Give
a brief account of the condition of England in the Victorian Period as
reflected in the works of Carlyle and Dickens.
Or
Discuss
the Social condition of Industrial England with special reference to Thomas
Carlyle and Charles Dickens.
Answer:-
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas
Carlyle was the perfect
of his age and represented the social, economic and political life of his times, from the view point a philosopher. He was a translator, historian of the French Revolution who started a public discovs about the Condition of England
Society, in the time of the Industrial Revolution. His works show the condition of England in the late part of reign of Queen Victoria. He was highly dissatisfied with the material glory and power and pelf of the captaliusta carlylists. Carlyle was the most widely respected Victorian poet and social critic. He wrote political satires and fiction through which he projected the social evels of that period with a hope to reform it. Carlyle was an individualist who idenfied the modern technical civilization with the gradual lost of individual freedom. He criticized both the feudal and capitalist systems in his works like, “Past and Present”. “Later-Day Pamphlets”, “Sartor Resartus” and “Chartism”s
of his age and represented the social, economic and political life of his times, from the view point a philosopher. He was a translator, historian of the French Revolution who started a public discovs about the Condition of England
Society, in the time of the Industrial Revolution. His works show the condition of England in the late part of reign of Queen Victoria. He was highly dissatisfied with the material glory and power and pelf of the captaliusta carlylists. Carlyle was the most widely respected Victorian poet and social critic. He wrote political satires and fiction through which he projected the social evels of that period with a hope to reform it. Carlyle was an individualist who idenfied the modern technical civilization with the gradual lost of individual freedom. He criticized both the feudal and capitalist systems in his works like, “Past and Present”. “Later-Day Pamphlets”, “Sartor Resartus” and “Chartism”s
The phrase “Condition of
England” was first used by Carlyle in “Chartism” Which first used by Carlyle in
“Chartism”. Which significantly contributed to the emergence of a series of debates
about the spiritual and material foundation of England and it had a great
effect on a number of writers in the Victorian era and thereafter. Carlyle was
concern with the “Two Nations theme, the rich and the poor”. Likewise a number
of Victorian Novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens and Charles Kingsley
attended with varying effect to look for the ways of reducing the gaps between
this, “Two Nations”. Carlyle contributed to the awakening of social conscience
among the common people and he under stood the social and political importance
of capitalist. He also inspires social reforms such as John Ruskin and William
Morris through his writings.
Carlyle criticized the
ethos of industrial revolution, which he believes was destroying human
individually. He expressed his distrust on the spirit of the mechanical age
which was manifested not only in the technical progress of English society but
also progress of English society but also creating an overwhelming feeling.
Carlyle wrote, “The king has virtually ablicated the Church is a widow, public
principle is gone, private honesty is going, society in short is in fact in
falling two pieces and a time of unmixed evil is came on us.” Carlyle had no
faith in democracy, which was for him the last work of political un-wisdom.
According to him the great masses need the guidance and leadership of the hero
or an able man and not by ballot boxes. In “Signs of the times” Carlyle warned
that the industrial revolution was turning people into mechanical human being
devoid of spirituality. Carlyle strongly criticized this mechanization of human
spirit and indicated the high moral costs of industrial change.
Thomas Carlyle always
wanted to change the society from his spiritual point of view. The “Two Nation
Theory” inspired the novelist to follow him to present the condition of England
in most realistic way. His criticism of the mechanical society produced a memorable
narrative in Charles Dickens novel “Hard Times”. So we can conclude that
Dickens and other Victorian novelist greatly indebted to Carlyle or his
prophetic thinking.
Dickens
Dickens
was not only the first great urban novelist in England but also one of the most
important social commentators who used fiction effectively to criticize
economy, social and moral abuses in Victorian era. Dickens showed completion
and sympathy towards the vulnerable and disadvantaged segments of English
society and contributed to several important social reforms. Dickens deep
social commitments and awareness of social evels are derived from his problematic
and pathetic childhood experience. In his adult life Dickens developed a strong
social consciousness and ability to emphasize with the victims of social and
economy industries. In a letter to his friend Dickens writes about the
importance of social commitments, “everything that happens shows beyond mistake
that you cannot shutout the world, that you are in it, to be of it, that you
get yourself into a false position the moment you try to server yourself from
it; that you must mingle with it and make the best of it.’
Dickens believed in the
ethical and political protential of literature. He treated his fiction as
spring board for moral and social reforms. In his novels of social analysis
Dickens became an outspoken critic of unyist economy and social condition of
Victorian society. Dickens contributed significantly to the emergence of public
opinion which was gaining and increasing influence on the decisions the
authorities. Indirectly he contributed to a series of legal reforms including
the abolution of the inhuman insprisonment for depts. Purification of the
magistrates court, a better management of criminal prisons and restriction of
the capital punishment.
Dickens raised his voice
against the social, political, economic and educational drawback of his time.
In “Oliver Twist” he exposed the Law’s delay and the corrupt system of
election. In ‘A tale of Two Cityies” he projected the evils of caste system. In
“Nicholas Nickleby” he exposes the evils of Charity schools, torture of
schoolmaster and in “Hard Times”. Dickens reveals the inhumanattitude of the
teachers of Monchester school. Money is the main theme of nearby every book
that dickens books. In “David copperfield” he readecule the power of money. In
“Dombey and Son”, the sysmbol of money power is Mr. Dombey himself “Great
Expectations” is another novel dealing with the same theme. In “Pick wick
Papers” Duickesns created a utopian and nostalgic vision of pre-Victorian and
pre-industrialization.
Dicken was a great novelist
and he was by know means completely under the influence of Carlyle but he follows
Carlyle’s teachings when he exposed the evils of. Victorian society Dickens
successfully highlighted the deprived conditions and exploitations’ of lower
middle class society including class division, poverty, bad sanitation problems
of the orphan and the exploitation done on the labor class through the novels
of Dickens we can get a dark side of Victorian society and his novels also
showed a path to reform those social evils.
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