British Literature: Victorian Era

Period of mid- and late- 19th century in England, covering the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901.

From Reader's Guide to British History
The explosion of documentary evidence which the Victorian age produced has helped make it the most intensively studied of any period of British history. As result, in a brief introduction of this sort, it is possible to consider only works which make some effort to encompass the period as a whole.

Genre of novel or short story in which a mystery is solved mainly by the action of a professional or amateur detective.

Genre of fictional prose narrative set in the past.

Or mystery story, literary genre in which the cause (or causes) of a mysterious happening, often a crime, is gradually revealed by the hero or heroine.

Imaginative literary form, particularly suitable for describing emotions and thoughts.

In literature, tales of love and chivalric adventure, in verse or prose, that became popular in France about 1200 and spread throughout Europe.

Literary genre in which a background of science or pseudoscience is an integral part of the story.

Short work of prose fiction, usually consisting of between 500 and 10,000 words, which typically either sets up and resolves a single narrative point or depicts a mood or an atmosphere.

Family of English novelists, including Charlotte Brontë, 1816–55, English novelist, Emily Jane Brontë, 1818–48, English novelist and poet, and Anne Brontë, 1820–49, English novelist.

Anne Brontë was the youngest of the famous trio of literary sisters. Anne's literary endeavours, like those of Emily Brontë, went unacknowledged in her brief lifetime.

English novelist and member of the Brontë family. Her most famous novels are Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853).

British writer best known for The Way of All Flesh (1903), a semiautobiographical novel satirizing family life in mid-Victorian England.

English writer; an Oxford mathematics don who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872) and the nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark (1876).

From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
Say “Wilkie Collins” to a late Victorian reader of fiction and he or she (Collins appealed to both) would have fired back two words: “sensation” and “bohemian.”

Pen-name of Teodor Józef Konrad Nałȩcz Korzeniowski, a British novelist, born in Ukraine.

English author, born in Portsmouth, one of the world's most popular, prolific, and skilled novelists.

British Conservative politician and novelist. Authored the novel trilogy Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred (1847).

Writer, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK.

British writer noted for her Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) and her novels depicting the oppression of workers in 19th-century England.

English novelist and poet, born near Dorchester, one of the great English writers of the 19th century.

English writer. He was one of the first clerics to support Charles Darwin, whose ideas he partly incorporated into The Water Babies (1863). His popular historical novels include Hereward the Wake (1866).

English novelist and poet. His works, notable for their social satire and analysis of character, include the novels Beauchamp's Career (1876) and The Egoist (1879) and the long tragic poem Modern Love (1862).

British writer of essays, poetry, and novels, including Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Kidnapped (1886).

English novelist, born in India; satirised social pretensions in such novels as Vanity Fair (1848).

English novelist; major novels include Barchester Towers (1857) and The Way We Live Now (1875).

British historian and essayist whose works, such as The French Revolution (1837), are characterized by his trenchant social and political criticism and his complex literary style.

British naturalist who revolutionized the study of biology with his theory of evolution based on natural selection. His most famous works include Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

English naturalist and writer. His books on the countryside include Gamekeeper at Home (1878), The Life of the Fields (1884), and his best-known collection of essays, The Open Air (1885).

English churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

British philosopher and economist known especially for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism. His many works include A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy (1848), and The Subjection of Women (1869).

English poet, designer, craftsman, and socialist writer. He founded the Kelmscott Press (1890).

British prelate and theologian. A founder of the Oxford movement, he converted to Roman Catholicism (1845) and was made a cardinal (1879).

English art critic and social reformer. He was a champion of the Gothic Revival and the Pre-Raphaelites and saw a close connection between art and morality.

English philosopher, critic, & biographer.

English poet and critic, son of the educator Dr. Thomas Arnold.

An experimental writer, she wrote ballads, political odes, allegories, sonnets, poetic dramas and an epic.

British poet best known for dramatic monologues such as “My Last Duchess,” “Fra Lippo Lippi,” and “The Bishop Orders His Tomb.”

Pseudonym of Mary Ann (or Marian) Evans English novelist.

British playwright and lyricist known for a series of comic operas, including H.M.S. Pinafore (1878) and The Pirates of Penzance (1879), written with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan.

British poet known for a number of works published posthumously, including “The Wreck of the Deutschland” and “The Windhover.”

English poet and painter; son of Gabriele Rossetti and brother of Christina Rossetti.

British poet and critic who wrote musical, often erotic verse in which he attacked the conventions of Victorian morality.

English poet; poet laureate (1850-92). His poems include The Lady of Shalott (1832), Morte d'Arthur (1842), the collection In Memoriam (1850), Maud (1855), and Idylls of the King (1859).