Women Novelists of Victorian Age and Thematic Concerns in their Works

The present study is an interpretation of women novelists of the Victorian age and their significant works.In the history of English literature, The Victorian era is regarded as the hub of female novelists. It was an Age of scientific discoveries, material affluence, mechanical and industrial advancement, political awakening among people, democratic changes, industrial development, social conflicts, pessimism and idealism. The literature of this period reflects the true spirit of the era. The writers and the works selected for the study are some famous novels written by George Eliot, Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, Eliza Lynn Linton, Mary Elizabethan Braddon, Marie Corelli. The study aims to throw some light on different themes and perspectives, which these writers have concentrated upon in their significant works. These women novelists have adopted peculiar ways of looking at life and the same is reflected in their respective novels. Unhappy marriages, identity issues, gender biasness, inner conflicts, alienation are the major concerns in the works of these women novelists. In their novels we find poetic justice, which was absent in the tragic plays of Shakespeare. It means at the end of the novel, hard work, good hearted people and good deeds are rewarded and wrongdoers can be seen punished for their wrong-doings. So, their novels can be regarded as full of moral values but mixed with a lot of sentiments. They createdtheir own place in Victorian literature. Their work has been highly appreciated. It was said by many critics that due to their work, years of mid nineteenth century can be considered as the richest in the whole history of the novel.