Love and the Victorians

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the expression of sexuality, desire and eroticism in Victorian literature. The author believes that although these concepts were not overtly expressed in Victorian literature, they were very much present. As compared to the literature of today, Victorian eroticism was subtle. Yet for the Victorian reader, it was understood, because they were aware of the euphemisms used. Contemporary readers may not always understand the references, but the Victorian reading public would have been able to read between the lines and know to look for unspoken erotic desire.

From the Paper:

"Like contemporary viewers and readers, the Victorians were not unaware of the power of sexual desire, despite their reticence, a reticence that is still evident in many aspects of contemporary love literature today. However they hoped to contain it, or mitigate its power, by referencing it in an implicit rather than an explicit fashion. Emotion still drives Bronte's novel, and love and desire remains a palpable presence, although a dangerous one in her tale. But love was not all dark in Victorian literature--love and desire offers a bastion of humanity and hope, even during times of despair, to Matthew Arnold's speaker of "Dover Beach" as looks out into the ocean, searching for meaning in a cold and meaningless world. The one rock for the despairing man on the beach is not faith, but the image of a beloved: "Ah, love, let us be true/To one another! for the world, which seems/To lie before us like a land of dreams, /So various, so beautiful, so new, /Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light..." (lines 30-34) "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Arnold, Matthew. "Dover Beach."1867. 20 Mar 2006 <http://www.gober.net/victorian/dover.html>
• Arnold, Matthew. "Thrysis." 1861. 20 Mar 2006. < http://www.web-books.com/classics/Poetry/Anthology/Arnold_M/Thyrsis.htm>
• Bronte, Anne. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. 1848. Full e-text provided by the Online Literature Library, 20 Mar 2006. < http://www.online-literature.com/brontea/wildfell_hall/>
• Browning, Robert. "Porphyria's Lover."<http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/Porphyrias_Love.htm>"Jerry Macguire." Directed by Cameron Crowe. 1996.

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