THE EARLY VICTORIAN NOVEL

THE EARLY VICTORIAN NOVEL

For the first time in literary history, in the Victorian Age the novel became the leading genre. The greater part of the reading public was reading novels. This genre reflected the new social and economic developments, scientific discoveries, and the ethical problems raised by the Industrial Revolution.

The greatest early Victorian novelists were Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Tackeray. With them we have first-rate novelist as Charlotte and Emily Brontė.

Novels were commonly read aloud by well-to-do families, especially in the evenings after dinner. Public readings were also common among the lower class.

Victorian readers expected to be instructed and edified, and at the same time to be entertained.