Tormented by a brooding doppelganger a ghostly double and a phenomenon which. Victorian literature and culture seeks to publish innovative scholarship of broad interest to the field. Morality, evolution, duality of human nature, victorian literature. Victorian literature british literature literary theory tools for teaching anglo saxon graphic organizers lesson plans authors charts. Apr 01, 2020 doppelgangers are spirit doubles that are generally said to be bad omens, foretelling illness, evil plans, or even death. Find examples of the alterego and evil twin in literature, and teach doppelgangers with adaptable lesson plans and activities that can be customized for all students what is a doppelganger. Oxford encyclopaedic dictionary gothic literature has its own distinctive style of narration, language, characters, settings and events. Pdf on sep 1, 2010, kiyan pishkar and others published guide to. The reliance on a double, or doppelganger, might simultaneously place jane eyre as a work of both romantic and. Gothic doppelgangers those providences of good and ill which divide and compound mans dual nature.
The doppelganger theme in dorian gray was influenced by the time and place in which wilde lived and worked. Victorian women in literature university of craiova. The gap between the rich and the poor increased significantly and the drive for material and commercial success was seen to propagate a kind of a moral decay in the society itself. Tracing the development of the doppelganger atlas obscura. Boasting such canonical authors as charles dickens, the brontes and rudyard kipling, victorian literature features an array of literary elements that were cultivated through. Translated from german as doublegoer, the term doppelganger is used to describe the double of a character. How did the romantic poets explore landscape, class, radicalism and the. The industrial revolution, the railway age, steam engines were being used in mines, factories and ships. Historians, philosophers, and scientists were all beginning to apply the idea of evolution to new areas of study of the human experience. Shift from agrarian society to industrial society creates a middle class neither rich nor poor. Diederich, the university of findlay many critics discuss the pervasiveness and effect of doubling in charlotte brontes jane eyre. English literature english literature late victorian literature. It was preceded by romanticism and followed by the edwardian era 19011910 while in the preceding romantic period, poetry had been the conquerors, novels were the emperors of the victorian period.
Victorian literature an overview victorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of queen victoria 18371901 and corresponds to the victorian era. Its grandeur does not consist in one thing, but in the unique assemblage of all things. Greenwoods map of london ever been lost with a character in the mean streets of victorian london. He is the author of the english novel and prose narrative edinburgh university press, 2000 and victorian biography. Guilt, criminality, and doppelgangers in dickens victorian web. The idea of a character on a quest is quite common in victorian stories and poetry. There are countless evil twins in soap operas and other tv melodramas. David amigoni is professor of victorian literature at keele university. The term doppelganger emerged around the same time as the gothic novel, appearing for the first time in johann paul friedrich richters siebenkas 1796. The plot and character device of twinning is widespread in all literature but appears often in fairy tales, myths, and gothic literature.
A quest is a journey made in order to seek something out such as treasure, knowledge, or just for the mere enjoyment. From ancient egypt to the victorian era, an encounter with ones double has. Its a twin or double of some character, usually in the form of an evil twin. Intellectuals and the ordering of discourse harvester wheatsheaf, 1992.
Victorian literature at the university of edinburgh. Doppelgangers and curious myths and stories of spirit. This theme has appeared in literature for centuries, but is especially popular in works of gothic fiction. Victorian literature 4 science, philosophy and discovery charles darwins work on the origin of species affected society and thought in the victoria era, and still does today. Some literature published before queen victorias reign, such as jane austens pride and prejudice, portend the style and preoccupations of early victorian literature and are. The double motif in literature using the example of stevensons. It was the transition between the romantic period and 20th century literature. In 1859 charles darwin had published on the origin of species by means of natural selection. Oscar wildes use of the faustian bargain, victorian. Woolfs use of the doppelganger, septimus, portrays a side to. The protagonist and narrator of jane eyre, jane develops from an angry. Discovering literature has been supported since its inception by dr naim dangoor cbe, dangoor education.
Doppelganger doppelganger comes from a german word meaning doublewalker. Doppelgangers in literature example edward hyde see more. The 7 most epic literary writers of the victorian era ultius. I do not know which is more annoying, the real goodfellow or the reflection. What is most fascinating about the doppelgangers that populate victorian literature is that their. Victorian period period of queen victorias reign from 20 june 1837 until her death on 22 january 1901 it was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self confidence for britain. It is not so much a split personality, where neither side are aware of each other, but rather one personality exists as. The mythology of spirit doubles can be traced back thousands of years and was present in many cultures of the past, holding a prominent place in ancient legends, stories, artworks, and in books by various authors. Boasting such canonical authors as charles dickens, the brontes and rudyard kipling, victorian literature features an array of literary elements that were cultivated through shifting social norms.
Characteristics of early victorian literature pen and the pad. In this essay i explore the dualism in oscar wildes most famous society comedy the importance of being earnest. Well, considering they are one and the same, said a second, identical grimalkin, materializing next to the first, we should be thankful that they will be only one left when this is all over. The modern spirit, matthew arnold observed in 1865, is now awake. He is the author of victorian biography 1993, colonies, cults and evolution. With the picture of dorian gray, wilde broke away from the victorian literary.
Here are some extracts from gothic novels or short stories. I was designing my first upperlevel course on nineteenthcentury literature in the. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left. The victorian era was a time in british history that spanned from 1837 to 1901, the period during which queen victoria ruled the british empire. Jekyll doppelganger a ghostly counterpart of a living person merriamwebster online dictionary. England was moving steadily in the direction of becoming europe. Abraham, we find that the period between 1850 1900 is regarded as the victorian period, which is also known as the age of compromise and the age of peace and prosperity.
Victorian literature is literature, mainly written in english, during the reign of queen victoria 18371901 the victorian era. While the country saw economic progress, poverty and exploitation were also equally a part of it. The doppelganger is in revolt against the deference demanded of the young and ambitious in all societies, but with particular severity in victorian england. Victorian perion and its salient features the beginning of the victorian period is dated sometimes as 1832 the passage of the first reform bill and sometimes as 1837 the accession of queen victoria. Discover 1,200 romantic and victorian collection items, 167 articles, 25 films, 30 teachers notes and more.
Victorian literature refers to the literary works written during the reign of queen victoria 1837 1901. Punch cartoons victorians loved their punchand their punch. The victorian doppelganger columbia university libraries. Nov 9, 2016 find examples of the alterego and evil twin in literature, and teach doppelgangers with adaptable lesson plans and activities that can be customized for all students. Literature in the victorian age the victorian age is the period of the reign of queen victoria. Examining the doubling practice of remarriage in jane eyre by nicole a. Psychologically, doppelgangers seem to be extremely compelling to human beings thats why they appear so often in mythology, literature, and film. This subgenre of science fiction often includes steam or clockwork powered technologydirigibles, robots, animals, and anything else the authors imagine. Some literature published before queen victorias reign, such as jane austens pride and prejudice, portend the style and preoccupations of early victorian literature and are sometimes included in victorian canons. Theme in late victorian horror fiction by whitney s. Introduction to victorian and twentiethcentury literature xxxiii impressions of the spectacle. The theme of the double in the victorian literature. Specifically, doppelganger narratives involve a duality of the main character who is either duplicated in the figure of an identical second self or divided into polar opposite selves. Gothic fiction tells us the truth about our divided nature.
However, since victorian times, the double in western literature has tended to symbolise an internal, freudian psychodrama taking place within the principal character, as opposed to a confrontation between external forces. They sometimes impersonate a main character or cause confusion among the love interests. This period saw the spread of the novel, thanks to the improvements in printing and distribution of. Gothic literature is a genre of novel that was popular in the late 18th and 19th century and is characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and horror, and with a pseudomedieval setting. Victorian literature and culture, volume 47, issue 3. Doppelgangers are spirit doubles that are generally said to be bad omens, foretelling illness, evil plans, or even death.
In poetry and literature, it carries the suggestion of pessimistic subject, elegiac tone, lyrical expression, musical poetry, description of the misery of the poor or old people, theme of dissatisfaction with the loss of old values and sudden modernization and degradation of the. The victorian age is the period of the reign of queen victoria. Victorian literature is literature, mainly written in english, during the reign of queen victoria. In gothic literature, not all doppelgangers are ghosts or duplicates of a person. The movement roughly comprises the years from 1830 to 1900, though there is ample disagreement regarding even this simple point. The victorian era took its name from the monarch of england at the time. The victorian reading public firmly established the novel as the dominant literary form of the era. Still have brutal factory conditions, low wages, and crowded cities, but the 1830s mark the beginning of political and social reform acts. English literature late victorian literature britannica.
The myth of spirit doublesdoppelgangershas existed since. Turning to contemporary phenomena in the second part of this paper, i will try to show how the theme of the double has heuristic value if we wish to understand some of the activities through which younger generations express themselves. Society has often deteriorated due to war or other. It is not so much a split personality, where neither side are aware of each other, but rather one personality exists as a mask for the other, often more darker side. Pdf human nature duality in victorian literature in the case of. It was preceded by romanticism and followed by the edwardian era 19011910. Nov 27, 2011 gothic fiction tells us the truth about our divided nature. Characteristics of early victorian literature pen and. Defining victorian literature in any satisfactory and comprehensive manner has proven troublesome for critics ever since the nineteenth century came to a close. High victorian literature 18301870 late victorian literature 18701901 4.
My thesis is that wilde employed the wellestablished late victorian concept of double identity as well as a dualistic. As robyn warhol observes, the trope of doubleness is everywhere in feminist critics. Readings victorian literature and culture literature. The theme of the double in the victorian literature lessons. The victorian era placed high value on honor, duty, moral seriousness, and sexual propriety. More and more novels focused heavily on traditional, typical victorian female characters and their interactions.
Victorian web tons of information about the victorian era and its artits a maze over there. Victorian women in literature may hasan srayisah abstract many authors began to write about the sufferings and endurances of women in the victorian age. A doppelganger is a literary archetype of a character who meets his or her apparent double, with plot developments following the plot and character device of twinning is widespread in all literature but appears often in fairy tales, myths, and gothic literature. The duality inherent to the doppelganger theme makes it a superb case study of this modern impulse for reinvention, for, as fred botting writes in his limits of horror. You will study with worldclass experts in victorian literature whose interests. The victorian period began roughly around the time of the beginning of queen victorias reign in 1837 and ended around her death in 1901. They are generally alternate history, with many set in victorian england or the american west. In several literary works of the 19th century the doppelganger is defined as tat des gedankens. Dualism in oscar wildes the importance of being earnest author. The theme of the double in modern fiction or doppelganger, as it is often termed is an enormous and seductive one. Gothic doppelgangers rationale throughout gothic fiction there are numerous characters who exist with another side to them. It is a wonderful place vast, strange, new and impossible to describe. Poetry elizabeth barrett browning the cry of the children nos.
Their design is inspired by the 19th century steam age. Dead is so last year by marlene perez, the jolly corner by henry james, the walls of the universe by paul melko, playing. As historian anne shepherd has written in her overview of the victorian era, queen victoria 18191901 was the first english monarch to see her name given to the period of her reign while still living. The mythology of spirit doubles can be traced back thousands of years and was present in many cultures of the past, holding a prominent place in ancient legends, stories, artworks, and in books by. The novel is the most distinctive and lasting literary achievement of victorian literature. Small towns were beginning to swell into smoky centres of mnaufacturing industry. The doppelganger is an uncanny motif comprising two distinct types.
This modern, buffered self is precisely the subjectivity the gothic tale of the doppelganger seeks to question, showing that the buffers do not work. The victorian era was an important time for the development of science and the victorians had a mission to describe and classify the entire natural world. This concept in literature did not originate in the gothic. From charles dickens to alexandre dumas, this post includes their biographical and writing history. We are especially interested in work that contributes or responds to the current moment of heightened methodological reflection, theoretical energy, and formal experimentation. Literary elements of victorian literature pen and the pad. Doppelganger doppelganger, literature, teacher guides. The victorian novel the victorian age is marked roughly by the reign of queen victoria of england from 18371901. As a projected figure a shade, a ghost, a mirage, a reflection, or mirror image the double generally acts as a foil or complement to the principal character, reflecting the idea of unity and division at the same time. After the second of several visits to the exhibition, she reported to her father. It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century. The cea forum victorian medicine, literary gothicism, and. When victoria came on the throne of england in 1837, english literature seemed to have entered into a period of lean years.
Understand why the triumph of right over wrong is a common characteristic of victorian literature know the major social, economic and scientific events. They could get wistful and sad about just about anything that was over. He is coeditor, with jeff wallace, of charles darwins origin of species. A thesis submitted to the graduate council of texas state university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts with a major in literature may 2015 committee members. The doppelganger, german for doublegoer, is a literal or symbolic double set in opposition to one of the characters of the story. Notes on contributors david amigoniis professor of victorian literature at keele university.
My thesis is that wilde employed the wellestablished late victorian concept of double identity as well as a dualistic theme in the play, revealed in the language and in the strategies of lying, in order to. Experiments with duality or multiplicity of character play an important role in the history of literature leading up to the 18th century, when the gothic was conceived. Introduction to victorian and twentiethcentury literature. Jane eyre by charlotte bronte, wuthering heights by emily bronte, great expectations by charles dickens, the pictu. No one knows entirely why this is the case, but it might have something to do with autoscopy or selfseeing. These two modes of doubling have since the earliest studies of the doppelganger motif been categorized as distinct types. The word victorian suggests a few features of the literature including poetry of the nineteenth century. Doppelgangers and curious myths and stories of spirit doubles. I wanted to argue that frankenstein, jane eyre, and wuthering heights. See our list of the seven 7 most epic literary writers of the victorian era.
1122 419 871 1529 1079 477 369 1170 1024 104 1040 467 1311 1534 1403 320 770 602 12 1188 1502 52 421 127 1386 412 907 574 1485 24 307 1274 74 1192 790 1027 1053 65 738 440 817 434 742 1103