Poetry in the Victorian Era

Besides offering vivid insight into the mood and flavour of its era, Victorian poetry provides a crucial link between Romantic and Modernist verse. The course opens with a broad analysis of the forms and devices that characterize the period, like the dramatic monologue, before moving on to Tennyson. In addition to conducting a close reading of his famously beautiful and moving poems, we examine his historical and literary context to understand why he wrote them.

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were successful poets in their own right before marrying. Robert was widely considered the ‘master’ of the dramatic monologue and we trace his early life to see how it affected his work. Elizabeth was also respected but we will investigate the role of gender in denying her contemporary recognition as Victorian society grappled with ideas surrounding identity, as reflected in its literature and poetry. We examine two of her poems to understand their significance.

Finally, you will meet the illustrious Arnold and Hopkins and explore several of their poems in context. This will entail close reading of some of literature’s most renowned poems that reflect poignantly on what it means to be human. Victorian poetry links the Romantics to the Modernists but its importance reaches beyond the classroom: close study of these evocative works provides insight into a crucial period and its psychological effect on the world today. The course also hones your analytical skills and enriches your ability to read other texts, both poetic and mundane, as the words of the past echo in the present.