Romantic Friendship in Victorian Literature (The Nineteenth Century Series)

Romantic Friendship in Victorian Literature (The Nineteenth Century Series)

By Carolyn W. De La L. Oulton

Book Description

Carolyn W. De La L. Oulton illuminates a fascinating dimension of Victorian society by exploring how nineteenth-century writers navigated the complex terrain of intimate same-sex friendships. This scholarly examination reveals the deliberate strategies authors employed to celebrate and defend passionate bonds between friends of the same gender, while simultaneously exposing the underlying tensions these relationships created within their cultural context.

Drawing from novels, poetry, conduct guides, periodicals, and religious writings, Oulton presents a comprehensive view of how romantic friendship evolved throughout the Victorian era. Her analysis spans works by renowned authors including Dickens, Tennyson, Disraeli, Charlotte Bronte, and Braddon, uncovering unexpected connections between male and female friendship patterns in their literary portrayals.

Rather than viewing these relationships through a modern lens or dismissing them as culturally innocent, Oulton treats romantic friendship as a sophisticated ideal that Victorian society both embraced and struggled to understand. Her research traces the gradual shift from mid-century acceptance to the growing skepticism that emerged toward the century's end, when these intense bonds first faced serious cultural questioning.

This work challenges assumptions about Victorian attitudes toward passionate same-sex relationships, offering readers a nuanced understanding of how literature both reflected and shaped social perspectives on human connection, intimacy, and the boundaries of acceptable affection during a pivotal period in cultural history.

Who Is This For?

📖 Reading Level: Short (< 200 pages) (~5 hours)

📄 Length: 178 pages

What You'll Discover

  • ✓ Explore English literature
  • ✓ Explore Amitié dans la littérature
  • ✓ Explore Histoire et critique
  • ✓ Explore Identité sexuelle dans la littérature
  • ✓ Explore Friendship in literature
  • ✓ Explore Homosexualité dans la littérature
  • ✓ Explore Female friendship in literature
  • ✓ Explore Amour dans la littérature

Topics Covered

English literature Amitié dans la littérature Histoire et critique Identité sexuelle dans la littérature Friendship in literature Homosexualité dans la littérature Female friendship in literature Amour dans la littérature Gender identity in literature Male friendship in literature Lesbianisme dans la littérature Littérature anglaise Amitié féminine dans la littérature Love in literature English literature, history and criticism, 19th century Lesbianism in literature Amitié masculine dans la littérature History and criticism Homosexuality in literature Lesbians in literature

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