In our time the term “Victorian” has acquired a negative meaning, because it suggests an idea of PRUDERY and hypocritical behaviour or speech. However, other than this, Victorian means also reaction, especially from poet, who “critic” the materialistic philosophy, which is the tendency to claim material happiness and the importance of things to be useless. This elements improve competition and exploitation of human and natural resources. This tendency, feature of this age, will become the so-called “Victorian compromise”, because it will be covered under a veil of respectability and facile optimism.

This respectability was really inconsistent with the real situation of society. For example the upper and middle classes don’t tolerate the word “leg”, but were responsible for pushing women into a state of oppression and especially into PROSTITUTION.

Also industrialism and liberalism cause reactions: for example the conservative prime minister B.Disraeli defines British society as the “two nations” (two classes, poor and rich). Especially the miserable condition of the poor class inspired the Marxism, which will not create a communist society, but will influence the future socialism. On the other hand, the evolutionism of  C. Darwin changed the way to see the Christian religion, which started to be read in rationalistic terms.

In the Europe of the 17^th and 19^th there was an ideological and social change called WOMAN QUESTION.

On the ideological side, the Enlightenment brought the ideal of equality and same right, while on social side the end of family as economical resource, create a need of women as single workers.

But this was a slowly process because women were under the oppression of the discrimination, which will even worsened in the early 19^th. Especially in England, with the strictness of the Victorian age, women had no freedom and were considered submissiveness. This situation began to cause reaction, for example from Mary Wollstonecraft, with her vindication of Rights of Women (1789) or from John Stuart Mill, with his support on women’s emancipation. But the important steps in Victorian Age was: the construction of the first colleges for women and the introduction of the “Married women’s Property Act” (1882) which allowed women to conserve their own property also after the marriage. These changes will mean study and work for women but also social life. About social life, in 1840s there will be the first petitions for women’s suffrage, which won’t be effective, until the 1918.

In the Victorian Age the novel become the leading genre. This because the novel reflects new social and economic developments, scientific discoveries and the ethical problems raised by the Industrial Revolution. Also the novelist has to avoid embarrassing topics, in respect of women and children. In this way the public start to recognized themselves in the majority of novels from which they draw entertainment, but also instruction. So the level of education improves and more and more people can appreciate literature. This is important because every novel is divided in episode, which can continue to be published only if people appreciate and read it. The sentimental and melodramatic themes of the early Victorian novel come strengthened by a deep realism, feature of the late Victorian literature.