This is the debut of my Victorian Study collections (hopefully, not the only).
The Victorian era (circa 1837 – 1901) never fails to intrigue me as an thrilling, exciting time period featuring revolutionary changes in economics, politics, technologies, arts, and basically all aspects. It was a period of relentless progress and reform, when great literature and artworks were nourished by the ever-progressing society. New things emerged and prospered with unprecedented change taking place every 5 years or so.
Imagine living in an era when you wake up with newspapers championing the first recorded telegraphs, phone calls, and the world’s first exposition featuring the peak of human creativity of all times. Head to the theatre, and you can enjoy the latest productions of Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, and the prototype of modern-day musical developed by Gilbert & Sullivan. Walk into a bookstore, and you get the latest novels of Charles Dickens. If you are a political animal, get yourself the latest Westminster Review, and enjoy the debate of great essayists — J.S. Mill, John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle — and watch how they debate on liberal ideas covering religious freedom, women’s rights, labor protection, democracy, liberty, etc. The society was on the rise.
One particular strand of Victorian society that I find interesting is the Victorian essayists. I would like to examine how they championed and promoted liberal ideas with great zest, and how they were influenced and shaped by the particular time period. I want to feel the pulse of that era, and see how social, technological, and economical shocks sculptured intellectual ideas. Therefore, I decided to start a new series themed ‘Victorian Essays’.
Here I record digests of Autobiography by John Stuart Mill as one of my course-works for Victorian Essay studies.
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