victorian period (1832 - 1901)

• period of queen victoria’s reign

• impacts of industrial revolution - urbanisation, child labour, poverty, pollution

• darwin’s ‘theory of evolution’ n impact on religious thinking

• end of slavery in british empire

• compulsory education for children up to 10

• rise of middle-class

writers:

• elizabeth barrett-browning

• alfred lord tennyson

• bronte sisters

• dickens

• hardy wilde

key features:

• depiction of everyday ppl n their difficult lives - social issues

• typically included moral lessons

• origin of ‘children’s literature’ - lewis carroll, RL stevenson

• connected movements: decadence, aestheticism, pre-raphaelite

• flourishing of free verse poetry