100th Post: 100 Reasons to Read Victorian Literature

It’s my hundredth post as the Secret Victorianist and, to celebrate the occasion, I’m giving you 100 REASONS to read nineteenth-century literature.

 Grab a dusty ‘classic’ from your bookshelf, hotfoot it to your local charity shop or get downloading (for free!) from the Amazon Kindle store! And, most importantly, get reading to...

Learn the art of storytelling from some of the best writers in English

Pity governesses, wet nurses, nursery maids and dairymaids

Become an accomplished heroine 

Develop a fear of rail travel

Think ‘5000 a year’ is a lot of money

Discover all the gory details of decapitation 

Interpret your friends’ dreams (that’s definitely foreshadowing)

Cry – a lot (those Victorians sure knew how to mourn)

Impress people by your literary canonical know-how

Give your hair extensions some cultural/historical context

Be a pro at theological differences between Christian denominations

See the world through other people’s eyes

Get extra geeky about Dr Who 

Giggle at the use of the word ‘ejaculated’

Acquire a worrying taste for gin

Bemoan the loss of calling cards

Swat up on your horticultural knowledge 

Nail the perfect marriage proposal (there’s a lot of those)

Remember your own life probably isn’t tragic

Read far too late into the night

Bond with lovers of steampunk

Surprise others with your understanding of complex inheritance laws

Give thanks for modern divorce courts

Fear pregnancy and childbirth

Watch out for what not to do by analysing some of the worst writers in English

Expect all children to be sickly, prophetic or homicidal

Find butter making erotic (thanks, George Eliot)

Rate a 10-mile walk as a ‘gentle stroll’

Show off by knowing famous novels’ subtitles

Practise the art of seduction…in Latin

Gain a library of books which can double as doorstops

Appreciate the cost of keeping stables and a carriage

Want to walk to church on your wedding day (preferably across a heath)

Seek out secret passageways (and face bitter disappointment)

Envy the incredible dresses (N.B. you wouldn’t fit them anyway)

Fancy fictional characters

Know why a word is asterisked before flicking to the endnote

Recognise the importance of family

Yearn for after dinner port

Score top marks in this devilishly difficult Christmas Quiz 

Enjoy the incredible character names

Name your pets after said Victorian characters

Deem pineapples impressive

Lengthen your sentences

Understand the mechanics of first person narration 

Expand your vocabulary

Fathom pre-decimal coinage

Set your heart on overly ambitious fancy dress costumes

Shudder at American vulgarities

Laugh like a Victorian 

Restore your faith in contemporary politicians (elections might be a little fairer now…)

Persist in practising a Tennysonian reading voice

Take hosting far too seriously

Produce some amazing neo-Victorian art or literature

Brush up your French (it isn’t always translated!)

Display these disturbing tendencies common among Victorian literature addicts

Overestimate your ability to empathise with your fellow mortals

Feel lucky if you ever end up in jail (trust me, the conditions could be much worse!)

Scare your friends with Gothic ghost stories

Sentimentalise Christmas

Distrust NELLY! (And other troublesome narrators)

Quote the best bits on Twitter (but run out of characters)

Be outraged at the derogatory use of the word ‘Victorian’

Worry far too much (and too early) about your own mortality

Improve your memory (those novels have A LOT of characters)

Top your English Lit classes with these killer tricks

Compete with your sisters to marry first

Regard cheating at cards as a heinous crime

Notch up your reading speed

Love and hate the French in equal measure

Avoid schemers who are set on taking your virginity 

Be delighted by spotting familiar London street names

View your cousins in a whole new light

Secretly identify as an extra Bronte sister

Follow the footsteps of these literary emigrants 

Reference obscure texts when joking with fellow victorianists

Steal witticisms from Wilde

Decipher the plot in weird adaptations 

Celebrate not being a servant

Value epigraphs

Long for the occasional anonymity of a veil 

Ruin your life 

Shout at characters in frustration (occasionally)

Defend the period from these unfair imputations 

Use obsolete slang

Do picnics properly

Teach yourself the art of patience (there can be a lot of digressions)

Recite poetry at appropriate moments (like James Bond’s M)

Consider Downton Abbey too modern

Hone your sense of etiquette

Decipher impenetrable dialects

Have quirky theories about Hollywood blockbusters

Pick up references in later literature

Make that University Challenge team by acing Victorian trivia

Aspire to send or receive a crossed letter

Perfect the art of using repetition in your writing 

Appreciate BBC costume dramas

Dream up new BBC costume dramas 

Possibly get a degree or three and…

Maybe even get away with murder!

Why do YOU read Victorian literature? Is my list exhaustive?

Let me know, here, on Facebook or by tweeting @SVictorianist!