The nineteenth century was the great age of the novel. Writers such as Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen produced long, richly detailed works that still appear on exam papers today.
The world behind the novels
These novels grew from a fast-changing Britain: the Industrial Revolution, crowded cities, sharp divides between rich and poor, and strict social rules. Writers used fiction to entertain but also to expose injustice. Dickens, whose Oliver Twist opens 'Among other public buildings in a certain town... there is one... a workhouse', drew attention to poverty and the treatment of children.
Style and conventions
- Long, complex sentences with many clauses reward slow, careful reading.
- Rich description of setting and society, as in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre: 'There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.'
- An intrusive narrator who comments directly on characters and morals.
- Serial publication, printed in monthly parts, which encouraged cliffhangers and memorable characters.
Reading strategies
Do not panic at unfamiliar words; read to the end of the sentence and use context to work out their meaning. Notice the writer's attitude to society, sympathy for the poor, criticism of cruelty or hypocrisy, and admiration for honesty and courage. Track how setting mirrors mood, as the wild, windswept moors do in Wuthering Heights. Watch, too, for the strong moral concerns of the age: many novels reward kindness, integrity and family loyalty while exposing greed and injustice. Above all, connect the text to its context: the values, hardships and hopes of the period shape every scene, and examiners reward pupils who weave that historical understanding into close analysis rather than bolting it on at the end. With a little patience, these older novels open into some of the richest reading you will ever do.
The world behind the novels
Context is not decoration here — it explains why these writers wrote as they did, and examiners reward that link.
| What was happening | How it shows in the fiction |
|---|---|
| The Industrial Revolution and crowded cities | Settings of poverty, work and overcrowding |
| Sharp divides between rich and poor | Fiction used to expose injustice, not only to entertain — Dickens opens Oliver Twist in a workhouse |
| Strict social rules | Characters constrained by what their class and situation permit |
Reading the style without panic
| What you meet | What to do |
|---|---|
| Long sentences with many clauses | Slow down; find the main verb first, then fit the clauses around it |
| Rich description of setting and society | Ask what the detail reveals about the world, not just the room |
| Older vocabulary | Read on — the sentence around a word usually defines it |