Universidad Nacional

Chorotega Head Office

Campus Liberia

Bachelor in Teaching English

Diacrony of English Language

Research Paper

Professor

David Villalobos Betancourt

Student

Randall Alvarado Navarro

II Semester

2009

The Elizabethan Era and the Victorian Age

As we know, English has faced different steps in order to be in the way we

know and talk it. It has passed different ages, epochs and centuries to become one

of the most important languages around the world.

Some centuries ago, English was not considered as important as we consider

right now. Actually, it was spoken by the minority of the people, though. The

plebeians were the ones who spoke this language. On the other hand, the royalty

was the unique that talked French, considering this language more pure and finer

than English.

Moreover, English has influenced many eras and stages of the world. It has

introduced some new words to the lexicon of the people. Consequently, we can

say that English is an important part of the history of the Earth.

This language has introduced new meanings. Also, there are some important

people that have helped in the process of understanding and learning words

worldwide.

We can mention plenty of important events that have happened in the history

of English language, but the idea of this paper is just to mention tow of them.

Moreover, it can be shown a timeline in which represents some events that have

happened.

source: benortiz.com

It was chosen the Elizabethan Age because it is considered so important to

talk about an incredible woman that did many important things in England. It is

amazing because it was a hard era in which men governed everything. So, it is

kind of awesome that the “weak sex” could do things in favor of a country. This

event is relevant in a patriarchal era.

Before writing about the Elizabethan Age, it is important to mention who

Elizabeth was. Elizabeth was a popular Queen, and considered one of the best

loved monarchs, and one of the most admired rulers of all time. She became a

legend in her own existence. She had remarkable abilities and achievements.

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

She was born on 7 September 1533 at Greenwich Palace. (From:

http://www.elizabethi.org/us/biography.html). Elizabeth did finally succeed to the

throne on November, 17th 1558. Furthermore, she was crowned Queen on Sunday

15th January 1559. In the months that followed, the new Queen re-established the

Protestant Church in England and restored the debased coinage.

This is a picture of Elizabeth I, the Queen.

Picture borrowed from www.elizabethi.org

As it was mentioned before, Elizabethan Age was so important because, first

of all, it was considered and called the Golden Age in English history. By this age,

the Renaissance was the most relevant of the events that were happening. In

addition, this era was important because in this era, many of the poetry, music and

literature came out. Musicians were called Waitz, which played instruments like

fiddles, lutes, recorders, and small percussion instruments. On the other hand, this

era gave to the world one of the most important and well-known writers: William

Shakespeare.

During the period of the Elizabethan Age, it existed a long period of peace

among the countries, mainly the battles between Protestant and Catholics and the

battles between the parliament and the monarchy, too.

Additionally, this age brought to English new words that started using since that time. Some

of these new words were:

Word Appearing

gardens This awakening took especially firm root

in Elizabethan England, which notably

developed the idea that gardens were

for enjoyment and delight

theatre These conditions improved

considerably during Elizabeth’s reign,

when, in 1574, regular weekday

performances were legitimized and

when, in 1576, the first playhouse was

built, by James Burbage.

soliloquy ...convention, especially in the theatre

of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries

Source: www.britannica.com

These are some words and characteristics of the language by the

Elizabethan Age:

‘gong’. The Elizabethan word ‘gong’ meant dung. The men whose job was to

empty and dispose of the waste from the privies (toilets) were called ‘Gong

Farmers’!

The Elizabethan alphabet contained 24 letters, as opposed to the present day

alphabet of 26 letters

In the Elizabethan alphabet the letters “u” and “v” were the same letter as were and

“i” and “j”

The “j” was usually used as the capital form of the letter “i” in the Elizabethan

alphabet

The letter “u” was used only in the middle of a word, and the “v” was used at the

beginning!

Another letter which resembled a “y” was used to represent the “th” sound. The

word “the” was therefore written in a similar way as “ye” would in the modern day

The written form of Elizabethan Numbers also cause confusion in translation

Numbers were frequently written in lower case Roman numerals, with the last “i” in

a number written as a “j”. For example – viij March

Source: www.elizabethan-era.org.

On the other hand, we have Victorian Literature. This happening was so

relevant in the English development. It brought new points of view, new writing

genres and also, new artists. Novels became popular by this era.

Victorian Literature was produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-

1901). In this era, most writers were now more concerned to meet the tastes of a

large middle class reading public than to please aristocratic patrons. In here, we

can mention some of the most significant writers: The Bronte sisters, Thomas

Hardy, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth

Barrett Browning, Matthew Arnold, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Christina Rossetti.

Victorian literature is characterized by a strong sense of morality, and it frequently

champions the broken.

Queen VictoriaPicture borrowed from victorian.fortunecity.com

The following is the timeline of this epoch.

19th Century English Timeline

1800 Battle of Hohenlinden (end of French Revolutionary Wars)

1804 Napoleon crowned Emporer

1805 Battle of Trafalgar

1812 Napoleon's retreat from Russia

1815 Battle of Waterloo

1819 Peterloo Massacre

1820 Death of George III

1830 Death of George IV

1832 British votes extend to middle-class males

1837 Accession of Queen Victoria

1844 First Factory Act limits working hours

1848 Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood forms

1854 Crimean War begins

1856 End of Crimean War

1859 On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin is published

1861 Consort to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, dies

1867 Vote extends to working-class males

1876 Queen Victoria becomes Empress of India

1880-1 First Boer War

1887 Golden Jubilee

1897 Diamond Jubilee

1899-1902 Second Boer War

1901 Death of Queen Victoria

Source: http: victorian.fortunecity.com

In this era, most of the novels and poems have a special characteristic. They were

written in a kind of dark side. They author mentioned the death constantly. They

referred to spiritual things too. They also referred to some experiences and some

of the events that were happening at this time. There is an example of a poem

written by Robert Buchanan called The Bookworm.

The Bookworm

With spectacles upon his nose,     He shuffles up and down;

Of antique fashion are his clothes,     His napless hat is brown.

A mighty watch, of silver wrought,     Keeps time in sun or rain

To the dull ticking of the thought     Within his dusty brain.

To see him at the bookstall stand     And bargain for the prize,

With the odd sixpence in his hand     And greed in his gray eyes!

Then, conquering, grasp the book half blind,

    And take the homeward track,For fear the man should change his

mind,     And want the bargain back!

The waves of life about him beat,     He scarcely lifts his gaze,

He hears within the crowded street     The wash of ancient days.If ever his short-sighted eyes    Look forward, he can see

Vistas of dusty Libraries    Prolonged eternally.

But think not as he walks along     His brain is dead and cold;

His soul is thinking in the tongue     Which Plato spake of old;

And while some grinning cabman sees

    His quaint shape with a jeer,He smiles, — for Aristophanes

    Is joking in his ear.

Around him stretch Athenian walks,     And strange shapes under trees;

He pauses in a dream and talks     Great speech, with Socrates.

Then, as the fancy fails — still mesh'd

    In thoughts that go and come — Feels in his pouch, and is refresh'd

    At touch of some old tome.

The mighty world of humankind    Is as a shadow dim,

He walks through life like one half blind,

    And all looks dark to him;But put his nose to leaves antique,

    And hold before his sightSome press'd and withered flowers of

Greek,    And all is life and light.

A blessing on his hair so gray,    And coat of dingy brown!

May bargains bless him every day,     As he goes up and down;

Long may the bookstall-keeper's face,

    In dull times, smile again,To see him round with shuffling pace

    The corner of the lane!

A good old Ragpicker is he,    Who, following morn and eve

The quick feet of Humanity,    Searches the dust they leave.

He pokes the dust, he sifts with care,     He searches close and deep;

Proud to discover, here and there,     A treasure in the heap!

(From London Poems, 1866-70) Source: www.victorianweb.org

As we can see, this poem has a dark point of view, with some black

metaphors that can confuse the readers. Even though, Victorian Literature is so

interesting and exciting because some of them have fantastic features that can

transport the reader to an inexistence world, full of werewolves, vampires and

death people. Also, this kind of literature is a good representation of the culture that

people had in the period and it also showed all the problematic they had to face.

Consequently, if we see at the past, we can notice that English language has

changed a lot. Thanks to the eras or ages mentioned before, English has

increased because both ages have given to the language new words, meanings,

word order and some grammatical features that we are using now.

Probably, if we study deeply the structure of these ages, it is going to be a

huge work because there are many information about everything: religion, politics,

people, customs, food, and so on.