维多利亚时期的文学

The Victorian Age

The Reform Bill（改革法案）of 1832 gave the middle class the political power it needed to consolidate—and to hold—the economic position it had already achieved. Industry and commerce burgeoned. While the affluence of the middle class increased, the lower classes, throwing off their land and going into the cities to form the great urban working class, lived ever more wretchedly. The social changes were so swift and brutal that Godwinian utopianism rapidly gave way to attempts either to justify the new economic and urban conditions, or to change them. The intellectuals and artists of the age had to deal in some way with the upheavals in society, the obvious inequities of abundance for a few and squalor for many, and, emanating from the throne of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), an emphasis on public rectitude and moral propriety.

The Novel

The Victorian era was the great age of the English novel—realistic, thickly plotted, crowded with characters, and long. It was the ideal form to describe contemporary life and to entertain the middle class. The novels of Charles Dickens, full to overflowing with drama, humor, and an endless variety of vivid characters and plot complications, nonetheless spare nothing in their portrayal of what urban life was like for all classes. William Makepeace Thackeray is best known for Vanity Fair (1848), which wickedly satirizes hypocrisy and greed.

Emily Brontë's (see , family) single novel, Wuthering Heights (1847), is a unique masterpiece propelled by a vision of elemental passions but controlled by an uncompromising artistic sense. The fine novels of Emily's sister Charlotte Brontë, especially Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853), are more rooted in convention, but daring in their own ways. The novels of George (Mary Ann Evans) appeared during the 1860s and 70s. A woman of great erudition and moral fervor, Eliot was concerned with ethical conflicts and social problems. George produced comic novels noted for their psychological perception. Another novelist of the late

19th cent. was the prolific Anthony , famous for sequences of related novels that explore social, ecclesiastical, and political life in England.

Thomas 's profoundly pessimistic novels are all set in the harsh, punishing midland county he called Wessex. Samuel produced novels satirizing the Victorian ethos, and Robert Louis , a master of his craft, wrote arresting adventure fiction and children's verse. The mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, writing under the name Lewis , produced the complex and sophisticated children's classics Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871). Lesser novelists of considerable merit include Benjamin , George , Elizabeth Gaskell, and Wilkie . By the end of the period, the novel was considered not only the premier form of entertainment but also a primary means of analyzing and offering solutions to social and political problems.

Nonfiction

Among the Victorian masters of nonfiction were the great Whig historian Thomas and Thomas , the historian, social critic, and prophet whose rhetoric thundered through the age. Influential thinkers included John Stuart , the great liberal scholar and philosopher; Thomas Henry , a scientist and popularizer of Darwinian theory; and John Henry, Cardinal , who wrote earnestly of religion, philosophy, and education. The founders of Communism, Karl and Friedrich , researched and wrote their books in the free environment of England. The great art historian and critic John also concerned himself with social and economic problems. Matthew 's theories of literature and culture laid the foundations for modern literary criticism, and his poetry is also notable. Poetry

The preeminent poet of the Victorian age was Alfred, Lord . Although romantic in subject matter, his poetry was tempered by personal melancholy; in its mixture of social certitude and religious doubt it reflected the age. The poetry of Robert and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett , was immensely popular, though Elizabeth's was more venerated during their lifetimes. Browning is best

remembered for his superb dramatic monologues. Rudyard , the poet of the empire triumphant, captured the quality of the life of the soldiers of British expansion. Some fine religious poetry was produced by Francis , Alice , Christina , and Lionel .

In the middle of the 19th cent. the so-called , led by the painter-poet Dante Gabriel , sought to revive what they judged to be the simple, natural values and techniques of medieval life and art. Their quest for a rich symbolic art led them away, however, from the mainstream. William —designer, inventor, printer, poet, and social philosopher—was the most versatile of the group, which included the poets Christina Rossetti and Coventry .

Algernon Charles began as a Pre-Raphaelite but soon developed his own classically influenced, sometimes florid style. A. E. and Thomas Hardy, Victorian figures who lived on into the 20th cent., share a pessimistic view in their poetry, but Housman's well-constructed verse is rather more superficial. The great innovator among the late Victorian poets was the Jesuit priest Gerard Manley . The concentration and originality of his imagery, as well as his jolting meter (―sprung rhythm‖), had a profound effect on 20th-century poetry.

During the 1890s the most conspicuous figures on the English literary scene were the . The principal figures in the group were Arthur , Ernest , and, first among them in both notoriety and talent, Oscar . The Decadents' disgust with bourgeois complacency led them to extremes of behavior and expression. However limited their accomplishments, they pointed out the hypocrisies in Victorian values and institutions. The sparkling, witty comedies of Oscar Wilde and the comic operettas of W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan were perhaps the brightest achievements of 19th-century British drama.

维多利亚时代的英语文学

威廉四世逝世后，英国开始了长达63年的维多利亚女王统治时期（1837年至1901年）。这段时期是其工业革命和大英帝国的顶峰，号称―日不落帝国‖，经济政治势力空前强盛，文学、艺术、建筑和科技都有很大发展。文学中体现岀的此时代精神风貌，既包括一整套高贵、体面、严肃、克制的道德体系，同时又深刻揭露岀当时飞速发展扩张的社会中种种残酷的阴暗面，如泛滥的卖淫嫖娼、雇佣童工现象，帝国主义无情剥削殖民地和工人阶级等等。不但

描绘着上流社会雍容华贵、尔虞我诈的奢侈享乐，还讲述着中产阶级虚荣、挣扎着向上攀爬的刻意体面生活，又刻画岀下层人民食不果腹、艰辛困苦的悲惨境地。

19世纪后期到20世纪初期，爱尔兰产生了叶芝、萧伯纳、王尔德、乔伊斯等一批享誉世界的大文豪。这些人用英语写作的作品刻画了世纪之交英国、爱尔兰以及欧洲的社会景观、文学艺术思潮和民生百态，是英语文学中璀璨的明珠。

◆小说

维多利亚时期内，小说成为英语文学的主流形式。大多数作家都开始转向规模逐渐扩大的中产阶级，普通民众的品位喜好越来越比贵族资助者的更加具有诱惑力。

简·奥斯丁逝于1817年（维多利亚时代之前），处于浪漫主义文学和维多利亚文学之间的过渡期。她的小说从女性的视角描绘了没落贵族的生活，用讽刺幽默的笔法呈现出当时英格兰的社会问题，尤其是婚姻和金钱。

查尔斯·狄更斯于19世纪30年代岀现在文学舞台上，也采用了当时的连载岀版风潮。狄更斯重视描绘出伦敦日常生活的景观，尤其是下层社会穷人的挣扎与拼搏，不过笔法相对诙谐幽默，哪个阶层的读者都能够接受。早期的作品《匹克威克外传》等都是喜剧的经典之作。到后期，他的作品如《双城记》、《远大前程》等内容要严肃灰暗许多，但笔锋仍然未失讽刺夸张的特色。

其他著名的有勃朗特姐妹(the Bronte Sisters: Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights)的作品、萨克雷(Thackeray)的讽刺小说《名利场》(his masterpiece Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero, the subtitle emphasizes the fact that the writer’s intention was not to portray individuals, but the bourgeois and aristocratic society as a whole. )、乔治·艾略特

(George Eliot: pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans(玛丽·安·伊文斯))的现实主义小说和安东尼·特罗洛普对地主阶级日常生活的忠实刻画。

以托马斯·哈代为代表的一群小说家对乡村生活兴趣颇深，在作品中描绘出乡下地区迅速变迁的社会和经济环境以及对普通民众生活、心理的冲击与影响。

◆诗歌

这段时期重要的诗人包括丁尼生、罗伯特·勃朗宁和伊丽莎白·巴瑞特·勃朗宁夫妇，还有马修·阿诺德。约翰·拉斯金和罗塞蒂在诗歌方面也有很高成就。

◆戏剧

萧伯纳和奥斯卡·王尔德都是爱尔兰岀生的剧作家，大部分时间居住在英格兰，用英语写作。二人在19世纪末期的岀现象征着爱尔兰戏剧的成熟。王尔德在当时的英格兰和美国

都十分有名气，是唯美主义运动的倡导者。萧伯纳的作品则跨越了维多利亚时代，一战后仍然在创作；除此之外他还是著名的文学艺术评论家，但他在政治立场上亲斯大林，甚至有些发言能解读成亲希特勒，还说过一些反犹太主义的话，因此在这点上也是饱受后人批评。 Aestheticism: Aestheticism began to prevail in Europe at the middle of the 19th century. The theory of “art for art’s sake”(为艺术而艺术) was first put forward by the French poet Theophile Gautier(戈蒂埃，1811-1872) . Following him, Swinburne in English literature declared that art should serve no religious, moral or social end, nor any end except itself. Aestheticism in England also owed a great deal to Ruskin, whose social and art criticism prepared the way for its appearance, though its flowers and its fruit were not what Ruskin would have desired, because he insisted upon moral value in art while the latter aestheticists, trying to separate art from real life, paid little attention to its social and moral obligations. The two most important representatives of aestheticists in English literature are Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde. 唯美主义运动出现的背景介绍：维多利亚时代是一个道德要求相当严格的时代。随着时间的推移，道德标准愈益严格，颇有“假正经”的味道了。女人的衣服要长到遮住脚面，说“腿”不雅，说“胸”粗鄙，等等。可是当代作家福尔斯的小说《法国中尉的女人》（1968）却暴露出，这个时期一个男人竟平均每天逛两次妓院！即使是表面上的道德也对文学创作产生了巨大的影响。几乎所有的作家都遵循“说教的美学”原则。萨克雷便哀叹人们再也不能像18世纪那样随心所欲地描写“人”了。随着物质主义的发展，功利主义的影响，道德伦理的约束，“美”

渐渐从社会生活和文艺中减弱而近乎消失了。常言道，物极必反。于是自六七十年代开始，文学中“美”的伏流又逐渐上升，至世纪末有发展成王尔德(1854-1900)“为艺术而艺术”的唯美主义极端。

◆其他

值得一提的还有儿童文学。最著名的是刘易斯·卡罗尔的《爱丽丝梦游仙境》，其中运用大量的―胡话诗‖和奇异的场景与对话描写。同样偏好―胡话诗‖的还有爱德华·李尔。

英国维多利亚时代崛起的女性文学期

在作为前瞻的乡村女作家简·奥斯丁过世后恰巧二十年，英伦三岛告别摄政王时代，进入维多利亚女王的漫长统治时期——自1837至1901年，是英国历史上最为光辉灿烂的盛世。前

时还几乎星光般孱弱的女性文学陡然跳入巅峰，当勃朗特三姐妹用她们才华横溢的双手点亮粲然的女性文学汽灯之时，作为意识流支柱之一的弗吉尼亚·沃尔夫还在暗里酝酿着少年奥兰多那最初的一根肋骨。虽然由于早期的严厉限制，连玛丽·安·埃文斯这样一位天才女作家，都是以乔治·艾略特这一男性名字来面对世人的。

19世纪最后的20年中，广泛传播的社会变革开始改变维多利亚社会中妇女的地位。首先是妇女在法律上得到了更多的保护，包括离婚分配财产、监护权等等。教育系统的改革，也为妇女提供了同等于男性的机会。

在维多利亚时代的鼎盛期，自由主义已经站稳了脚跟，才得以诞生达尔文的进化论，而观念的颠覆得益于科技立法的长足发展，随着一些法律上的变革，妇女在社会和经济力方面的地位不断提高，工作种类的增加为妇女提供更多的训练机会，更多的获益，更佳的工作状况。对于维多利亚时代把妇女作为一种虚弱、驯服的生物，她们必须顺从于她的丈夫或父亲这种老观念，工作中的妇女对这种陈词滥调起到了有力的抵制作用.

有关这些变化的事例虽然还有不少，更多维多利亚人对妇女角色还是持有传统观念。特别是一些男性开始意识到这些新女性不论从个人的角度，还是社会的角度，郁存在一种威胁时，这种争论已经超出了妇女地位的讨论范围进而演变成19世纪90年代的一场激烈的风暴。维多利亚社会已经形成的家长制度是基于对女性的一种假定——女性是低等的因而必须依赖于男性。而这种假定同样也作用于去定义男性作为女性的对立面——男性是强壮、理性、有侵略性和优秀的。在这样的系统中，男性优越性是建立在女性低劣性的基础上，因此，妇女运动对于男性地位的威胁十分明显。男性不仅害怕失去他们的优越地位，也担心这种社会变革将导致妇女的优越性。

女性文学的发展不在于这个亚文化群体作品的多少，而必须是依随时代观念的革新，明清时代女作家群崛起，创作动辄几十万、几百万字的宏篇巨制，成为中国文学史上的一大奇观，但社会影响力一直微不足道，非可言文笔、意境有差，实因地位颇低，以至至今仍难受关注。维多利亚时代的女性文学则无论数量抑或质量皆蔚为大观，天才女作家层出不穷，女性作品俨然成为维多利亚时代的一朵奇葩，一个奇迹。她们为英国文学画卷涂上了重重的一笔，使其更为丰富多彩更富于深度和广度，而这一笔不仅为女性作家挣得了地位，也使英国文学远远走在了同时期世界的前面。她们的出现具有划时代的意义和影响，其笔下的女性形象充满了独一无二的时代魅力，无论是穷苦倔强的简·爱、充满反叛气质的凯瑟琳·希斯克利夫或者尽管脆弱，但已经敢于追求爱情的玛姬（《弗洛斯河上的磨坊》）我们都能够发现她们身上烁闪的思维之光、明白的进步含义。尤其是埃文斯，怀着“过分挑剔而又如饥似渴的雄心壮志”，伸出双手要求生活能够为那自由而好奇的心灵提供一切东西，并且以她的女性的抱负去勇敢面对男性的现实世界。最终，她克服了阻挡她的每一个障碍——性别、健康和世俗，她于是成为开路先锋，后来者因此而畅通无阻。