Romantic Period

(1798-1870? duration disputed)

o Influence into the 1860s
o In conflict with world
Pastoral nature get back to nature!
The back to nature ideas came into conflict with realities of the industrial age
o Sensitive humanitarianism
o Value of the individual
o Optimism
o Impulse to revolt, with radical political/social reform
o Gothic Novel
Novel in which magic, mystery, and chivalry are chief characteristics, alongside
many horrors (ghosts, emphasis on setting/plot, brooding, unknown terror, &
damsels in distress)

Victorian Age
Queen Victoria: ruled from 1837-1901
o Advances in science
o Industrial revolution
o Clothes were constricting
o Age of revivals, not creative
o British Empire doubled in sizes (colonies)
o Social change & commentary
o Religious beliefs pervaded peoples lives
Bible was first book most children knew
Strong ideas about respectability/moralistic notions
o Male dominated marriage
Women had no legal rights, even to clothes
Could not leave husband
o Rigid class structure
With the industrial age, middle class power was growing, but there was still a
hierarchal structure
o Philanthropy
o Death rate high (poor health facilities)
o Big disease was consumption
o Children went to boarding schools, and/or were raised & tutored by governesses
o Phrenology
Studying the bumps on the surface of the head to figure out personality