The Influence of

the Victorian Era on

Literature
By Christine Katsaras
2598756

The Victorian Era

Occurred during the reign of Queen Victoria the First (1837-1901)
Contributed to the Industrial Revolution
Railroads were built to increase trade across Europe
Proletarianism-labor as a commodity in exchange for cash
New markets were established (technological, military, colonial)

The article British History in Depth: Sex, Drugs and Music Hall
states sports and the modern notion of the celebrity were
developed during the Victorian Era (Sweet).
Swimming, Football (European), Cricket teams were formed
Royal family pictures seen in Hello! Magazine
Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, was a popular spectacle because of his
deformities
Freak shows were professionalized industry (Sweet).

Women in 19th Century

Europe
According to Professor Pat Hudson, author of Womens Work,
cheap female and immigrant labor was often used to undercut
male workers.
In this time period women contributed in the workforce such as
in factories and textile mills, though some turned to prostitution.
Hudson also states employment of women was the highest
during the Victorian Era until World War 2 (Womens Work).
As a result of women being included in the workforce, they were
given more influence in community decision making.
The original gender roles established in earlier centuries were
now changing with changes in the work force.

Women in Victorian
Literature
The Picture of Dorian Grey Oscar Wilde: Sibyl Vane
Portrayed as innocent and nave about love
She relied on Dorian often as emotional support, and once they are engaged she
realizes she performs fake love. Her acting then becomes dry and emotionless.
Dorian breaks off the marriage, driving Sibyl to suicide
However, Lord Henry finds marriage and falling in love boring and tedious. He
believes not knowing every detail about a significant others life keeps relationships
interesting.
the one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of
deception absolutely necessary for both parties. I never know
where my wife is, and my wife never knows what I am doing
(Wilde, 7).
Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious:
both are disappointed (Wilde, 38).

Sybil represents the motif of women relying on men which still occurred in the
Nineteenth Century, in spite of new social constructs. Lord Henrys relationship
shows how some spouses chose not to share every detail of their lives, now that
women worked oft without a mans knowledge (Hudson).

Women in Victorian
Literature
Dracula Bram Stoker: Mina
Harker (nee Murray)

Engaged to Jonathan Harker

There is considerable evidence she took the knowledge the men had and applied
in successfully leading to the downfall of the Count
When Mina was bitten by Dracula, she used the fact that she was able to track him because of
the mental linked they shared
She also was able to fight off her desires to touch Jonathan, as she was afraid to turn him into a
vampire as well.

I who am now
his worst enemy, and whom he may have most cause to fear (Stoker, 213)

Unclean, unclean! I must touch him or kiss him no more. Oh, that it is should be that it is

It is notable that the women in Dracula appear to be sexually promiscuous. The

vampire women Johnathan encounters in the castle were licentious. He writes I
felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that [the women] would kiss me with
those red lips (Stoker, 50). Mina and Lucy also become very sexual, although
Lucy was more apt to give in to these desires. The author of Dracula as a
Victorian Novel believes taking a woman who was not as lascivious earlier in
the novel and changing them into morally corrupt women while the men had to
save them from the horrors of vampirism reflects the Victorian views of
sexuality (Weissman).

Women in Victorian
Literature
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Mary Morstan
First introduced in The Sign of Four with a case regarding her deceased father.
John Watson found her attractive instantaneously and marries her after her case is
solved.
Sherlock Holmes, meanwhile, does not let her looks and charm get in the way of the
case. He claims It is of the first importancenot to allow your judgment to be
biased by personal qualities (Doyle, 82). However he later admits that she is an
intelligent woman and praises her for having the proper intuition for the case (Doyle,
96).
Though she and Watson fall in love at the end of the case, she never again played a
major roll in the plot. It is later found out that she died between The Final Problem
and The Adventure of the Empty House.
Mary was a strong character in these novels and exemplified how women were
becoming educated. She was not one to fall back and rely on someone else, as there
were times where she would independently decipher parts of her case on her own,
earning Sherlocks admiration.
She also

Drug Usage in Victorian

England

Opium was a recreationally used drug commonly found

Anti-drug laws appeared during World War I because they had an effect
on discipline in the military (Sweet).
The Opium Wars
China would trade opium for tea with Britain.
Anne Gibson, author of The Opium Wars: When Britain Made War on China
writes, At first, Britain struggled to maintain the trade as China would accept
only silver payment.
Opium was banned in China therefore began to be smuggled.
1839-Emperor Daoguang declared war on drugs and raided Western traders
Britain sent navy and destroyed Chinese defenses (Gibson).
Chinese signed unequal treaty-gave Britain Hong Kong to increase opium
traded in China.
Method of Imperialism

Opium Poppy

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Schlonz. Opium Poppy.

2006. Wikipedia. Photograph. 3 May 2014

Opium Den

Lessard, Louis Phillipe.White

Women in Opium Den, Chinatown.
1885 Wikipedia. Photograph. 3 May
2014.

Drug Usage in Sherlock

Holmes
At the beginning of The Sign of Four Sherlock injects himself with a dose of

cocaine. From John, it is revealed this is not the first time Holmes has done this, as
he asks the question [M]orphine or cocaine? (Doyle, 75). This indicates that
Sherlock is an avid user of multiple drugs.
John Watson, however, is disgusted by his actions and lectures him about the toll
drugs have on his body and his intellect:
Your brain may, as you say be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid
process...Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with
which you have been endowed? (Doyle, 75-76).

Opium is also used and referred to in many cases of Sherlock Holmes

For Gods sake oil, opium, morphine!...Anything to ease this infernal agony! (Doyle, 1048). In
this case study done solely by Sherlock Holmes, opium was often used as a pain killer (along
with morphine) for the severe pain the Lions Mane caused its victims.
In The Man with the Twisted Lip, Watson starts the adventure with an anecdote about a man, Isa
Whitney, who became an opium addict as a result of external influences, such as the novel
Confessions of an Opium Addict (Doyle, 211)
Later, as Watson travels to the opium dens to find Whitney, he is surprised to find Sherlock in the
opium dens as well. It took all my self control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of
astonishment. He had tunred his back so that none could see him but I. His form had filled out,
his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and
grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, 213).

Drug Usage in The Picture of Dorian

Grey
As Dorians paranoia of his secret of his distorted painting increased, he began
to indulge in scandalous activities including going to opium dens.
There were opium-dens, where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the
memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new (Wilde,
140).

The participation of using drugs in the novel separates Dorians original

childlike innocence at the beginning of the scene with the desire driven and
selfish Dorian at the end of the novel.
It is also implied in the book that Dorian indulges in sexual activities
throughout the book with numerous partners. It is often assumed that these
encounters were as addicting as the use of what is normally considered a drug.
At the end of the novel, prior to his death, Dorian encounters a woman in the opium
den he went to. She addresses him as Prince Charming a nickname given to him
when he was engaged to Sibyl (Wilde, 143). It is possible that this nickname was used
by women he held affairs with.

Conclusion
External influences such as wars, political, and
social changes can effect art, music, and
literature.
Between the three literary classics, each novel
was influenced in some way by the Victorian
principles.

Works Cited
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. New York:
Barnes & Noble, 2009. Print.
Gibson, Anne. The Opium Wars: When Britain Made War on
China. BBC History. 3 Dec 2012. Web. 17 Mar 2014.
Hudson, Pat. Womens Work. BBC History. 29 Mar 2011. Web. 17
Mar 2014
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2013. Print.
Sweet, Matthew. Sex, Drugs, and Music Hall. BBC History. 17 Feb
2011. Web. 17 Mar 2014.
Weissman, Judith. "Draculaas a Victorian Novel."Midwest
Quarterly18.4 (July 1977): 392-405. Rpt. inTwentieth-Century
Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 144. Detroit: Gale,
2004.Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Barnes &
Noble, 2006. Print.