on the Victorian personality, it
might just be "earnest." Victorian writers are laced with earnestness, even
when they're making fun of it. So when Oscar Wilde took aim at Victorian
manners, he included a character named Ernest, and a gal who
will only marry a man named Ernest— and titled the whole thing The
Importance of Being Earnest ).
Why was it important to be earnest? Well, being earnest meant you were
probably trying to be a good person: thoughtful, moral, self-improving, and
all around too-good-to-be-true. Today we're pretty skeptical about anyone
who seems too perfect (politicians, anyone?), but Victorians had honest-to-
goodness heroes . Even everyday people could aspire to act like true ladies
and gentlemen. The age saw a whole slew of guidebooks for manners,
household management, and self-improvement.
Victorians didn't let their kids off the hook, either. What Victorian
schoolchild didn't recite "How doth the little busy Bee / Improve each shining
Hour?" (It's no wonder Lewis Carroll would parody it in Alice in
Wonderland with "How doth the little crocodile / Improve his shining tail.")
From the didactic novel to magazines that claimed to be wholesome for the
whole family, the Victorians found ways to improve every shining minute.
Children could learn to behave better, adults could improve their knowledge
and morality, the nation could keep growing, trains could run even faster—
you get the idea.
The 19th century was also the age of good humor and joviality. After all, what
Dickens novel is really complete without a Christmas party and some punch ?
This is totally a case of art imitating life: some Victorian parties are so
famous that they have their own encyclopedia entries . Queen Victoria had
both a Golden and a Diamond "Jubilee" to celebrate her extended reign. And

when Prince Albert (her husband) wanted to showcase the nation's industry,
he came up with what was basically an early World's Fair . He even had
the Crystal Palace built just to house it.
If Victorian lit had a motto, it might well be "work hard, play hard"—which
might explain all those 800-page novels: all that work for all that fun.
Why Should I Care?
The story goes that Victorians were so prudish they even covered piano legs
with little pantalettes. Even saying the word "leg" at all was sometimes
considered scandalous.