The Dichotomy of Self within the 19th Century as Told through Victorian Novels

There are many different ways in which one can utilize the concept of evil in their piece of literature. While the usage of this same term can vary from each other depending on the literary piece, at the core they all represent one theme. The concept of evil was a vital subject during the Victorian era as Victorian society was known for trying to keep face no matter how “evil” one’s household was. The hypocrisy of Victorian society led to a big gap between people’s social attire and their house ethics. All that mattered was that even if one were to act outside the ideals of the Victorian world, it needed to be done behind the curtains where no one could see. Many writers like Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde used the concept of evil to criticize these said ideals of Victorian society in their novels. 

Brontë’s aspiring novel Wuthering Heights is perhaps the prime example of this dichotomy that overtook the Victorian world. This dichotomy is shown through contradicting images and lines, describing the proper whilst showcasing unfit characters and places of Wuthering Heights. As Brontë describes Heathcliff, the main evil subject of the novel, she incorporates words that would imply a person is smeared with darkness. Brontë carefully uses terms that paint Heathcliff as the bad guy without even properly introducing him to the reader. His image resembles that of a heathen as he stands for everything that Victorian society opposes. On the contrary, Edgar is the exact opposite of Heathcliff as he represents everything he is not. An absolute Victorian man. These contradictions between Heathcliff and Edgar help the reader understand the giant gap between these concepts of good and evil.

Similarly, Charles Dickens uses the same technique of contrasting images of good and evil to highlight the duality of Victorian society in his novel Great Expectations. The character of Pip is the epitome of Victorian thinking as he cares more for the outlook of a lad than he does for the actual benevolence of one’s true heart. As opposed to Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations toys with the idea of good appearance concealing one’s evil nature. While Brontë thinks it fitting to show characters as is through their stance, Dickens approaches the issue at hand through a different technique with Victorian standards not being representative of one’s goodness. Magwitch who resembles Heathcliff in many ways, actually holds a heart of gold while Compeyson who is quite like Edgar in social appearances is the actual villain of Great Expectations

 On the other hand, although in contradicting context; Brontë and Dickens use different characters to portray the struggle between good and evil in Victorian society. Oscar Wilde however portrays it with one character to demonstrate how one can bear both evil and good inside of them. Dorian starts his life as pure as one can be but as his story progresses, he has to live up to the expectations of the prude society of the time. While the turning point of Dorian’s evilness can be marked by the presence of one Lord Henry, these changes to his personality do not happen outside of his consent. He gives in to evil, he chooses the path for himself. Although at times there is an inner war between good and evil inside of him, in the end, he fully accepts his dark side and admits there is no going back for him. As his portrait decays, so does his remorse and welfare. 

The nineteenth century was home to many ill ways of hiding one’s true self from society to depict a good image to the outer world while doing what one pleases behind closed doors. Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde were just one of the few authors who criticized this way of living in the eighteenth century by embracing the theme of evil in their works of fiction. By creating this world of false pretense, they managed to mock the absurd ideals of the time.