TIME-CHART OF THE CHIEF AUTHORS
The thick line represents the period of important literary work.
1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 | | | | | | | | | | | ║[215] | | | | | | ║ | Tennyson |........|.║======================================================║ | (1809–1892) | | | | | | | | | | | ║[216] | | | | | ║ | | Browning |........|.║=================================================║ | | (1812–89) | | | | | | | | | | | ║[217] | | | | ║ | | | Dickens |........|..║==================================║ | | | (1812–70) | | | | | | | | | | | |║ ║[218] | | ║ | | | | Thackeray |........|........|║=║=================║ | | | | (1811–63) | | | ║ | | | | | | | ║ | | | ║[219] | | | | ║ | Meredith | ║..|........|........|...║===================================║....| (1828–1909) | | | | | | | | | | | ║[220] | | | ║ | | ║ | | Carlyle |........|.║============================║....|........|..║ | | (1795–1881) | | | | | | | | | | ║[221] | | | ║ | | | | | Macaulay |..║==============================║ | | | | | (1800–59) | | | | | | | | | | | | ║[222] | | | | | ║ |║ Ruskin |........|........|...║===========================================║.....|║ (1819–1900) | | | | | | | | |
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1. An Era of Peace. The few colonial wars that broke out during the Victorian epoch did not seriously disturb the national life. There was one Continental war that directly affected Britain—the Crimean War—and one that affected her indirectly though strongly—the Franco-German struggle; yet neither of these caused any profound changes. In America the great civil struggle left scars that were soon to be obliterated by the wise statesmanship of her rulers. The whole age may be not unfairly described as one of peaceful activity. In the earlier stages the lessening surges of the French Revolution were still left; but by the middle of the century they had almost completely died down, and other hopes and ideals, largely pacific, were gradually taking their place.
2. Material Developments. It was an age alive with new activities. There was a revolution in commercial enterprise, due to the great increase of available markets, and, as a result of this, an immense advance in the use of mechanical devices. The new commercial energy was reflected in the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was greeted as the inauguration of a new era of prosperity.
3. Intellectual Developments. There can be little doubt that in many cases material wealth produced a hardness of temper and an impatience of projects and ideas that brought no return in hard cash; yet it is to the credit of this age that intellectual activities were so numerous. There was quite a revolution in scientific thought following upon the works of Darwin and his school, and an immense outburst of social and political theorizing which was represented in England by the writings of men like Herbert Spencer and John Stuart Mill. In addition, popular education became a practical thing. This in its turn produced a new hunger for intellectual food, and resulted in a great increase in the productions of the Press and of other more durable species of literature.
LITERARY FEATURES OF THE AGE
The sixty years (1830–90) commonly included under the name of the Victorian age present many dissimilar features; yet in several respects we can safely generalize.