Study on Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning, Charles Dickens and George Eliot

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                       Welcome to my world. This blog is the part of my academic activity. This blog is about comparison between Alfred Tennyson (1809 - 1892) and Robert Browning (1812 - 1889).  They  belong to  the Victorian age(1850 - 1900)( dates according to William.J.long). And also this age known as  The modern period of progress and unrest. It was a long period of sensibility self - confidence in Britain. Victorian age is known as the age of magazines, books and the modern novel. Basically this age is known as an age of prose.

The famous form of literature the novel  is started increase vin this time. The novel in this age fill a place which the drama held in the days of Elizabeth.Spend not where you may save; spare not wher hie you must spend. This sentence through we can say that how the poverty layered in England.

🌟 Difference between Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning  :

So the both writer who has belong to different life - style, hobbies and behavior. So that is the difficult task. So here we focused on both writers writing style his main theme, any specific style that followed by him. Which way the writing ground is differs. So let's think that all the things in detail.

👉 Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning :

Alfred Tennyson :

" Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

Tears from the depths of some devine despair

Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,

In looking on the happy autumn fields,

And thinking of the days that are no more. "

            - Alfred Lord Tennyson

The following poetry lines through we can imagine the situation of Tennyson. We can say he tries to recall is unsatisfied schooling days. This particular time period he started writing ,  Collaboratively work with his brother and the volume appeared that is  poems by Two Brothers in 1827. He entered college at that time  he met brilliant circle of friends, chief of whom was the young poet Arthur Henry Hallam.  He was influenced by Byron. He was appointed poet laureate, because the death of Wordsworth in the year of 1850.

Tennyson suffered from extreme short-sightedness without a monocle he could not even see to eat which gave him considerable difficulty writing and reading, and this disability in part accounts for his manner of creating poetry: Tennyson composed much of his poetry in his head, occasionally working on individual poems for many years.

His famous work :

No.	Famous poetry	Publication date
1.	The Revenge : A Ballad of the Fleet	1878
2.	'The Princess, a Melody'	1847
3.	' Poems'	1842
4.	' In Memoriam'	1849
5.	' The Idylls of the king '	(1859-1885)
6.	' English Idyls'	1842

  Who has written many poetry that is famous in world wide. Tennyson tries to suggest the realism and idealism. Tennyson’s life is a remarkable one in this respect, that from beginning to end he seems to have been dominated by a single impulse, the impulse of poetry. (If you want to know more then click here )

👉 Robert Browning :

Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.The one poet of the age who, after thirty of continuous work was finally recognized and placed besides Tennyson and  whom future ages may judge to be a greater poet.

The dramatic monologue, this form invented and practiced mainly by Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Dante Rossetti, and other Victorians, have been much debated in the last several decades. In this form a long speech by a single person, similar to a soliloquy, this type of discretion mentioned.

His famous work :

Pippa passes (1841)

The Ring and the book ( 1868- 1869)

Dramatic lyrics (1842)

Dramatic Romance and lyrics (1844)

Men and Women (1855)

Dramatic persone (1864)

Pauline (1833)

• (For  know more work of him click here )

Alfred Tennyson	Robert Browning
✍️He employed a wide range of styles, and had a deep understanding of meter and rhyme scheme. Tennyson used a simple and plain style, where in some of his poems contain highly sensuous language. Tennyson merged his language with contrasting images, which resonate throughout his poems. He adopted richness of imagery from Romantic poets like Edmund Spenser and John Keats, and handled rhythm tactfully.  Ex. ' In Memoriam' (1850) In this particular poem through we got the writing style of Tennyson. one of the most famous work of Alfred Lord Tennyson and is considered one of the great poems of the 19th century.  I hold it true, whate’er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most; ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. ✍️ Basically in Tennyson 's work is always artistic, never studied art, but was devoted to the sciences. He was under the influence of the romantic revival and choose his subjects daintily. ✍️ In Tennyson's message we find that Laws implies a source, amethod , an object. After facing his doubts honestly and manfully, finds law even in sorrow and losses of humanity. He gives this law an infinite and personal source, and find the supreme purpose of all law to be a revelation of divine love. In his views individual will must be suppressed and also the self must always be subordinate. ✍️Theme and subject matter :the theme of reconciliation of religion and science, the glory of England,  Nature ,Death, Grief, Artistic Isolation, spirituality, Time, Courage etc.	✍️ Browning's mainly relies on dramatic monologues, in which the actions, settings, and characters are revealed through their own words. However, this revelation is not done deliberately but inadvertently as the speaker reveals himself and his past actions through images and symbols. Ex : 'My Last Duchess' Robert Browning’s most famous and widely studied dramatic monologue, ‘My Last Duchess’ is spoken by the Duke of Ferrara. That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said “Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance, ✍️ Browning's work bus seldom artistic in form thought art was the suitable subject for man's study. He takes comely and ugly subjects with equal pleasure and aims to show that truth lies hidden in both the evil and the good. ✍️ Browning's message we find that the triumph of the individual will over all obstacles, the self is not subordinate but supreme. There is nothing Oriental, nothing doubtful, nothing pessimistic in whole range of his poetry. He saying  " I can and I will " Therefore he was far more radically English than Tennyson. Because he is the more studied man than Tennyson and while youth delights in Tennyson but the manhood is better satisfied  Browning. ✍️Theme and subject matter : Death, Truth / subjectivity, Delusion, Beauty, the Quest, Religion, The Grotesque, Multi perspectives on single events, The purpose of art, The relationship between Art and Morality.

Mary Ann Evans George  ( 1819 - 1880) Eliot and Charles Dickens ( 1812 - 1870)  both writer belongs to the Victorian period. Both known for his or her novel. And also here I am mentioned one thing is that both writer's life has shaped by their family, friends and environment. This three play a vital role. And however, it is individual that eventually had to make initiative upon themselves that finally make the difference.

Let's discuss one by one this important writer.

Charles Dickens :

He was famous for his novel.

Dickens  is a poor obscure and suffering child. He was helping to support a shiftless family by pasting labels on blacking bottles,sleeping under a counter like a homeless cat. In 1836 his Pickwick was published and his life is changed.

" Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but I hope into a better shape. "

So in this quotation through we get the idea about his suffering. As a boy he worked in cellar blacking factory. Dickens was a marvelously keen observer, with an active imagination which made stories out of incidents and character acters that ordinary men would have hardly noticed.

No.	Famous work	Publication date
1.	Pickwick	( 1836-1837)
2.	American Notes	1842
3.	Martin Chuzzlewit	1843-1844
4.	A Christmas Carol	1843
5.	David and Copperfield	1850
6.	Bleak House	1853
7.	Oliver twist	1838
8.	Great Expectations	1861

★ Dickens novel :

If we look at on his novel then and then we find that the subject matter and all the things. Like in his first novel  Pickwick and n which we find that each chapter have cartoon by Seymour, so this novel through Dickens labeled a humorist.

In the Oliver twist we got the real picture of the poor people. How they suffering throughout the novel. It's hero is poor child and he was the unfortunate victim of society.

In his every novel he portrayed child character as hero and also the poor people. So in his next work like Nicholas Nickleby  in which vww find that the giving us mirth on the one hand, injustice and suffering on the other,, mingling humor band pathos, teat and laughter.

Also in his novel we find that the real picture of Victorian period and that people and society.  He was highlighted the factory system and it's illness.

David Copperfield is masterpiece big him. That is not only famous for unusual interest of the story, but also for the glimpse it gives us of the author's own boyhood and family

• His style of writing :

Dickens written in picturesque style.  That through reveals his usual imaginative outlook on life and his fondness for fine sentiment band dramatic episodes.

George Eliot : 

Mary Ann Evans  that is her real name . George Eliot is her pen name.

" It is never too late to be what

you might have been "

So in her sentence through we find that her characteristic. As a woman what type of thought she have and what is the mentality of society in those days, but how she is fighting against that tradition of patriarchal society. Here she including women's identity.

In her work through we got the idea and also analyze the problems of life and on the other tendency to teach  problems may be solved.

Adam bede - 1859

The Mill on the Floss

Middlemarch -( 1871-1872)

Daniel Deronda - 1876

Romola (1862- 1863)

The Spanish Gypsy -1868

Felix Holt - 1866

Collection of miscellaneous Essays called The Impression of Theophrastus Such (1879)

 If look at in her works then we got ideas that How she thinks about people and various types of situations. What is the importance of women in Victorian period.  In her work  Romola, we find that  mingling of moral Philosophy, against the background of the mighty Renaissance movement. In which she was writing of things of which she had no personal knowledge. In which she discussed Italian life.

In her novel Middlemarch we find that less spontaneous and more laboured and pedantic than her early novel.

General characteristic of her novel :

In the words of D. H. Lawrence, “It all started with George Eliot; it was she who put the action on the inside,” thus giving impetus to the rise of the psychological novel, where the most significant actions derive from the motives of the characters rather than from external events.

Romantic Age and Victorian age :

This two age is most important age in English literature.

The age of Romanticism ( 1800-1850)

The Victorian age ( 1850-1900)

The Age of Romanticism

The Victorian period

👉 Known as the second creative period of English literature and age of poetry. 👉The romantic period was an artistic and literary movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. 👉 The age Romanticism was a very turbulent period, during which England experienced the ordeal of change from a primarily agricultural society to a modern industrial nation. French Revolution storming of the Bastille had a great influence on English society and literature. It influenced almost every sphere of life. 👉 Romantic literature : Romantic poets revered and adored nature.Romantic poetry was a reaction against conventions, rules, and traditional laws of poetry. Romantic poetry is the poetry of emotion, passion, and sentiments. According to Wordsworth, one of the important Romantic poets, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” 👉 Nature is one of the most used themes in romantic poetry; nature was something to be revered and admired. It was a source of inspiration, happiness, and satisfaction. Pastoral life, medievalism, Hellenism, supernaturalism are also important features of romantic poetry. 👉 Romantic literature is emotionally expressive, it often uses phrases such as "Oh!" to give the impression of a sudden onrush of feeling. Examples of these dramatic expressions in the poems include ‘Ah!’ and ‘O!’ among others. In the poem ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ by John Keats, some of the verses with these expressions include  ‘Ah, happy, happy boughs! That cannot shed,’ ‘O mysterious priest,’ or ‘mountain-built with peaceful citadel’  among many others. It brought a more brave, individual, and imaginative approach to both literature and life. During this time the individual became more important than society.

👉 known as the modern period of progress and unrest and age of prose. 👉 Victorian period is the period during the reign of Queen Victoria( 1837).  This particular age is contrast with the romantic age with the poetic fruitfulness of the romantic age. 👉 The Victorian age was a period of great progress and prosperity for the nation. This was a period in which industry, technology, and science were celebrated with renewed vigor. Because of the rapid extension of colonialism England became a very powerful empire and also the center of world power. 👉 Victorian literature: Victorian poets regarded nature as in a more realistic and less idealistic angel. In this period the Victorian novel that played an important role in Victorian literature. The novelist like  charles Dickens, William Thackeray, George Eliot,Thomus Hardy, Stevenson etc. Victorian poets displayed an interest in the medieval literature of England. The heroic and chivalry knights were a particular favorite of Victorian poets. 👉The use of sensory elements was another important characteristic of Victorian poetry. Many Victorian Poets used imagery and the sensory elements to express the struggles between Religion and Science and ideas about Nature and Romance. 👉  They used Dramatic monologue as a theme of writing. If look at for example then a good example of the poem that adopted these styles was Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess”. Some of the verses which show these are:  “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call, That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hand, Worked busily a day, and there she stands, Will’t please you sit and look at her?”  Furthermore, as passed to Romantic era, most of the Victorian poems show skepticism of religion.

Thank you ......🙂