However, there is an undeniable dark, dangerous and rather gruesome undertone to many things that we today connect with the Victorian era. The approaching end of the century could have been marked by the fears of the collapse of the Empire, or the changes in thought, such as the theories on evolution made by Charles Darwin, or the rise of the concept of New Woman.Īs was said before, this period of time, which produced some of the most notorious texts of the Gothic genre, was not perhaps the darkest of age. More monstrosities to be apprehensive about could have been the fear of the poor, of poverty and ending up in a poorhouse, or for example, even the anxieties caused by the Great Famine in Ireland. Perhaps the Gothic writing and the use of its elements was a reaction to the monstrosities of the whole Europe, the numerous revolutions igniting across the countries (Italy, France, Hungary, Germany, Poland), as well as to the overall changes and development, which could produce the feelings of unease. By that time, the population almost doubled, technology, science and medicine progressed further, however at the same time, the divide between the social classes, the rich and the poor, became gradually more pronounced.Ĭulturally, the Victorians were highly moralistic nevertheless they also furthered their investment in mysticism and Romanticism, at its peak from 1800 to around 1850, similarly to the Georgians, who, as was said, reacted in this way to the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment. These models of instability can certainly be related to historically specific concerns, such as the idea of economic uncertainty that characterizes the period of for example “the hungry forties”, which are alluded to in the writing of Charles Dickens. The rest of the century, that which brought forth what can be called the Victorian Gothic, appears to be suffering the same fate of evoking certain instabilities in the works. It is not therefore surprising that the Gothic, seemingly thriving on the horrors of humanity, produced its own monsters at the time. The beginning of the century was certainly marked by the Napoleonic wars and the uncertainties the Industrial Revolution brought about, not only through new inventions or the progress of science, but also due to the transformation of the economic and social structure of the country. It is undeniable that the period saw many changes. Therefore historically speaking, it would appear that the century was not one of the darkest parts of the past, and yet Gothic literature and its primary aspects was revived throughout the period, despite being perceived as a genre which generally marks the presence of anxieties, different horrors, or the frightening unknown amidst the society, and is therefore often seen as a sign of something being wrong. One was the end of the Georgian era, along with the interim of the Regency period, and the other was the Victorian era.įrom the perspective of literary history, we encounter the works by the Romantics, the rise of the historical novel, realism, naturalism, and of course the progenies of the Gothic novel.įollowing the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Britain experienced a rather long period of peace and prosperity, interrupted perhaps most distinctly only by the Crimean War or maybe even the American Civil War, sending its troops as aid, and managed to regain its national self-confidence. During the nineteenth-century, Britain was the witness of two major historical periods.
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