Victorian fiction refers to stories written during Queen Victoria’s reign, with the novel becoming the primary literary form. It featured hardworking protagonists and idealized portrayals of humanity. The era saw the rise of women writers and children’s fiction, as well as the detective and science fiction genres.
Victorian fiction refers to fictional stories written during the reign of Queen Victoria of England. Queen Victoria reigned for 64 years between 1837 and 1901. The novel rose to prominence during this time period and became the primary literary form. The most famous proponent of Victorian fiction is author Charles Dickens, but he wasn’t alone.
Like many eras, the Victorian period is an arbitrary time period used by historians to give a sense of shape and distinction to large portions of history. It covers a period of time throughout the Western world in which the science fiction novel was developed. Victoria’s influence on this development is considered minimal. Victorian fiction is preceded by the Romantics, but such was its influence that Victoria’s age fiction has continued to be popular into the 20th and 21st centuries.
Idealized portrayals of humanity formed the main theme of Victorian fiction. They tended to feature hardworking protagonists and storylines where the good guys won and the bad guys were punished appropriately. As the 19th century progressed, the structure of the novel became increasingly complex. This experimentation has resulted in the ever-increasing variety seen in the modern era. The era is also known for the development of numerous genres and the achievements of women writers.
The Victorian era is an important era in the evolution of women’s writing. Building on the successes of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley before Victoria’s reign, the women writers have gained popularity and critical acclaim. While writers like the Bronte sisters fared well, Mary Anne Evans still felt the need to use a male pseudonym, George Elliot, in order for her work to be taken seriously.
A genre of Victorian fiction more closely related to socio-economic changes in 19th-century Britain is children’s fiction. During Victoria’s reign, politicians and social groups worked hard to end child labor and ensure that every child became literate. As a result, many writers, such as Lewis Carroll and Robert Louis Stephenson, wrote books specifically aimed at children for the first time.
The 19th century also gave rise to the detective novel. Due to its birth to Edgar Allen Poe in America and then to Charles Dickens, the genre became established towards the end of the era. In 1919, Willkie Collins, Dickens’ protégé, wrote what has become the archetypal detective story, “The Moonstone.” In 1868, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invented the most famous detective of the genre, Sherlock Holmes.
Victorian fiction was not afraid to delve into the supernatural and the fantastic and to explore science fiction. It was an age of scientific discovery and one in which figures such as Charles Darwin challenged perceived notions about the world. It was no surprise, then, to see a more scientific and modernized take on mythological tales find their way into Victorian fiction. Key examples range from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ to HG Well’s ‘Time Machine’ and ‘War of the Worlds’.
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