Fading Faith: An Analysis of the Victorian Period

The Victorian period began with the accession of Queen Victoria; when she gained power in the throne. The era can be separated into three sections: the early Victorians, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the late Victorians. Some early Victorian writers include Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord Tennyson Alfred, and Robert Browning. Also, the idealism of this time was utilitarian. Nature was viewed as cruel and harsh, which is the complete opposite from the Romantic period. Some key themes included evolution can lead to a crisis of faith and intellectual and spiritual doubt. The Victorian Trinity is three notions: religion, science, and morality. Economically, Britain was the first big industrialized nation. The Victorian era finally came to an end with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 (Cope 16-17). The majority of the poems in this essay are from the Mid-Victorian period, with the exception of “The Windhover.” Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in 1828. He wrote “The Blessed Damozel” and it was published in 1846. In the poem, the speaker is talking to his dead soon to be wife, but it is too hard for him to get over her. Also, in 1877 Gerard Manley Hopkins created his work “The Windhover.” This poem is mainly about speaker comparing the bird he saw to Christ. Christina Rossetti made the poem “Goblin Market”, which was made in 1859. The poem is about two sisters and one of them get very ill and needs more fruit from the market. The other one is abducted by the “goblins” because she is trying to help out her sister. Lastly, there is “Dover Beach” and it was written by Matthew Arnold in 1851. The speaker talks about the sea and the waves. Also, he mentions faith and he compares it to the waves. During the Victorian period there was the concept ...

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--- Arnold, Matthew. “Dover Beach.” 1387-1388.

--- Hopkins, Gerard M. “The Windhover.” 1550.

--- Rossetti, Christina. “Goblin Market.” 1496-1508.

--- Rossetti, Dante G. “The Blessed Damozel.” 1472-1476.

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