The era was proceeded by the Georgian period and followed by the Edwardian period. 

 In the early 20th century there was a negative reaction to "Victorianism" which stood for a narrow minded, prudishly moral, hypocritically religious, and naively optimistic society . 

Victorian literature suggests that the age was more complex and varied than this.

Social change: 

The economic depressions of the 1830s and 1840s led to unrest and demands for reforms in the political system. The working class Chartist movement demanded equal electoral districts and the right to vote. Reform Bills, beginning in 1832 helped correct the situation. There were outcries against child labor and other industrial problems, and socialism became a political force.

Religious challenge:

Victorian literature appears to deviate from 'art for art's  sake ' and asserts its moral purpose.
The Established (Anglican) Church was under fire from several sides. The Oxford Movement questioned its theological legitimacy . The Higher Critics, a group of scholars who studied the Bible textually, challenged the authority of the Scriptures.

Scientific challenge:

Another threat to orthodox religion was scientific inquiry, such as Darwin's theory of evolution and the geologists' assertion that the earth is millennium olde than the Bible suggests.

The novel: 




Victorian age is divided into three groups.
The early Victorian novel; the primary writer was Charles Dickens, themes ; social and humanitarian.
The mid Victorian novel, leading writers ; Bronte sisters, and Robert Stevenson, themes; romantic and Gothic tradition and psychological vein: 
The late- Victorian novel: prominent writers Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde: themes; a sense of dissatisfaction with values of the age.
The Victorians' supreme literary achievement was the novel, which was avidly read, with no distinction being made between "popular fiction" and "literature".

Poetry:




The most important early Victorian poets were close followers of the philosophy and style of the Romantic poets. All believed that one of the important functions of poetry was to improve the morals of their readers.

Prose:



The essays and longer prose works of Victorian writers such as Carlyle, Mill, Newman, and Ruskin had one primary aim: to lead their readers to "superior viewpoints" and improve their taste in art and literature.

Drama:



Though the Victorians loved drama, their taste for melodrama and sentimentalism kept the dramatists from the reaching the heights of the poets and prose writers. Only Oscar Wilde's satiric comedies of manners are still frequently performed.