VICTORIAN NOVEL THEME The difference between social classes

VICTORIAN NOVEL

THEME • The difference between social classes. In Oliver Twist the difference is between children and the Master in his cook’s uniform. In Nicholas Nickleby the difference is between Nicholas and the Master of the school. • The contrast between the rich and the poor. In Oliver Twist the contrast is between Oliver with his friends and the Masters of the cookshop. In Nicholas Nickleby the contrast is between Nicholas and Mr Squeers. • The middle class family life. In Nicholas Nickleby an example is Mr Squeers. In Chapter II of Vanity Fair an example is Amelia Sedley. • The education of children. In Nicholas Nickleby the education of children is the main theme.

SETTING The general set in Victorian Novel is the city: • The factories Coke Town represents a city in the time of Industrial Revolution: it is surrounded only by factories, smoke and work. • The schools In Nicholas Nickleby the set is the school. • Workhouses The set of Oliver Twist is the workhouse.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES • Pathos is an exaggeration of a situation or of an emotion. Oliver Twist: “Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the torture of slow starvation…” Nicholas Nickleby: “The children sat crouching and shivering together…” • Hyperbolic use of the language Grotesque effect The grotesque is the way to make comic a dramatic situation. It works through humorous strategies. Nicholas Nickleby: “ For what we have received may the Lord make us truly thankful…” • Caricature gives extreme features to the characters, so that the reader doesn't identify himself in them. In Chapter II of Vanity Fair: “When Miss Sharp had performed the heroical act…” “’I hate the whole house’, continued Miss Sharp in a furry. ”

STYLISTIC FEATURES • Irony is used to make comic a situation. In Nicholas Nickleby the irony is represented when Nicholas answers Mr Squeers. In Oliver Twist: “The gruel disappeared”. • Philanthropy worked through falsity: the rich gave money to poor to appear good men. They wanted to have a clear conscience.

NARRATOR • Omniscient Narrator The omniscient narrator knows everything: the story, the characters and their personality. He also comments the personality and the attitude of the characters. In the novels of Charles Dickens the narrator is always a omniscient narrator: he knows the story, the characters and the personality of them. In Chapter II of Vanity Fair Dickens knows the mind of Rebecca, what she thinks and in which way she acts. In Chapter XXX of Vanity Fair Dickens describes Rebecca like a woman superficial and materialist: he knows her personality.

ANTI VICTORIANISM The Anti Victorianism differs from Victorianism in some aspects: • Theme: In Anti Victorianism novel is not important the difference of social classes, the education of children and middle class family life, but Anti Victorianism deals with other aspects. • Narrative techniques: The grotesque, irony and the hyperbolic use of the language are deleted. The language creates a tragic effect.

Liceo Scientifico Albert Einstein Anno scolastico 2010/2011 Consuelo Canciani VB