From Romantic To Victorian

From Romantic to Victorian

The Victorian Age came after the Romantic Age and took place between the years of 1832 and 1901. Throughout the Romantic Age many authors/poets concentrated and focused on the rights of the people, as well as the idea of individualism. We are going to see how those beliefs helped spring into the Victorian Age. There are three main things concerning the Victorians during this specific time period: evolution, industrialism, and women. Along with these three comes doubt. These changes were confusing to many and began to make them wonder if what they had believed in all these years wasn't true after all.

The evolution doubt came into effect when two men began to question nature and disturb the originality of the way things are suppose to be. These two men were Marx and Darwin. Although Marx isn't mentioned as much as Darwin, we know that he was a very radical person who began to question the economic injustice of things, as well as the class system. Darwin on the other hand, was questioning the Bible and how things got to be the way they are. He brought about the idea of "natural selection" and that lead to biblical/religious doubts in people. Before Darwin came out with his idea on natural selection and evolution, scientists had exhibited doubt when the Neanderthal skeletons were discovered. This was the beginning of religious doubt. It wasn't until Darwin came out with his explanation that people really began to take into consideration and believe something other than the Bible and its explanation of how the world came to be.

Another thing that concerned the people of this time was industrialization. Sir Henry Holland once said, "we are living in an age of transition." This statement proves to very true. Throughout the Victorian Age many inventions and ideas came into place. Society was becoming more civilized and industrialized. The Romantics and their ideas on individualism brought this about. It is said that that self-definition is what characterizes the Victorian society and the thought of individualism if what conveyed it. Once you begin to think about yourself and what you want, is when you start to think about your self-definition and what you are.

The last concern that the Victorians went through dealt with the role women played. The woman was supposed to be pure and only concerned with the desire to please others and serve them rather than to fulfill her own needs. However, this was not the real deal that took place. Victorians were quick to acknowledge that their era was the first to have women writers achieve prominence.