Culture of the United Kingdom: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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===='''Victorian Era'''====

The late [[Georgian Era]] and [[Victorian literature|Victorian era]] saw a renewed focus on the novel. A key theme of these novels was social commentary. Early in the period [[Jane Austen]] satirised the lifestyle of the gentry and nobility, while the later novels of [[Charles Dickens]] often used humour and keen observations to criticise poverty and social stratification. One of his novels, [[Oliver Twist]] describes [[Victorian Era|Victorian Times]] and the sordid lives of criminals and exposes the cruel treatment of the many orphans in [[London]]. Another novel, by Charles Dickens is [[Great Expectations]] (1861) is a [[bildungsroman]] that follows the life of [[Pip]], an orphan navigating ambition, love, and personal growth while critiquing social mobility and class divisions. The three [[Brontë family|Brontë sisters]] and [[George Eliot]] commented on [[Northern England]] and the [[Midlands]] respectively, though all four women wrote under male pen names during their lifetimes, partly to deflect anti-feminist criticism. Nevertheless, openly female authors achieved considerable success in the period, such as the predominantly religious poems of [[Elizabeth Barrett Browning]] and [[Christina Rossetti]].

During the late Georgian and Victorian eras, several notable novels emerged, reflecting the social and cultural issues of the time. Charles Dickens’ Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) blends Gothic romance with social commentary, focusing on a young woman’s quest for independence against the rigid structures of Victorian society. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847) presents a dark, turbulent tale of passion and revenge set on the Yorkshire moors, notable for its innovative narrative structure and haunting atmosphere. Similarly, George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1871–1872), often regarded as one of the greatest English novels, explores themes of politics, marriage, and ambition in the setting of a provincial English town.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South (1854–1855) contrasts the industrial north with the agricultural south, addressing issues such as class conflict, industrialization, and gender roles. Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) offers a tragic critique of Victorian society’s treatment of women, sexuality, and class, while Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) examines themes of aestheticism, morality, and vanity in a Gothic narrative where the protagonist’s portrait ages as his soul corrupts. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), the novella delves into themes of duality, identity, and morality through the split personality of its protagonist. Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) popularized the detective genre, introducing one of literature’s most iconic characters.

[[Rudyard Kipling]]'s literature exemplifies the [[British Empire]]’s influence on [[British literature]] through his works that often reflect the ethos of [[imperialism]] and [[colonialism]]. His novels [[The Jungle Book]], which is considered to be classic piece of literature, and [[The Man Who Would Be King]] are both set in [[British India]], showcasing the cultural and political impact of British rule in the region. His poem If— famously captures the concept of the “stiff upper lip,” a British ideal of stoicism and self-discipline. Additionally, [[The White Man’s Burden]] conveys a white supremacist and imperialist perspective, encouraging the colonial domination of non-European peoples under the guise of a civilizing mission. Kipling’s works, while celebrated for their literary qualities, remain controversial for their imperialist themes.

[[File:Roald Dahl.jpg|thumb|upright|Welsh native [[Roald Dahl]] is frequently ranked the best children's author in British polls.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11444349/Survey-reveals-50-books-that-every-child-should-read-by-16.html "Survey reveals 50 books that every child should read by 16"]. The Telegraph. (March 2015). Retrieved 16 July 2015. "Roald Dahl is still king of children's literature according to a survey for World Book Day."</ref>|alt=]]

====''' World War and Modern Literature '''====

[[World War I]] gave rise to British [[war poets]] and writers such as [[Wilfred Owen]], [[Siegfried Sassoon]], and [[Rupert Brooke]], who wrote (often [[paradox]]ically) of their expectations of war, and their experiences in the [[trench warfare|trenches]]. Initially idealistic and patriotic in tone, as the war progressed the tone of the movement became increasingly sombre and pacifistic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/ww1-poets-wilfred-owen-hedd-wyn-siegfried-sassoon-rupert-brooke-rudyard-kipling/|title=5 First World War poets|website=History Extra|language=en|access-date=15 June 2019}}</ref> The beginning of the twentieth century also saw the [[Celtic Revival]] stimulate a new appreciation of traditional [[Irish literature]], while the [[Scottish Renaissance]] brought modernism to [[Scottish literature]] as well as an interest in new forms in the literatures of Scottish Gaelic and Scots. The English novel developed in the 20th century into much greater variety and it remains today the dominant English literary form.