Romanticism vs. Victorianism
Comparing/Contrasting Charles
Dickens’ Victorian Era with Great
Expectations’ Romantic Period
Charles Dickens Great Expectations
• The setting of Great Expectations takes place
between 1812 and 1840 in England, and yet it
was not until 1860-1861 that Charles Dickens
worked on and published the novel.
• Great Expectations, then, is a Victorian novel
that takes place in a pre-Victorian time, known
as the Romantic Period.
Sample 1:
On your paper, write words that come to
mind when you look at this illustration.
Title:
A Portrait of Two
Girls with their
Governess
Sample 2:
On your paper,
write words
that come to
mind when you
look at this
illustration.
Title:
Wanderer above the
Sea of Fog
Sample 3:
On your paper, write words that come to
mind when you look at this illustration.
Title:
Titania’s Awakening
Sample 4:
On your paper, write words that come to
mind when you look at this illustration.
Title:
Second Class –
The Parting
Sample 5:
On your paper,
write words
that come to
mind when you
look at this
illustration.
Title:
Queen Victoria
Sample 6:
On your paper, write words that come to
mind when you look at this illustration.
Title:
Liberty Leading
the People
Romanticism vs. Victorianism
•1785-1830
•“The Age of Revolution”
•Revolt against aristocratic,
social, and political norms of
the early 1700s.
•1830-1901
•“Early,” “Middle” and “Late”
Victorian Era
•Focus on social satire and
adventure; fulfillment of human
condition
•nature of women
•love of nature
•importance of
emotion/imagination
•realistic portrayals of life
•rejection of classic art forms
•Victorian novel was a principal
form of entertainment
•rebellion against society
•focus on social classes
(hierarchy)
1785-1830
1830-1901
“The Age of Revolution”
“Early,” “Middle” and “Late” Victorian
Era
Revolt against aristocratic, social, and
political norms of the early 1700s.
Focus on social satire and adventure;
fulfillment of human condition
love of nature
nature of women
importance of emotion/imagination
realistic portrayals of life
rejection of classic art forms
Victorian novel was a principal form of
entertainment
rebellion against society
focus on social classes (hierarchy)
ACTIVITY
• Let’s review the illustrations.
• Which illustrations are Victorian? Which
illustrations are Romantic?
Sample 1:
Does this illustration come from the
Romantic or Victorian Era?
•Answer:
Victorian
•Artist:
Abraham
Soloman
•Oil Canvas:
1824-1862
•A Portrait of
Two Girls with
their
Governess
Sample 2:
Does this
illustration
come from the
Romantic or
Victorian Era?
•Answer: Romantic
•Artist:
Kunsthalle Hamburg
•Oil Canvas:1818,
Wanderer above the
Sea of Fog
Sample 3:
Does this illustration come from the
Romantic or Victorian Era?
Answer:
Romantic
Artist:
Henry Fuseli
Oil
Canvas:1785
Titania’s
Awakening
Sample 4:
Does this illustration come from the
Romantic or Victorian Era?
•Answer:
Victorian
•Artist:
Abraham
Soloman
•Oil Canvas:
1824-1862
•Second Class
– The Parting
Sample 5:
Does this
illustration come
from the
Romantic or
Victorian Era?
•Answer: Victorian
•Oil Canvas: 1842
•Queen Victoria
Sample 6:
Does this illustration come from the
Romantic or Victorian Era?
•Answer:
Romantic
•Artist:
Eugene
Delacroix
•Oil Canvas:
1830
•Liberty
Leading the
People
The Complexity of Great
Expectations
• The novel will contain various themes/motifs,
symbols, and tone.
• Themes/Motifs (reoccurring elements)
– Ambition and self-improvement
• Maturation and growth from childhood to adulthood
(Bildungsroman genre)
– Guilt, criminality, and innocence
– Social class
• The importance of affection, loyalty, and sympathy over
social/class advancement
Discover the Symbols as You Read
• Symbols
– Stopped clocks = _______________
– Objects that symbolize the theme of guilt and
innocence are _________________________
– Satis House = ____________________
– Bentley Drummle = _________________
– Joe = ___________________
– The marsh mists = __________________
(Define each term)
• Tone
– Comical
– Cheerful
– Satirical
– Wry
– Critical
– Sentimental
– Dark
– Dramatic
– Foreboding
– Gothic
– Sympathetic
Assignment for Great Expectations
• Read “Class, Tradition, and Money” by Sally
Mitchell (522-530).
– What are three major/interesting facts you found
about the working classes?
– the middle class?
– the aristocrats and gentry?