Bibliography

I am at present stuck in two minds of which topic I want to do my dissertation on, with one idea involving the Tudor period and the other involving something related to Victorian culture and society’s impact on literature or vice versa. My annotated bibliography will be on the Victorian topic until I make up my mind.

Bibliography

Secondary sources

Bilston, Sarah. The Promise of the Suburbs: A Victorian History in Literature and Culture. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2019. Accessed January 30, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv8jp0kj.

This book explores the impact of writes such as Charles Dickens on the stereotypes of suburban life in Victorian Britain. The book states that the stereotypes of a dull suburban life were first created to push disdain on the ‘new’ middle classes of the times, Bilston argues that that the suburban life however, represented the future on the middle classes, she does this through exploring a variety of  Victorian literature analysing their impact on these issues. This book could be useful in my dissertation in connecting the literacy of the times to the historical social issues of society in this period. Although the source would only be useful should i choose to focus upon the societal impacts on Victorian literature and culture.

Marlene LeGates. “The Cult of Womanhood in Eighteenth-Century Thought.” Eighteenth-Century Studies 10, no. 1 (1976): 21-39. Accessed January 29, 2021. doi:10.2307/2737815.

This source evaluates how Literacy changed the portrayal of women in victorian times to the obedient wife, This extract discusses how novels celebrating marriage (rather than the scandle of 18th century upper class) reflected the advanced English economy as that is what the bourgeoisie wanted. The source explains that the ruling classes wanted the economy to be portrayed this way. The source also discusses the literacy changes that were influenced by the enlightenment and the changing society. This source could be useful for my dissertation in discussing the flip side of the coin, as to how victorian culture and feminism as-well as the enlightenement influenced wruters of this period. However it offers little in the critical analysis of the effect these changes had. It is a source that has potential use.

Timko, Michael. “The Victorianism of Victorian Literature.” New Literary History 6, no. 3 (1975): 607-27. Accessed January 29, 2021. doi:10.2307/468468.

This historical text relates to the sense of identity in Victorian times where theories from the enlightenment such as darwinism were very influencial. The text discusses how in a time of idealism the factors of romanticism and darwinism were very much opposed causing an arguable split in society. The source discusses the rising darwinism mindsets in victorian culture and the fear of human nature that comes alongside this and how romantacism of the times allowed the victorian upper and middle classes to escape reality. this could be a useful source in showing the shift in Victorian culture through the early years of queen Victoria’s reign. This source however would need to be further backed up by a narrower explanation of darwinism and why it was importanct to victorian culture.

Primary sources

Ellegård, Alvar. “The Readership of the Periodical Press in Mid-Victorian Britain: II. Directory.” Victorian Periodicals Newsletter, no. 13 (1971): 3-22. Accessed January 30, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20084905.

This source shows the increasing interest in the state of society and culture throughout the Victorian period through the reader numbers of newspapers across the country, this source also shows the parallel between more education and an increased literacy rate. However, if it were to be used as a source in my dissertation i would need to find further evidence to back up these statements and discuss their relevance to Victorian society.