We generalise confidently about the people we call the Victorians, although a moment’s thought should make us realise how partial and unsatisfactory such generalisations are likely to be. This period is, in the first place, a very long one: Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901; a statement about the early Victorian period (1830 – 1850) is likely to need modification for the mid-Victorians (c. 1850 – c. 1870), and may not be true at all for the later Victorians (c. 1870 – c. 1890).
Some Key features of Victorian Literature
• Literary arts and entertainment: There was a huge increase in the availability of novels. They were often published in serial form in magazines, hence reached a wider audience than ever before.