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    Prose and Victorian Age

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    Sumaira Malik
    The document summarizes Victorian era prose writers including Matthew Arnold and Thomas Carlyle. It discusses how their writing shifted from the solitude and spiritualism of Romanticism to address the social issues and pragmatism of the Victorian era. Matthew Arnold used his works like "Culture and Anarchy" to define culture and advocate for reform. Thomas Carlyle was a harsh critic of his age who attacked traditional notions through works like "The French Revolution" and advocated for heroic leadership in "Heroes and Heroes-Worship." Both writers exemplified the transition from Romanticism to Realism in Victorian prose.

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    Prose and Victorian Age

    Uploaded by

    Sumaira Malik
    2K views4 pages
    The document summarizes Victorian era prose writers including Matthew Arnold and Thomas Carlyle. It discusses how their writing shifted from the solitude and spiritualism of Romanticism to address the social issues and pragmatism of the Victorian era. Matthew Arnold used his works like "Culture and Anarchy" to define culture and advocate for reform. Thomas Carlyle was a harsh critic of his age who attacked traditional notions through works like "The French Revolution" and advocated for heroic leadership in "Heroes and Heroes-Worship." Both writers exemplified the transition from Romanticism to Realism in Victorian prose.

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    The document summarizes Victorian era prose writers including Matthew Arnold and Thomas Carlyle. It discusses how their writing shifted from the solitude and spiritualism of Romanticism to address the social issues and pragmatism of the Victorian era. Matthew Arnold used his works like "Culture and Anarchy" to define culture and advocate for reform. Thomas Carlyle was a harsh critic of his age who attacked traditional notions through works like "The French Revolution" and advocated for heroic leadership in "Heroes and Heroes-Worship." Both writers exemplified the transition from Romanticism to Realism in Victorian prose.

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    2K views4 pages

    Prose and Victorian Age

    Uploaded by

    Sumaira Malik
    The document summarizes Victorian era prose writers including Matthew Arnold and Thomas Carlyle. It discusses how their writing shifted from the solitude and spiritualism of Romanticism to address the social issues and pragmatism of the Victorian era. Matthew Arnold used his works like "Culture and Anarchy" to define culture and advocate for reform. Thomas Carlyle was a harsh critic of his age who attacked traditional notions through works like "The French Revolution" and advocated for heroic leadership in "Heroes and Heroes-Worship." Both writers exemplified the transition from Romanticism to Realism in Victorian prose.

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    of 4

    #PROSE_OF_VICTORIAN_AGE (PART-1/2)

    The Victorian spirit began from the date (1832) of the First Reforms Bill passed in
    England. But the beginning of Victorian age is usually dated (1837) because of
    Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne in 1837.
    It was an age of Faith and age of Doubt; an age of Morality and of Hypocrisy; of
    Prosperity and Poverty; of Idealism and Materialism; of Progress and Decline; of
    Splendor and Squalor. It was solemn age yet it produces humors writers than any
    other single period: it was advanced in intellect yet immature in emotions.
    The two most important features of the Victorian age were:
    (1) The development of science
    (2) The progress of democracy.
    The prose of Romantic Movement was highly imaginative but due to the social,
    political, religious, economical, and philosophical change in the society because of
    mainly 'Industrial Revolution' in Victorian age; the prose has a direct shift from
    solitude to society that means REALISM.
    One experiences the feeling of a return:
    From Solitude to Society
    From Nature to Industry
    From Concept to Issues
    From Spiritualism to Pragmatism
    From Optimism to Agnosticism
    From Lyricism to Criticism AND
    From Organism to Compromise
    #PROSE_WRITERS_OF_VICTORIAN_AGE
    Mathew Arnold
    Thomas Carlyle
    John Ruskin
    Lord Macaulay
    #MATHEW_ARNOLD
    Mathew Arnold was a prose writer of high order. He was also a great literary
    critics as well as social reformer. In literature Arnold strove to rehabilitate and to
    propagate the classical spirit in his country.
    His teaching mainly appealed to the educated class. As a prose writer he is simply
    superb. In his writing he has attempted to eliminate the dogmatic elements from
    Christianity in order to preserve its true spirit and bring into the line with the
    discoveries of science and the progress of liberal thoughts.
    His works:
    Culture and Anarchy
    Essay in Criticism
    On Translating Homer
    Literature and Dogma & etc...
    The above mentioned four works are the best to portray Arnold's philosophy under
    the Victorian circumstances. In the first book "Culture and Anarchy" he has given
    the idea of culture its definition and describes how can we built good culture,
    Along with culture he has also described Anarchy and the root cause of Anarchy.
    The first two chapter of the book are of great importance. The first chapter
    'Sweetness and Light' Arnold describes the culture in this chapter. In order to
    support his argument he has also given some powerful examples. He has given
    example of Honey bee. He thinks, in order to pursuit culture we need to be like
    honey bee who sucks juice from all sort of flowers whether sweet, bitter or sour.
    But what ultimately it produces is only sweetness. He thinks, we should also
    experience all culture and like honey bee only should adopt the sweetness of that
    culture. In the very next chapter, 'Doing as one Likes' he describes Anarchy. As
    one can guess through the title of chapter that he has talked about the excess of
    power and allowing one to do what he likes. He thinks that if we allow every
    individual to do what they want there would be anarchy in the society. In order to
    control that we must make law this should not only apply on lower class but on the
    elite, aristocratic class as well.
    He bases his critical principals on his study of Greek Literature, Greek Objectivity,
    Greek Sanity, Greek sense of balance and proportion- all we can find in his
    writing. Hebraism and Hellenism chapter #4 of Culture and Anarchy and book,
    "On Translating Homer" is one the best example in this regard.
    Here a shift from solitude to society, concept to issues, and spiritualism to
    pragmatism can be seen in his writing. The true essence of realism and criticism
    for reformation can be seen.
    #THOMAS_CARLYLE
    Carlyle started his literary career with his translation of German work "Life of
    Schiller" (1823). Later he came out with a string prose works which have made for
    him a secure niche in the realm of immortal writers.
    Carlyle was 'a heaver rocks'. He was extremely critic of his age and succeeded in
    demolishing the claptrap of traditionalized notion of the Victorian age. His age
    indeed was witness to unprecedented prosperity and enlightenment ushered in by
    the Industrial Revolution. He hated democracy, parliament, universal franchise, all
    liberalism, traditional dogmas, hollow officialdom, and common-worship.
    In religion he subjected his Calvinism to the influence of German
    transcendentalism and evolved a mystic creed of his own. He united in remarkable
    degree the artistic and the moral impulse: and he is in this respect typical of the
    Victorian ear; during which more than ever before art was infused with moral
    purpose.
    Some of Carlyle's works are:
    The French Revolution
    Heroes and Heroes-Worship
    Past and Present
    The Life of Sterling
    The French Revolution is the work of essentially a zestful creative artist who has
    turned to history.
    Carlyle in its dramatic picture of the French Revolution offers the reader an
    estimate of an event that disturbed and shocked the consciences of Carlyle's
    grandparents. His imagination vitalises and vivifies the whole period.
    In another book 'Heroes and Heroes-Worship' which is a series of of lectures
    Carlyle has defined the value of being Hero. He has also described the qualities of
    hero.
    His summary of History as presented in this work has Six division:
    The Hero as Divinity
    The Hero as Poet
    The Hero as Prophet
    The Hero as Priest
    The Hero as King
    The Hero as Man of Letters
    "The Life of Sterling" (1851), it is a biography of sterling who as one of the heroes
    who impressed and influenced Carlyle. The book has indisputable merits. Last but
    not least Carlyle's book, 'Past and Present' is masterpiece.
    Past and Present
    In this book he has used Greek Myths to describe the current situation of Victorian
    age because of Industrial Revolution and Democratic progress.
    He has used Greek myths of 'Midas' and 'Sphinx' to describe the condition of
    peoples. He has also given them suggestions through 'Morrison pills'
    It was the result of his brilliant and relative writing that he is said to be the Prophet
    and seer of his age.
    The Victorian shift from Romanticism to Realism, can be seen. It can also seen
    that who Carlyle has shift the change from spiritualism to pragmatism, from
    optimism to agnosticism and mainly from concepts to issues

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