Wuthering Heights To Middlemarch Here Are 5 Victorian Women Authors You Must Read

We are far behind in creating a time machine, yet humanity is still capable of travelling back in time via books. Opening the first few pages in your room and travelling back into a different century by dwelling your heart and soul in a book is easy The Victorian era is one thoughtful time that gave us the gift of transporting ourselves into the heap of time. With the Bronte sisters and Eliot, the Victorian era saw some prolific women writers who told the story of Victorian women by the pen of one.

Victorian Books reading list: Here are 5 Books Written By Women You Must Read:

Middlemarch by George Eliot

A story of duality, of opposites. Intellectuals and non-intellectuals; labourers and thinkers; youthfulness and experience. The tale does not judge any particular class of people but rather gathers them together to illustrate how they interrelate at this time in British history. There is a lushness in Middlemarch’s description and prose. You’ll find yourself smiling at the end of the story as George Eliot will let you have a happy ending with a side bonus of landscape and culture. The comparison in the text where the narrator explicitly tells you what some characters are like is quite illuminating. The book is of intense, dedicated craftsmanship, of construction so intricate and careful that you can only describe it as loving. Don’t worry it has plenty of breathing room, moments where you can pause and luxuriate within the liminal spaces of each character’s arc and activity.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Untamed personalities, who love wildly, who behave wildly, unsocially, acting like a force of nature, whenever the mood takes them, a book on the wildness of nature, and the wildness of human nature. The Victorian story of the destructive, dark side of love. You will find that no one is nice even though their wildness varies by degrees, you cannot like any of them. What is worth taking away is a depiction of the cyclic form of nature, of life. How a thing is nurtured will be reflected in how it grows. There will be a part of you that wants to find good in utter wilderness. If not anything you can appraise it as a story of the wind howling on the moor, rattling at the windows, whispering of the wildness of the human spirit, of the untameable power of love.

Wuthering Heights

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

A foray into Victorian Realism is what this book can be summarised into. You have to believe that it is a laborious read esp. When Eliot's characters are drawn into the conflict, it can be quite engrossing. There is a reason why this text could be called ‘Realist’ as she makes it clear that she understands her characters better than they understand themselves. But it is probably the greatest strength of the novel, that when the characters conflict with each other when events bring their best and worst qualities to the surface, it feels true because Eliot has made us feel assured in their characters.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott’s 150-Year-Old Masterpiece is inclusive and diverse for the time being written. The Victorian world you are going to witness is as detailed as our own and yet their story is equally realistic. You will find that each chapter is like an arc of its own focusing on certain characters and foreshadowing upcoming consequences. In a Victorian society where marriage was a women’s only chance of success, Alcott created Jo to be a breath of fresh air with an expiration date. Alcott's writing was elegant yet poignant and haunting at moments, and perfect for the era it was set in, whilst the sister's personalities were intricately described throughout the whole book. It gave you a sense of what it was like to be a normal family in the 1800s and subtly showed the feelings of each character.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Brontë sisters’ text is always a must-read from the Victorian era as they provide you with the imaginative radicality that was immensely absent in the reality of the period. Charlotte wrote in her text about the silent needs and demands of freedom and individuality by Victorian women through Jane. Depicted as a strong feminist symbol, arguing throughout the whole novel that women should be free to fulfil their desires, express their true natures, and chart their own destinies jane course her demand of free will. Rebels have consequences so was the course of Jane’s journey or perhaps any other woman you try to come out of the box, but you will witness that changes happen not overnight but slowly and steadily like a mute earthquake. If you are looking for a rebel of Victorian ideals Jane Eyre is your must-go.

The views expressed are the author’s own. The list is indicative and not exhaustive.

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