Victorian Literature: Industrial Revolution, Social Change, and Literary Voices

Posted on Sep 5, 2025 in Social Anthropology

Introduction

This document examines the influence of the Industrial Revolution as a model of historical transformation, the social and political changes reflected in the literature of the period, and the significant contributions of authors like Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Charles Kingsley.

The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

The sudden acceleration of technological and economic development that began in Britain in the second half of the 18th century profoundly changed the lives of a large proportion of the population by the 19th century. The concept of the Industrial Revolution originated in France in 1820 as an attempt to compare the social changes taking place in Britain with those in French society by 1760. It has been defined as the ‘process of change from an agrarian economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture,’ which meant the most important economic and social transformation of Britain from 1740 to 1850. People moved from living and working on farms to working in factories and living in cities, which had both positive and negative effects. On one hand, inexpensive goods, improved transportation, and enhanced communication became possible. On the other hand, industrialization also brought pollution, child labor issues, and crowded cities.

Main Features of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was characterized by several key features:

  • New Technologies: Application of new technologies to the production of goods and services, leading to changes in the use of basic materials (iron, steel) and new energy sources (coal, steam engines, electricity, petroleum). Mechanical discoveries of the era, particularly focused on cotton manufacturing, included:
    • The spinning-jenny
    • The waterframe
    • Crompton’s mule (introduced in 1779)
    • The self-acting mule
    • The power-loom
  • Improved Transportation and Communication: Significant developments in transport and communication (e.g., cars, aeroplanes, telegraph, radio).
  • New Production Units: Development of new production units that marked the difference from old agrarian farm production, with manufacturing work substituting farmers’ labor.
  • Increased Productivity and Factory System: Work productivity increased at a high rate, giving way to the factory system, which implied work specialization regarding manufacturing tasks and the division of labor. This led to the emergence of two social classes: capitalists (employers) and workers (employees).
  • Economic Shift: Industrial production rates became higher than agrarian production, though the production of agrarian goods (corn, clothing, ships) continued.

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

The effects of the Industrial Revolution were felt across social and political conditions, influencing the pace of industrialization in Great Britain and the United States in the 19th century. Key changes included:

  • Political Reforms:
    • The Great Reform Bill of 1832 aimed to extend voting rights and redistribute parliamentary seats, making Parliament a more democratic body.
    • In 1824, workers united to protect themselves against powerful capitalist employers, demanding fair wages and reasonable conditions, which favored the legalization of the first Trade Unions.
    • Legislative accomplishments included the emancipation of slaves in British colonies and the Factory Act of 1833, which regulated child labor in factories by setting a minimum age (9), hours of work (8), and types of labor permitted.
    • A period of greater political confidence up to 1836 led to increasing activity in trade unions.
  • Social Consequences:
    • A demographic revolution occurred, with population growth due to improved food supplies, better hygiene conditions, and a reduction in the mortality rate.
    • The division of labor in the industrial market brought mass production, leading to workers living in often crowded and dirty workhouses, laboring all day. Men and women were separated, which involved family separation, and society became divided into two main classes: the rich and the poor (proletarians and workers).
  • Economic Impact:
    • Three different fields were affected: agriculture, industry, and trade. Before 1750, most people lived in the countryside; between 1750 and 1815, only 7% of the European population lived in cities.
    • Life in villages changed as agricultural production became more intensive and large-scale to produce raw materials for rural industries.
    • Urbanization took place in the 19th century, and trade expanded as the canal system was developed throughout the country and roads were improved.
  • Technological Advancements:
    • New technologies were applied to the production of goods and services, including the mechanical discoveries mentioned previously (spinning-jenny, waterframe, Crompton’s mule, self-acting mule).
    • In 1769, James Watt patented his steam engine, which was applied to cotton manufacture 16 years later.
  • Cultural and Literary Context:
    • The 18th-century cultural background is reflected in events such as the founding of the British Museum on April 5, 1753, and overseas exploration, notably James Cook’s voyages, which made him the first Briton to reach Antarctica and led to the discovery of island groups in the South Pacific.
    • Georgian literature dealt with art, music, and a variety of genres. The 18th and early 19th centuries saw a wide variety of authors who produced classics, such as Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, David Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. The turn of the century also saw artists like Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility), Walter Scott (Waverley Novels), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), and Alfred, Lord Tennyson (The Lady of Shalott).

Social & Political Change in 19th-Century Literature

Within this context, it is important to highlight the novels labeled by critics as “social novels,” which include works by Disraeli, Mrs. Gaskell, and Charles Kingsley. It is also worth stressing the importance of William Godwin (1756-1836) and his two major works: Political Justice (1793), where human happiness and social well-being are presented as the purpose of existence; and Caleb Williams (1794), which is full of consciousness of class division. Consequently, novelists with a strong social sensibility were concerned with social injustice and the inequality that heavily weighed on the Victorian consciousness. Hence, literature took on a dark tone, and culture was seen as the only safeguard against this “mechanical age” and its power of dehumanization.

Benjamin Disraeli: Statesman and Novelist

Benjamin Disraeli was both a statesman and a novelist. He served twice as Prime Minister and provided the Conservative Party with a twofold policy of Tory Democracy and Imperialism. His trilogy—Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred (1844-1847)—was planned with a specific political purpose: to illuminate and serve the cause of Tory Democracy and the Young England Movement, which he saw as the hope of post-Reform Bill Britain. Coningsby is a brilliant and slightly absurd book, concerned with political life and political ideas. It is in Sybil that Disraeli considers the total social situation, representing all of England: the aristocracy, the industrialists, the rural poor, and the proletariat of several categories.

Elizabeth Gaskell: Chronicler of Industrial Life

Elizabeth Gaskell was a novelist, a short-story writer, and the first biographer of Charlotte Brontë. The daughter of a Unitarian minister, she married the Unitarian minister William Gaskell. Her literary career started in the middle of her life when the death of her son intensified her sense of community with the poor. She was less politically engaged than Disraeli but more involved with the actual lives of people. Her aim was to bring Christian principles as a mediating force within class antagonisms. Her two most famous works are Mary Barton and North and South.

  • Mary Barton: Considered her masterpiece, it depicts a humane picture of working-class life in a large industrial town in the 1840s. The quality of desperation is conveyed through the character of John Barton and the bitterness of his hatred for the owners. It is a dramatization that captures the pressures of poverty and is impregnated with the idea of “the two nations.”
  • North and South: Gaskell presents a picture of English life from the point of view of the middle class, representing a contrast between rural and industrial England.

Charles Kingsley: Clergyman and Social Reformer

Charles Kingsley was a clergyman, teacher, and writer whose novels influenced social development in Britain. He was one of the first churchmen to support Dickens’s theories and to seek reconciliation between science and Christian doctrine.

  • His first novel, Yeast (1848), deals with the relationship of the landed gentry to the rural poor.
  • His second, Alton Locke (1850), is the story of a working-class boy who becomes a Chartist but is disillusioned by the crudity of the ‘mob’ and is converted to Christian Socialism.

Charles Dickens: Life, Career, and Literary Style

Born on February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens spent his happiest childhood years in Chatham. From 1822, he lived in London. His father, a clerk, was well-paid but brought the family to financial disaster. Charles was withdrawn from school and sent to manual work in a factory. Finally, he became a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. Dickens nearly became a professional actor in 1832, and in 1833, he began contributing stories and essays to magazines and newspapers. Later, the first installment of Pickwick Papers appeared. During 1836, he also wrote two plays and undertook to edit a monthly magazine, Bentley’s Miscellany, in which he serialized Oliver Twist (1837-1839).

His work is usually divided into early novels and mature novels. The novels of the first period include Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and The Old Curiosity Shop. The later works are Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend. His early works often overflowed with improvisations, but his later works are more tightly controlled. The main characteristics of Dickens’s style are:

  • His descriptions of cities and relationships between people.
  • The naming of characters to evoke basic features of their character.
  • The use of shapes of buildings to characterize the people who live in them.
  • The denunciatory themes of his novels.

Key Themes and Works of Charles Dickens

Dickens’s main concern was the description of society in England and the study of economic measures oppressing the poor. The settings of his novels were often devastated surroundings. Among his works, we can find:

  • Autobiographical Novels:
    • David Copperfield (1850), whose major themes are discipline and maturity.
    • Great Expectations (1861) is semi-autobiographical. Dickens’s major themes here are affection, loyalty, conscience, wealth, and class. Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens explores the clash of social classes. Hence, the main character, Pip, realizes that wealth and class are less important than loyalty and inner worth, distinguishing between what truly matters and superficial standards.
  • Historical Novels:
    • A Tale of Two Cities (1859) narrates the years leading to the French Revolution, with settings alternating between England and France.
  • Social Novels:
    • Oliver Twist (1837) and A Christmas Carol (1843). Dickens portrays social evils such as child labor and depicts the hypocrisies of the times.
  • State-of-the-Nation Novel:
    • Hard Times (1854) was conceived as a social-protest novel that attempts to reveal the cruel impact of 19th-century industrial society upon the people living in industrial England. Dickens contrasts the life of imagination with the life of utility while criticizing the schooling system and utilitarian doctrine. Much of Dickens’s writing provides criticism of social issues of the period and descriptions of settings that make it impossible for the reader to distinguish fact from fiction, and Hard Times is no exception.

References and Bibliography

  • Abrams, M. H. (2012). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Norton: London.
  • Novak, M. E. (1983). MacMillan History of Literature: Eighteenth-Century English Literature. MacMillan: London.
  • Sanders, A. (2000). The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2022). Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.