During the Victorian Age, novel as genre came on the first place. Novel of this age deal with the social issues. Though both man and woman were there but at the end women novelists won the race so this age is also known as the age of Women Novelists. "Jane Austen" was the first woman novelist of the period.
This era is known for the galaxy of women novelists. These women novelists used novel as a fertile weapon to express their condition in the society. They wrote not only about fashion, love and household but also about the social political condition of the age. The novels of this age were huge in length, they were published in installments. Though Victorian Age is known for the trouble faced by the women so they published bundle of novels.
The condition of women, during that period can be understood by these lines of "Tennyson" in his work "The Princess", " Man for the field, woman for the health ", " Man for the sword, woman for the need ", " Man to command, woman to obey".
Because of this rigidity of gender roles it became difficult for woman to justify their literary career, so many women decided to publish their work under male pseudonyms. Jane Austen published anonymously her novel " Sense and Sensibility " as under "by a lady" and Mary Ann Evans as "George Eliot", Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte as "Curer", "Ellis" and "Acton Bell".
Bronte Sisters
The three Bronte sisters, Anne, Emily and Charlotte were collectively known as the " stormy sisterhood ". In actual life, she was a shy and isolated girl with rather uneventful life. They were concerned not with the social affairs of their age but with the emotions of their characters.
Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte arrived on literary scene with a highly successful novel "Jane Eyre", "The Professor", "Villette" and "Shirley" were her other important works. "The Professor" Charlotte Bronte's first novel failed to find a publisher. It appeared only after her death. "Jane Eyre" was her greatest novel, a plain love story. In her next novel " Shirley, A Tale ", she reflects to a more normal portrait of life.
Emily Bronte
She has secured a permanent place in the history of English Novel and in the mind of English reading public by her single volume "Wuthering Heights" (1848). She was a poet as well as a novelist and her only novel "Wuthering Heights" is a poem as well as a novel. In which she depicts the story of the two families, their hatred passions and change of fortune. Her book contains numerous elements of romanticism which made her look like Byron in petticoat. She is in some ways the greatest of the three sisters.
Anne Bronte
She is by far the least important figure of the three. Her two novels "Agnes Grey" (1847) and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848) are much inferior to those of her sisters.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) was the best admired fiction writer in English. Her life was unexciting but her novels give delightful reading. She loved to present the trivial details of every day life. Jane Austen's first novel "Pride and Prejudice" was published in 1813. Her other novels are "Sense and Sensibility" (1811), "Mansfield Park" (1814), "Emma" (1815).
Besides these novels, Jane Austen wrote two additional novels, "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" both published posthumously in 1818 and began a third novel which eventually titled "Sanditon" but died before completing it. Between 1793 to 1795 Austen wrote "Lady Susan" a short Epistolary novel also.
George Eliot
"Mary Ann Evans" knows by her pen name "George Eliot". She was another great female novelist of Victorian Age. George Eliot's mind was well above the ordinary in its bent for religious and philosophical speculations. "Adam Bede" (1859) was her first novel. It presents an excellent picture of English country life.
George Eliot's other works are "The Mill on the Floss" (1860), "Silas Marner" ( 1861), "Romolo" (1862-63), "Middlemarch" (1871-72) and "Daniel Deronda" ( 1876), begin a new phase in her writing. In Middlemarch, she studied deeply the complex picture of the life of small town.
Mrs. Gaskell
She had nothing of this passion and frustration of the Bronte sisters. She was the wife of a quite clergyman. Her novels, "Mary Barton" and "North and South" deal with the social and industrial problems.
So, we can say that the Victorian Age produced a good number of women novelists. Queen Victoria ruled over England for a large part of the century from 1837 to 1901, for this reason, this period is often known as the Victorian Age. Hence, the women novelists of the 19th century are a fine blend of romanticism and socialism. The above mentioned novelists who glittered throughout the 19th century were represented largely by Bronte sisters, whose contribution to English literature is unfathomable.
This era is known for the galaxy of women novelists. These women novelists used novel as a fertile weapon to express their condition in the society. They wrote not only about fashion, love and household but also about the social political condition of the age. The novels of this age were huge in length, they were published in installments. Though Victorian Age is known for the trouble faced by the women so they published bundle of novels.
The condition of women, during that period can be understood by these lines of "Tennyson" in his work "The Princess", " Man for the field, woman for the health ", " Man for the sword, woman for the need ", " Man to command, woman to obey".
Because of this rigidity of gender roles it became difficult for woman to justify their literary career, so many women decided to publish their work under male pseudonyms. Jane Austen published anonymously her novel " Sense and Sensibility " as under "by a lady" and Mary Ann Evans as "George Eliot", Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte as "Curer", "Ellis" and "Acton Bell".
Bronte Sisters
The three Bronte sisters, Anne, Emily and Charlotte were collectively known as the " stormy sisterhood ". In actual life, she was a shy and isolated girl with rather uneventful life. They were concerned not with the social affairs of their age but with the emotions of their characters.
Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte arrived on literary scene with a highly successful novel "Jane Eyre", "The Professor", "Villette" and "Shirley" were her other important works. "The Professor" Charlotte Bronte's first novel failed to find a publisher. It appeared only after her death. "Jane Eyre" was her greatest novel, a plain love story. In her next novel " Shirley, A Tale ", she reflects to a more normal portrait of life.
Emily Bronte
She has secured a permanent place in the history of English Novel and in the mind of English reading public by her single volume "Wuthering Heights" (1848). She was a poet as well as a novelist and her only novel "Wuthering Heights" is a poem as well as a novel. In which she depicts the story of the two families, their hatred passions and change of fortune. Her book contains numerous elements of romanticism which made her look like Byron in petticoat. She is in some ways the greatest of the three sisters.
Anne Bronte
She is by far the least important figure of the three. Her two novels "Agnes Grey" (1847) and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848) are much inferior to those of her sisters.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) was the best admired fiction writer in English. Her life was unexciting but her novels give delightful reading. She loved to present the trivial details of every day life. Jane Austen's first novel "Pride and Prejudice" was published in 1813. Her other novels are "Sense and Sensibility" (1811), "Mansfield Park" (1814), "Emma" (1815).
Besides these novels, Jane Austen wrote two additional novels, "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" both published posthumously in 1818 and began a third novel which eventually titled "Sanditon" but died before completing it. Between 1793 to 1795 Austen wrote "Lady Susan" a short Epistolary novel also.
George Eliot
"Mary Ann Evans" knows by her pen name "George Eliot". She was another great female novelist of Victorian Age. George Eliot's mind was well above the ordinary in its bent for religious and philosophical speculations. "Adam Bede" (1859) was her first novel. It presents an excellent picture of English country life.
George Eliot's other works are "The Mill on the Floss" (1860), "Silas Marner" ( 1861), "Romolo" (1862-63), "Middlemarch" (1871-72) and "Daniel Deronda" ( 1876), begin a new phase in her writing. In Middlemarch, she studied deeply the complex picture of the life of small town.
Mrs. Gaskell
She had nothing of this passion and frustration of the Bronte sisters. She was the wife of a quite clergyman. Her novels, "Mary Barton" and "North and South" deal with the social and industrial problems.
So, we can say that the Victorian Age produced a good number of women novelists. Queen Victoria ruled over England for a large part of the century from 1837 to 1901, for this reason, this period is often known as the Victorian Age. Hence, the women novelists of the 19th century are a fine blend of romanticism and socialism. The above mentioned novelists who glittered throughout the 19th century were represented largely by Bronte sisters, whose contribution to English literature is unfathomable.
Thanks to write about it 😊
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