Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
1.2.Leisure
25
tutedthemajorityofthereadingpublic,hadagreatlikingforwhatmay
becalledufamilyliterature”
.AsJohnB.Priestley-awriterandcritic-
states,
Terewasagooddealofreadingaloudintheeveningsand,evenwhenthis
customwasnotobserved,parentspreferredbooksthatcouldbereadand
enjoyedbythewholefamily.Tismeant,first,thatitwasimpossiblefor
novelistswithalargepublic,likeDickensandTackeray,tobeasfrankas
theywishedtobeorasnovelistshavebeenduringthepastfifyyears.[ł]
apopularnovelistwasexpectedtoprovidesomethingforeachmemberof
thefamily-somethingpatheticforMother,dramaticforFather,sentimen-
talforthegirls,comicfortheboys19.
TenovelwasdefinitelythedominantliterarygenreintheVictorian
period.Itwasespeciallywellsuitedtoauthorswhowantedtocapture
thewidediversityofindustriallife,theclassconflictanddivisionsthat
industrialismgenerated.LiteraryhistorianGailCunninghamnotes:
Tenovelsofthisperiodsprangfromasocietyundergoingamoremassive
upheavalundertheinfluenceofindustrializationthaninanypreviousera.
Notonlywasthepopulationshifingirrevocablyfromanagriculturalto
anurbanbase,withalltheprofoundchangesinsocial,workingandfam-
ilypatternsthatthisentailed;therewerealsothedramaticvisiblechanges
resultingfromtechnologicalinventionwhichalteredpeople’sperceptions
andtheirworld20.
Tenineteenthcenturyproducedaconsistentstreamofindisput-
ablymajorpractitionersofthisform.Manyfamousnovelists,asCharles
Dickens,forexample,publishedtheirworknotinbookformatfirst,but
inserialinstallmentsinmagazines.Temostpopularwritersincluded:
theaforementionedCharlesDickens,consideredthegreatestoftheVic-
torianera,whoseapprehensionofthethensocietyanditsshortcomings
madehimaspokesmanoftheconscienceofhisage;WilliamTacker-
ay,knownforhissatiricalworksportrayingEnglishsociety;thethree
Brontësisters,Charlotte,EmilyandAnne,acknowledgedatthattime
fortheirdirectnessandpowerfulemotionalenergy;GeorgeEliot(Mary
19
J.B.Priestley,TeVictorianAge(1837-1900)[in:]P
.McCormicketal.(eds.),Adventures
inEnglishLiterature,p.558.
20
G.Cunningham,TeVictorianNovel[in:]JaneTomas(ed.),BloomsburyGuidestoEn-
glishLiterature.From1830to1900,BloomsburyPublishingLtd,London1994,pp.27-28.
