Alfred Tennyson, often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry.
The Victorian age was an age where many changes occurred
socially, economically, and industrially. People began to explore
into areas such as the earth, the human body, and how to benefit
the daily lives of individuals. English literature was also
something that was beginning to be developed.
Historically, it began when Queen Victoria was anointed to the
thrown in 1837 and brought a new prosperity to England. She held
the throne for 63 years which is the longest monarch to hold the
thrown ever in English history. To many people, she was a symbol
of stability and prosperity as evidenced by the following feeling
from her people. The Victorian age has been said to be a very
diverse time. Historian T.B. Macaulay in 1838 said that the
English had become 'the greatest and most highly civilized people
that ever the world saw.' Yet, another man by the name of Benjamin
Disraeli, who was a writer and a politician, disagreed with this
statement and pointed out that the existence of an England of 'two
nations who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and
feelings, as if they were ... of different planets; who are
formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are
ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same
laws.' He further says that 'these two nations were the richest
and poorest.' It was a time when the rich were rich, and the poor
people were poor. The poor or lower class of people went hungry
and half naked throughout most of their lives. Life and death went
hand in hand; wealth and poverty stood side by side; repletion and
starvation laid them down together.
Such rapid change in industry destroyed jobs as it provided
new ones. The population shifted and left thousands housed in
urban slums with bad water, no sanitation, and little food. The
depression left whole factories unemployed, and with no means of
producing goods. Yet, some people believed that the only way to
control population growth was
socially, economically, and industrially. People began to explore
into areas such as the earth, the human body, and how to benefit
the daily lives of individuals. English literature was also
something that was beginning to be developed.
Historically, it began when Queen Victoria was anointed to the
thrown in 1837 and brought a new prosperity to England. She held
the throne for 63 years which is the longest monarch to hold the
thrown ever in English history. To many people, she was a symbol
of stability and prosperity as evidenced by the following feeling
from her people. The Victorian age has been said to be a very
diverse time. Historian T.B. Macaulay in 1838 said that the
English had become 'the greatest and most highly civilized people
that ever the world saw.' Yet, another man by the name of Benjamin
Disraeli, who was a writer and a politician, disagreed with this
statement and pointed out that the existence of an England of 'two
nations who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and
feelings, as if they were ... of different planets; who are
formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are
ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same
laws.' He further says that 'these two nations were the richest
and poorest.' It was a time when the rich were rich, and the poor
people were poor. The poor or lower class of people went hungry
and half naked throughout most of their lives. Life and death went
hand in hand; wealth and poverty stood side by side; repletion and
starvation laid them down together.
Such rapid change in industry destroyed jobs as it provided
new ones. The population shifted and left thousands housed in
urban slums with bad water, no sanitation, and little food. The
depression left whole factories unemployed, and with no means of
producing goods. Yet, some people believed that the only way to
control population growth was