Research Paper on Victoian Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research Paper on Victoian - Essay Example The most conspicuous champion of new morality which became lively during the Victorian age was Tennyson (Glenn Everett "Tennyson and Victorianism" victorianweb.org). He started writing poems from very early age onwards. He got Chancellor's medal at Cambridge for his 'Timbuctoo'. 'The Lady of Shalott', 'Oenone', 'The Lotos-Eaters', etc. were the poems he wrote initially. In 1842 he completed the notable poems like 'Mort d' Arthur', 'Ulysses' and 'Locksley Hall'. These were followed by longer poems. 'The Princess' is a seriocomic poem that deals with the theme of the new woman wanting to shun male society and ending with a happy marriage. In 1850 appeared the important poem 'In Memoriam' which is a series of short poems on Tennyson's meditations on the death of his close friend. It contains many reflections on life and death which show the influence of the new theories of the day. It is considered to be one among the better works of Tennyson. Robert Browning (1812-1889) is a philosophical poet (Glenn Everett "Robert Browning-Biography" victorianweb.org). He contributed 'dramatic monologue' - a new form of poet, to English literature. These are poems written as an individual's words to others. The listeners don't speak but their mood and reactions are being explained by the speaker of the monologue. Thus it gets a dramatic form. Browning's monologues are of two types. In the first group he tells 'a soul's history in the episode of an hour'. In the second group he turns from the probing into the depths of human nature to assert in ringing terms the doctrines of the nobler life. The first group is far ahead in dramatization. Second are more direct expressions of his robust philosophy of life. Browning has written quite a few love poems. The best among them is 'One word more' which is addressed to his wife. Matthew Arnold's poems may be divided into two groups: narrative and lyrical. He wrote narrative poems taking Greek and Roman epic poems as models. His poetry is not sufficiently spontaneous. His is the poetry of reflection and there is the predominance of the intellectual element in it. There are several descriptions of flowers in his poems. Arthur Hugh Clough is remembered mainly for the poem 'Say not the struggle naught availeth'. Pre-Raphaelitism was an artistic movement of resisting the existing conventions in art and literature through a going back to the art forms in European art before the time of Raphael. D.G.Rossetti is one of the leaders of Pre-Raphaelitism in literature. His most important poem is 'The Blessed Damozel'. Christina Georgina Rossetti, D.G.Rossetti's younger sister also was a poet. Her works include 'Goblin market and other poems' and 'Verses and new poems'. William Morris who wrote so many poems kept enough resemblance to the poems of Rossetti. Thomas Babington Macaulay, Edwin Arnol, Francis Thompson, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, R.L.Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, etc. are the other famous names of the time in poetry ("Victorian poetry" victorian.fortunecity.com). Drama Tennyson, Browning and Matthew Arnold were the important poet dramatists of Victorian era. There were a few writers of plays in prose ("THE VICTORIAN ERA - Nonfiction, Poetry, The Victorian Novel, 19th-Century Drama" referatele.com). Thomas William Robertson penned enough number of plays which introduced a new more natural type of comedy to English stage. 'Castle' is