Victorianism Versus Modernism
Matias Gutierrez
Mrs. Smith
World Literature
21 December 2012 OLD*******8
Victorianism in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Modernism in The Metamorphosis
Victorianism is about how the individual could improve the society. They believed that a good individual could make the society better as a whole and therefore improve life. Victorians focused on science and the desire for extremely realistic portrayal of life in both literature and art. Some aspects of Victorian thinking were retained while others were discarded in a new movement called Modernism. Modernists focus on the individual but have the view that humans are beings without free will and that they do not look for guidance within them, but instead are driven by factors outside of them. According to Modernist thinking, an individual is molded by the external factors that surround him. Therefore the way the society already is will affect the individual and Modernism tries to portray the effects of this. Each style captures something about the individual in the society.
As mentioned above, Victorianism and Modernism both focus on the individual and the society. An example of this from a Victorian perspective is, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This novel zooms in on the view of the morality in people and society, incorporating science as well. Both of these aspects were vital to Victorian thinking. Victorian period began during the reign of Queen Victoria, which lasted between 1837-1901. During this period the sciences went through a major revival. Both of these ideals are demonstrated in Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This novel accurately captures the ideals and behaviors occurring at the time with extreme detail and realism. “A certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door… The door, which was equipped with neither
Mrs. Smith
World Literature
21 December 2012 OLD*******8
Victorianism in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Modernism in The Metamorphosis
Victorianism is about how the individual could improve the society. They believed that a good individual could make the society better as a whole and therefore improve life. Victorians focused on science and the desire for extremely realistic portrayal of life in both literature and art. Some aspects of Victorian thinking were retained while others were discarded in a new movement called Modernism. Modernists focus on the individual but have the view that humans are beings without free will and that they do not look for guidance within them, but instead are driven by factors outside of them. According to Modernist thinking, an individual is molded by the external factors that surround him. Therefore the way the society already is will affect the individual and Modernism tries to portray the effects of this. Each style captures something about the individual in the society.
As mentioned above, Victorianism and Modernism both focus on the individual and the society. An example of this from a Victorian perspective is, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This novel zooms in on the view of the morality in people and society, incorporating science as well. Both of these aspects were vital to Victorian thinking. Victorian period began during the reign of Queen Victoria, which lasted between 1837-1901. During this period the sciences went through a major revival. Both of these ideals are demonstrated in Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This novel accurately captures the ideals and behaviors occurring at the time with extreme detail and realism. “A certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door… The door, which was equipped with neither
Cited: Masao, Miyoshi. "Dr. Jekyll and the Emergence of Mr. Hyde." College English. 27.6 (1966): 470-480. Print. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/374021>. Straus, Nina. "Transforming Franz Kafka 's "Metamorphosis." University of Chicago Press. 14.3 (1989): 651-667. Print. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174406>. Stevenson, Robert Louis . The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Roslyn: Dover Thrift Editions, 1991. Print. Kafka, Franz. The Complete Stories. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1971. Print.