The Victorian EraThe sun never sets on the British Empire, and

British policies make the world England.

Historical Background

Queen Victoria was born in 1819 and died in 1901.

She ruled England from 1837 until her death.

She is the longest reigning monarch of England.

But her great-great granddaughter is giving her a run for her money.

She was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg from 1840 until his death in 1861.

Together, they had nine children.

They are called the “Grandparents of Europe.”

Victoria’s Empire

Common Themes of Victorian Lit

Earnestness….Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Respectability…..Oscar Wilde

Evangelism….The Brontes

Evolution and Progress…Charles Dickens

Hypocrisy….Thomas Carlyle

Restraint…..Matthew Arnold

Utilitarianism….Dante Gabriel Rosetti and Christina Rosetti

What influenced these writers?

Social changes

Child labor

Industrialization

Improved medicine

Urbanization

Public education for both sexes

Increase in population

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Who was he?

Miss Hendricks’s second favorite poet of all time

August 5, 1809-October 6, 1892

Married later in life due to a complicated romantic relationship

Two children, both sons

Poet laureate of England and one of Queen Victoria’s favorite poets

Influenced by mythology (Ulysses, Lady of Shalott)

What did he write?

Ulysses

The Lady of Shalott

In Memoriam A.H.H.

The Charge of the Light Brigade