University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
English Periodical Criticism of the Novel From 1845 to 1865: A Search for Goodness, Truth, and Beauty (Victorian)
Abstract
dc:descriptionA study of novel reviewing in major Victorian journals from 1845 to 1865 revealed a significant change in the nature of the criticism. In the forties, critics showed interest primarily in the moral effects of novels, even of such artistic elements as plot, characterization, and style. By the sixties, these artistic elements were the main force of critical discussion; moral concerns were kept separate. Concurrently, the status of the novel genre rose. In 1845, novels were considered "light" reading; by 1865, they were often called "works of art." Chapter I describes these two developments, and introduces the three basic questions mid-century critics asked about novels: Were they moral? Were they true-to-life? Were they artistic?
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Ph.D.
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Dissertation
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- English
- Grantor
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Year dc:date
- 2014
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Brown, Mary Jane
Subjects
dc:subject × 1Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Identifier
- (UMI)AAI8610908
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69448