How did the Early Victorian novelists use their works as the reflection of the contemporary society?

How did the Early Victorian novelists use their works as the reflection of the contemporary society?

With the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), the Victorian novel is extensive and varied in its reach as it became an instrument for social progress.

·         Social commentary and criticism

Many works point to the repression of women, the corruption of those in authority, and the plight of the poor. As the primary exemplar of this period, Charles Dickens, a prolific writer, often satirizes a frivolous aristocracy, and a climbing middle class that fauns to the upper class. With great poignancy, his criticism of society as a prison prevails in many of his works such as Great Expectations.  Another novel, Oliver Twist portrays the repression of women and conditions of the poor, especially children, along with other social ills. A contemporary of Dickens, William Makepeace Thakerey's biting satire of English corrupt and relentless social climbing is also a historical novel in its criticism. And, Oscar Wilde's social comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest also criticizes Victorian society.

The devastating effects of the Industrial Revolution are an underlying theme for many a Victorian writer such as Dickens, and later Thomas Hardy, who is viewed by some critics as a transitional writer into the Modern era, perceives the industrialization of the era as a force that diminishes the quality of life in the rural areas. 

·         Pessimism                                               

With the scientific discoveries of the era and the social changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, an overlying pessimism characterizes some Victorian novels such as those of Dickens and Hardy.  Hardy's Tess of the D'Ubervilles has

an identification of Tess with a hunted animal and a Darwinian vision that takes Tess, much like a developing species, from formation, through adaptation, to ultimate extinction.................................................................................................................................

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