Victorian Literature

[Dark Muse]

I fell in love with Victorian Literature. I first read it for a class I was taking. The very first thing we read was Frankenstein and of course I already knew the basic story, as I am sure almost everyone does, but the book was way better than any movie, and I thought Shelly's writing was wonderful.

Than of course I read some of the must well known. Pride and Prejudice, Northhanger Abbey, Jane Eyre. and I loved them all.

I have began, but never yet could finish Wurthering Heights, mostly because whenever I went to read it, something always ended up coming up and getting in the way. I still want to finish that one someday.

I also really liked Lady Audley's Secret which does not seem to be so well known, but I found it quite an enjoyable book.

In addition, I also love the Victorian Poets

I would love to hear some of your favorites or recommendations in the genre. I am particularly be interested in stories or authors that might be lesser known/underated. But I enjoy many of the more popular and well knowns as well.

[Idril]

My favorite Victorian novel is John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. The characters are so well drawn and complex and it's a very realistic view of that upper class society with all it's warts and hypocrisies. And Galsworthy writes with such a modern voice. I was surprised he was writing about his time, it seemed like there was a distance, an objectiveness that only comes from an outsider, not someone enmeshed in that society. It has an underlying darkness to it that really struck me and the main protagonist, Soames is...simply fascinating.

Another great Victorian author that doesn't always get a lot of "press" is Anthony Trollope. He was ridiculously prolific, the Stephen King of his time. ;) You would have a lot to choose from there.

[Dark Muse]

The Forsyte Saga sounds quite interesting. It will go upon my list

[Idril]

The Forsyte Saga sounds quite interesting. It will go upon my list

Oh yea!!!! You'll have to let me know what you think of it. It's a series of 3 books, The Man of Property, In Chancery and To Let but you can get them all together in a complete volume with a couple of little vignettes that bridge the time gap between the novels. That would be the way to go. :nods:

[kasie]

Please may I nit-pick, DM? The books to which you refer should more properly be referred to as 'Nineteenth Century' than 'Victorian'. Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and reigned until her death in 1901. Jane Austen's works were published, some posthumously, by 1818, Frankenstein was published in 1818 as well. Galsworthy published The Man of Property in 1906, In Chancery in 1920 and To Let in 1921, though I agree they describe the late nineteenth into early twentieth century period. Mrs Radcliffe's were published in the 1790s.

But some historians call the nineteenth century the 'Long Century' and extend the term to cover the years to 1914 and I know the term 'Victorian' has been extended to describe the whole period, so the usage is allowable. :D

btw - if you enjoy Galsworthy, you may like Arnold Bennett: I liked The Old Wives' Tale which covers the 1870s, it has a good section describing the siege of Paris in 1870-71. And H G Wells 'social' books are fun and light to read , Kipps and Mr Polly.

[Agatha]

Fristly I recommend you Dickens' works like Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Great Expectactions. I really enjoy reading his novels, his writing is very witty and ironic sometimes. I think you'll like it :) Another book which I can recommend is Vanity Fair by W. M. Thackeray. He wrote alike Dickens, and in Vanity Fair Thackeray showed really truly and ironically society so I think you won't be dissapointed.

Next good Victorian wirter is George Eliot. IMO The best of her works are The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch.

If you wanna read something less known, I would recommend Elizabeth Gaskell(Cranford, North&South, Mary Barton) She wrote usually social novels about working class, the poverty in North. But some of her works aren't lacking in humor and wit.

And if you like poetry I would reccomend such poets like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson.

[jgweed]

The Victorian "period" is absolutely overwhelming in great writings. In addition to novels and poetry, one should not overlook the great essayists of the period, often writing in the quarterlies of the time. Macaulay, Leslie Stephan, Ruskin, Arnold, Benjamin Disraeli, JS Mill, Cardinal Newman, Pater and Huxley are but examples that come to mind--- and of course, Thomas Carlyle. Any dusty volume of Blackwoods, or indeed any Victorian quarterly, will amaze the modern reader.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Victorian literature is amongst my favourite. Of course this is quite a wide-ranging era with many different types of writer. I am not so much into Dickens’s as a serious novelist, though I suppose his stuff is fun enough and richly descriptive if you like that sort of thing.

I would seriously recommend sticking with Wuthering Heights though, as this is perhaps the best of the lot before branching out further. Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley are my favourite poets of this time, who are the big names, but Robert Southey is worth a look if you like the Wordsworth/Coleridge style of poetry.

If you fancy later Victorian fiction, the best Hardy novel for me is Jude the Obscure, and if you like or are interested in Hardy this is the one I would recommend above all others, though don’t expect fun and giggles. Perhaps my favourite novel of them all, certainly of this time however is The Picture of Dorian Gray, and if you have not read that one it is well worth it.

[Dark Muse]

And if you like poetry I would reccomend such poets like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson.

I love Browning and Tennyson

[Dark Muse]

If you fancy later Victorian fiction, the best Hardy novel for me is Jude the Obscure, and if you like or are interested in Hardy this is the one I would recommend above all others, though don’t expect fun and giggles. Perhaps my favourite novel of them all, certainly of this time however is The Picture of Dorian Gray, and if you have not read that one it is well worth it.

Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley are my favourite poets of this time, who are the big names, but Robert Southey is worth a look if you like the Wordsworth/Coleridge style of poetry.


Jude the Obscure is acutally on my list of books to read. And I also intend to read Dorian Gray.


I have not read much of Shelley, but Wordsworth is one of my favorite poets, and I enjoy Coleridge

[Charles Darnay]

Jude the Obscure is acutally on my list of books to read. And I also intend to read Dorian Gray.


I have not read much of Shelley, but Wordsworth is one of my favorite poets, and I enjoy Coleridge

Dorian Gray is so absolutely fantastic!!

As for poetry - the Romantics are quite excellent (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Blake, Shelley....). As for Victorian poets - Elizabeth Bennett Browning is quite good, as is Robert Browning. Christina Rosetti is very enjoyable and if you like more classical motifs, Tennyson is also very good.

[Dark Muse]

I enjoy Rosetti. I really like the work of her brother Dante

[CathyEarnshaw]

Although this isn't Victorian, it is Romantic Gothic type literature in the airs of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, why don't you try picking up Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho? It is a little bit lesser known than the ones you have read so far. There is also a lot of poetry in it throughout. A really good and entertaining read.

[Dark Muse]

Hehe yes, I would like to read Radcliffe. I orginally had her listed above, but than I was reminded that she acutally wrote earlier than the Victorian period.

[Charles Darnay]

Udolpho is fun. I prefer Romance of the Forest, but both are worth checking out if you are interested in the Gothic

[LitNetIsGreat]

Lesser known but thought to be as good as Radcliffe is Eliza Parsons. The Mysterious Warning is one that I would recommend, but there are many more popular ones you should read before Radcliffe or Parsons, in my opinion of course.

[wessexgirl]

Wuthering Heights [/I]though, as this is perhaps the best of the lot before branching out further. Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley are my favourite poets of this time, who are the big names, but Robert Southey is worth a look if you like the Wordsworth/Coleridge style of poetry.

If you fancy later Victorian fiction, the best Hardy novel for me is Jude the Obscure, and if you like or are interested in Hardy this is the one I would recommend above all others, though don’t expect fun and giggles. .

Snap Neely. We could be twins. :D I would echo what you say. I love JTO and WH. I'm also a fan of the Romantic Poets too.

I would also agree with Idril about Galsworthy and Trollope, except I wouldn't equate him with Stephen King! I suppose he was as prolific, but the similarities end there. (Don't want to put you off him :D)

Apart from the standard greats then of Trollope, Dickens, Brontes, Hardy etc. you could also try Wilkie Collins, "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone".