Who Are Some of Your Favorite Victorian Writers?

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In the next entry in my series on favorite writers, I want to consider Victorian authors, with a time period defined as the time of Queen Victoria’s reign–1837-1901. This period has been filled with many excellent writers, and I will focus on only a few as my choices. I could, however, easily expand my list.

Without further discussion, here are three of my favorite Victorian writers:

Dickens_Gurney_head

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

Charles Dickens

Dickens was an extraordinary success, both as a popular writer and with critics. His work is part of the body of literature, and he has touched much of the population of the world. Among his most important and well-known pieces are A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations.

thomas-hardy-393744_960_720

(https://pixabay.com)

Thomas Hardy

He achieved much in fewer novels than Dickens. Among his novels are Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure, and Far From The Madding Crowd.

Emily_Brontë_by_Patrick_Branwell_Brontë_restored

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

Emily Bronte

While writing only one novel, her extraordinary Gothic piece, Wuthering Heights, places her among the great Gothic writers.

 

So, I ask all of you, who are some of your favorite Victorian writers?

65 thoughts on “Who Are Some of Your Favorite Victorian Writers?”

  5. Charles Kingsley for his classic,
    The Water Babies, A Tale for a Land Baby
    (written for his son).
    J.M. Barrie, but technically an Edwardian
    writer since he wrote Peter Pan I’m 1904.
    Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), author
    of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
    Perhaps the fact that opium was so freely
    available in those days may help to explain
    the very high standard of Victorian children’s
    fantasy literature 😎

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I enjoy all these authors. David Copperfield, Hard times and Bleak House for Charles Dickens .May I also add Wilkie Collins -The Woman in White and Basil. Anne Bronte for The Tenant at Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey, and not forgetting Conan Doyle for Sherlock Holmes.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I am quite a fan of the Bronte sisters, but I have never much cared for Dickens (at the risk of horrifying you, Professor.) Would Jane Austen be considered Victorian or is she more of the Regency era? I like her as well. Mary Shelley is another favorite of that era, too.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you, and you do not horrify me. I never expect anyone to agree with me–and in my classes, I try to be very clear that my students do not have to agree with me. I would include Jane Austen!

      Like

  15. Fun question! I appreciate your definition of term Victorian. It is a snakey one to what passes for my mind these days.

    1. Arthur Machen (pen name for Arthur Llewellyn Jones) ‘The Great God Pan’ is my second favourite fairy tale.

    2.Fyodor Dostoyevsky (b1821 Russia, d.1981 Russia). Not sure he meets the quintessence of Victorian criteria. Thoughts? But he did write during her reign 1837-1901. I primarily refer to ‘Notes from the Underground’ and ‘The Idiot.’

    Thanks for making, sharing, and asking.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Wilkie Collins – discovered him when trying free classics on Kindle and have now read many of his books. I think he was a contemporary of Dickens, and a forerunner of the thriller genre. Probably most famous for The Moonstone and The Woman in White. Everything I’ve read by him has been good and there are still some to go!

    Liked by 2 people

  24. Without a doubt, Christina Rossetti is at the top of the list. I believe the time has come to re-read her work. John Keats of course, I do love poetry so Robert Burns cannot be too far down the list. I have a friend from Glasgow whom I pester to read his work. Her accent has never faded despite the years she has lived in France and London. As for prose, I have enjoyed both Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope but prefer the work of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
    Nice post as you have reminded me of some friends I should like to revisit. Thank you.

    Liked by 2 people

  25. Reblogged this on K. DeMers Dowdall and commented:
    I love historical fiction and romance. It just so happens that Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy, are three of my favorite writers in this genre, along with Charlotte Bronte, who is my most favorite female writer of this time period. Although, it is very difficult not to love most historical writers of this era, such as Jane Austin, Alexander Dumus, and Edgar Allen Poe, to name of few. Thank you, Prof. Charles French for this opportunity to remember them.

    Liked by 2 people

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