Twentieth-Century Re-Workings of the Victorian Novel

Abstract

This essay offers an overview of recent critical studies of the neo-Victorian novel alongside a discussion of revisions of Victorian writing from the 1880s to the present day. The piece seeks to examine some of the recent critical debates surrounding what Robin Gilmour has termed ‘using’ the nineteenth century. It will map the trajectory of these revisions from the late nineteenth century to the present day to consider how and why Victorian novels and cultural icons continue to be re-worked, and what makes the Victorians such an attractive source for writers and artists.