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Victorian Literature and Culture Assignment 2

How does the poetry of the Victorian period treat social issues?

The Victorian era was characterized by great progress, with urbanization of the rural areas, development
of the industry and technology
...
Nevertheless, numerous poems from the era portray t
he strong backlash against the rapid advancements and the movement towards modernity from the traditi
onal way of life
...


Initially, it is possible to illustrate poetry composed in the Victorian period which critically stresses the role
of progress in Victorian society in bringing about social problems
...
To illustrate, Victorian themes of decadence, corrupti
on and a decline in religious values as a result of the move towards modernism is expressed in the poem:
“Dover Beach” by the prominent social critic of the time, Matthew Arnold, where the poet’s sensibility tow
ards the decline of conventional values is emphasized
...
Thereby the mood of the poem h
ere highlights the increasing problems of immorality during
the nineteenth century Victorian period
...
Here, the image of the light is referred to as a metaphor to draw the reader’s attention to the idea
of diminishing hope as society’s conventional relegations morality was perceived as declining and gradual
ly being replaced by a modern yet depraved society
...
Notably, Rosset
ti expresses her condemnation of the advancements of society, which undoubtedly attracted sin and mora
l corruption, particularly through the increasing rate of prostitution in the cities
...
To demonstrate, the city is
personified as an immoral woman, as this is implied in: “Foul is she and ill-flavoured” and: “no wine is in h
er cup but filth is there”, where phrases such as “foul”, “ill-flavoured” and: “filthy” illustrate the poet’s use of
negative connotations to describe the city
...
This illustrat
es the similar attitudes towards social issues expressed in Arnold’s poems, since both poets condemn the
move towards modernity which is seen as the c
ause of social problems in the Victorian period
...
For instance, comparable to the ideas of Arnold and Rossetti, is the poems
of Thomas Hardy, which often criticize the transformation from the traditional, unadulterated agricultural s
ociety into large cities that were usually corrupted by sexual immorality
...
The substantial
use of irony in the dialogue between the two speakers in the poem creates a sense of sardonic tone, impl
ying Hardy’s reproachful attitude towards the idea of social mobility where status can be gained through d
ecadence
...
Consequently, through this satirical depiction of the city’s immorality, Hardy is able to
criticize one of the greatest social problems of the Victorian society; prostitution and sexual immorality, du
bbed as: “The greatest social evil” by social critics
...
The advancement of industrialization in
modern cities undoubtedly brought great social problems, namely child labour, which was harshly denou
nced by a number of Victorian poets
...
The poet conveys this criticism to the reader through the manipulation of nar
rative structure, which offers a perspective of children working in factories, since this is demonstrated thro
ugh: “Our blood splashes upward, O gold-heaper”
...


Moreover, Browning’s use of structural and linguistic devices additionally enables the poet to express her
denouncement of the social issue of child labour in the Victorian era
...
This creates an impre
ssion of the monotonous sound of machinery that is referred to in: “the iron wheels are droning”, and: “col
d metallic motion”, which effectively stresses the continuous and oppressive labour that anguished childre
n working in factories during the period
...
Instances of this
are implied in: “pale and sunken faces”, “they sink in man’s despair” and: “They are weeping bitterly!” Her
e, the poet’s use of language intended to appeal to the Victorian reader’s sentiments and encouraged to r
aise outrage at the appalling conditions in fa
ctories
...


However, the most significant social issue that preoccupied poetry in the Victorian period was undoubtedl
y the extreme increase in poverty and the gap between the rich and poor in large cities
...
This can be illustrated through the poem: “Thirty
Bob A Week” by John Davidson, which effectively criticizes the inequality of the social class system and t
he social problem of poverty through the manipulation of narrative structure
...
For instan
ce, the speaker of the poem criticizes his society, implied through: “the bally power of others to be bossed
”, highlighting the impact of the class system brought about by the capitalist interests of industrial society
...
Here Davidson’s use of informal language through colloquialism and
the dialect of Victorian working- class Londoners effectively adds to the harsh, realistic depiction of pover
ty and the susceptibility of the working class against this social problem, which Davidson sums up as: “a n
aked child against a hungry wolf”
...
Despite the fact that many poets expressed their condemnation of the Industrial Revolution
and social progress from the outset; emphasizing the rise of decadence and decline of religious faith as a
source of these increasing problems, the most effective presentation of social issues from the Victorian er
a is arguably composed by poets whom strongly protested against capitalist interests and demanded politi
cal change by drawing attention towards the most vulnerable victims of society
...


Bibliography

Karlin, Daniel, “The Penguin Book of Victorian Verse”, Penguin Classics, 1998

O’Gorman, Francis, “Victorian Poetry: An Annotated Anthology”, Blackwell Publishing, 2004

Bristow, Joseph, “The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Poetry”, Cambridge University Press, 2000

Hawkins, Mark, “Reader’s Guide to Literature in English”, Taylor & Francis, 1996

Stange, George Robert, Houghton Walter Edwards, “Victorian Poetry and Poetics”, Houghton Mifflin, 196
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