Victorian Criticism

During the Victorian age both creation and criticism were closely related with life and society. Matthew Arnold felt that criticism must draw closer to life and make it nobler and better. It was the duty of the critic to bring the best that was thought and written to people's notice. The Victorian criticism is characterized by a battle of tastes between the Neo- Classical School of the 18th century and the Romantic School of the early 19th century. A subtle critic of the literary criticism in the Romantic age is found in the Victorian criticism. It reflects the changes that occurred due to the rise of democracy -shift to middle class, decline of religion, the progress of science and the evil effects of industrialisation. The question as to 'what is the function of Criticism? 'achieved significance in this age.
The Victorian Criticism is primarily social criticism in its theme and style. It is basically journalistic in nature and is addressed to a wide reading public. The growth of periodicals had a great influence on Victorian Criticism. Most of these journals were politically controlled and voiced the opinion of particular parties or groups. Thus 'The Edinburgh Review' stood for the Whig party and the Tory controlled 'The Quarterly Review' and 'The Blackwood Magazine'.

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