THE VICTORIAN AGE--Blamires

THE VICTORIAN AGE

 Blamires

M. Phil English, Bharathiar University--Blamiers—

Approaches--Unit III

Summary by Dr. S. Sreekumar

Syllabus for Unit III

The Romantic Age (Blamires, pp 217-380)

The Victorian Age

The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades

The Twentieth Century II: Post-war Developments

Introduction

The Victorian Age was a period of consolidation in terms of peace and prosperity, in terms of wealth and power and in terms of artistic productivity. The rule of Queen Victoria began with the stage coach and ended with a network of railways. It was comparatively an age of peace though the Crimean War (1853-56) and the Indian Mutiny (1857-58) can be cited as exceptions. On the Origin of Species  by Darwin opened up debate in the intellectual circles. The Oxford movement by Newman created much confusion in religion. Though there were many doubts and uncertainties in the Victorian Age, these can never be compared to the tumultuous and catastrophic events of the twentieth century. Thus the twentieth century looks back at the Victorian Period as a stable era.  

SYMBOLISM

SYMBOLISM

[prepared for students of Indian Universities]

Dr. S. Sreekumar

I. What is a symbol?

The word symbol originates from the Greek word ‘Symbolon’ meaning ‘mark’, ‘sign’ or ‘token’. The term became popular during the nineteenth century when many discussions took place as to its exact meaning. But it proved elusive as critics and creative writers could not give an exclusive significance to it. The situation continues thus even today as Rene Wellek points out: “The term is highly ambiguous and shifting”. Not only that, it has even acquired mutually contradictory meanings. Its uses in “symbolic logic” and “mathematical symbol” are contrary to its use in “poetic symbol”.