Victorian Literature Background Questions

Victorian Literature Name:__________________
Global Literature: Europe Unit

1. How were Britain and the British Empire changing throughout the Victorian age?





2. What areas of the world were considered British colonies during the Victorian era?





3. Who was Queen Victoria? What was her life like? What role did she play in society?




4. What was the Industrial Revolution? What were some of the main technological advances during the Victorian age?





5. What problems rose up in cities during this time period?





6. What was Marxism? How did Marx’s ideas affect this era?








7. Who was Charles Darwin? How did his discoveries affect the Victorians?






8. What were the three main values of the Victorian era and how did the people show these?





9. What is the “middle class”? What does an “aristocracy of merit” mean? How did this apply to the Middle class?





10. What roles did women have during this time period?




11. Why did democracy begin spreading during this time period? How were labor rights influential to this new democracy?




12. How did imperialism affect Great Britain during the Victorian era?





13. Why were more people becoming wealthy in England during the Victorian era?






14. What were some problems with Victorian society? Which groups were doing well; which groups were suffering?





15. Who was Thomas Carlyle? Why did he value work?



16. How did the novel emerge in England?




17. What is Realism? Why did Victorian writers move in the direction of Realism?





18. What was Naturalism? Why did writers in the Victorian era write in this style? How did Naturalism differ from Realism?







19. What was “decedent” mean? Why did some writers adopt these attitudes during this era?





20. Who were some artists and authors in the Victorian era? What themes did they deal with?
Author: Themes:

Author: Themes:

Author : Themes:

Artist: Themes:

Artist: Themes:

Artist: Themes:

21. Go to the back of your packet. Write some fun facts about this era: