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1、The Victorian Age,(1832-1902),Unit,Objectives,1.To have the basic knowledge about the brief history of the Victorian Period.2.To be familiar with Charles Dickens writing styles and major contribution to English literature.3.To know something about Bronte Sisters and their representative works:Jane E
2、yre and Wuthering Heights,Contents,The BackgroundCharles Dickens and his position in British literatureBronte Sisters and their writings,Historical Background(1832-1868),-began with the passage of the Reform Bill in 1832 and closed at the end of the Boer War in 1902.,Victoria age:,Victoria age:Betwe
3、en the queen Victorias accession in 1837 and her death in 1901.She ruled for 63 years,the longest in English history.,It can be divided into 2 periods:-Early Victoria Period（1832-1868）-Late Victoria Period（1869-1902）,Politicallya period of great social unrest(Chartist Movement 1838-48);Reform Bill(1
4、832)was enacted,giving right to representation of growing cities and 50%raise of electorate to middle class.,Economically An age of prosperity and progress the richest and most powerful;the 1st urban and industrial society in the world;The development of science and technology:railways,telegraphs,jo
5、urnalism;,Culturally 97%people able to read by 1900;cheaper paper;faster printing;easier circulation;more working readers demanding cheap literature:,Literarilypoetry Alfred Tennyson(1809-1892):poet laureateRobert Browning(1812-1889)Elizabeth Barrett Browning(1806-1861)NovelA Golden Age of Novel：(Cr
6、itical)realist novelsCritical realism flourished as a literary current.,*Critical Realism,The English critical realists of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of fifties.The realists set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and
7、 delineated the crying contradictions of bourgeois reality.Critical realists reveal the social reality and criticize the injustice,poverty and religious hypocrisy.,Critical realists reveal the social reality and criticize the injustice,poverty and religious hypocrisy.,The Features of English Critica
8、l Realism,1.Gives a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and shows profound sympathy for the common people.2.Democratic and humanistic3.Unable to find a good solution to the social contradictions.,*Some major novelists:,William Makepeace Thackeray Vanity Fair 名利场George Eliot The Mill on the Floss
9、弗洛斯河上的磨房,Charles Dickens,（1812-1870）,-born in 1812;-the second of eight children;-poor schooling but wide reading;-began to work at 12 in a warehouse;-a law clerk,then a newspaper；-reporter,and finally a novelist.,His life,He was one of the greatest critical realist writers of the Victorian Age and
10、accomplished over twenty novels.Greatly with his efforts and accomplishments,Critical Realistic tradition was firmly established.He successfully portrayed a number of characters by presenting a lot of exact actions and words that fit these characters in their positions and in their environments.,*co
11、ntribution to English literature,*Writing Features,He offers a most complete and realistic picture of the English bourgeois society of his age in his novels.His novels tell much of the unhappy experiences of his own childhood.,He is a great humorist and satirist.His novels are full of humor and sati
12、re.He is good at creating characters with black humor.He couldnt overstep the limits of his class and failed to see the necessity of a bitter struggle of the oppressed against their oppressors.,*Writing Features,His major works The Pickwick Papers(1837)Oliver Twist(18371839)David Copperfield(1849-50
13、)A Tale of Two Cities(1859)Bleak House(1852)Hard Times(1853-54)Great Expectations(186o1861),The Bronte sisters,Charlotte Bronte Emily Bronte Anne BronteAll talented writers All died young All lovers of literature Received some education in Charity school with a bad living condition,*Jane Eyre,The cr
14、iticism of the bourgeois system of educationPosition of women in the societyEducation is the key to all social problems,Charlotte Bronte(1816-1855),Emily Bronte(1818-1848)Wuthering Heightsa powerful attack on the bourgeois marriage systemthe pure love was destroyed by class prejudice founded on wealth.a true love is impossible in a class society,
