Simplicity and the Victorian Era

A counter-narrative to the complexity of the arts and literature in the extended 19th century

Sigismund Christian Hubert Goetze (1866 - 1939)

Our Simple Mission

Welcome to the Victorian exhibition of the “The Success of Simplicity in Personal Expression in the Victorian Era”. As the theme suggests, this exhibition will provide answers to questions like, “Can simplicity be as successful as complexity?” from a Victorian perspective. It will do so by providing primary materials and sources from the extended nineteenth century in a format that has purposeful rhetoric in mind, as well as accompanying interpretative text to aid in connecting the materials to the theme. It is said that the arts of the Victorian Era often consisted of “bizarre complexity, and lurid colouring and detail”, with painters such as John Liston Byam Shaw and Sigismund Christian Hubert Goetze being among the prime examples of the complexity (Crowther). However, it is worth noting that among the intricate detail of the Victorian Era, there are works of far less complexity that have left an impact of, at least, equal importance to the convoluted works that the era is known for. This exhibition aims to provide a counter-narrative to the primary perspective of the Victorian Era, not to disagree with the consensus, but to shed light on the variety of expression of the time, and of its lesser known—though still impactful—success.

“The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way.”

John Ruskin — Modern Painters (1843)

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In What Ways Was the Era Simplistic?

A scholarly perspective

One of the lasting effects of the Victorian Era was the reaction that people had to the ugliness and materialism of the Industrial Age in the form of the Aesthetic Movement in Britain, from 1860 to 1900 (Victoria and Albert Museum). This movement pursued the motto of “Art for Art’s sake”, and was pioneered by people such as Oscar Wilde, whose quote, “Beauty has as many meanings as man has moods. Beauty is the symbol of symbols. Beauty reveals everything, because it expresses nothing. When it shows itself, it shows us the whole fiery-coloured world.” (1890) remains enshrined as one of the highlighting pursuits of the Aesthetic Movement. Also, as a reaction to the machine age, the Arts and Crafts Movement—rooted in socialist ideas—rejected the cheap, low-quality factory-made products of the time (The Victorian Emporium). Even if these products were made through complex processes, the movement preferred high-quality, handmade goods made from natural materials—a reversion back to the simple life of pre-industrial Britain.

Portfolio Contents

The first material the website will present is a copy of Europe: A Prophecy, a work that, although convoluted in meaning and message, was quite minimalistic. It had no more than four major components, and one very notable center of attention
Secondly, while working on my final project for unit 2, the main conclusion that my teammates and I came to was that, when studying George Eliot's Works, it is curious that her most famous works were her most simple ones (when measuring simplicity as a combination of average sentence length and variability of vocabulary)

Additional Materials

Works from the Aesthetic Movement

Monna Vanna (Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1866), whose minimal adornment and focus on pure form and beauty make it a staple of its movement
Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (James McNeill Whistler, 1862), which strips away a guided narrative and much detail, focusing instead on subtle tones, texture, and the quiet presence of the central figure—similar to Urizen

Works from the Arts and Crafts Movement

Red House (by William Morris and Philip Webb, 1860, sourced from Marcus Waithe, 28), the core of the Arts and Crafts movement, which was curiously a house)
Tiffany Lamps (Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1899), which shows how the movement of simplicity became global in its influence by becoming popular in the US

Works outside of the Arts

Occam's Razor, originally thought of by William of Ockham (14th century) but made popular by Scottish metaphysical philosopher Sir William Hamilton (1852), is a principle suggesting that when faced with multiple explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest and most parsimonious one is usually the best.

A Quick Walkthrough

The Exhibit is structured in a way that allows you to truly take your time when interacting with each work, incentivizing deep reflection and contemplation of the theme. To do this, the site is structured with a traditional scroll-method. Moreover, as shown above, the exhibit is split into two sections. The first contains works explored in ENGL 105i, the class for which this exhibition website is the final project. The second section contains additional works that establish the theme of simplicity in the Victorian Era even more firmly.

You will first be shown a copy of Europe: A Prophecy, which should segway you into the theme nicely, just as it was the rock from which I began my exploration of simplicity in the Victorian Era this semester. Next, you will be led to seeing a carousel of summary visualizations of George Eliot’s works (Voyant visualizations). After that, another page with other materials (not covered in class) from the Victorian Era will be shown, including the Monna Vanna (Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1866), Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (James McNeill Whistler, 1875), and Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (James McNeill Whistler, 1862). Lastly, to tie all of this together to a more practical “take-away” with the materials on Occam’s razor. This is intended to be something that can be used in your own life, using the previous material as the basis/evidence of when this famous principle of the Victorian Era works. Ultimately, what I hope you take away is that one need not make personal works in the arts and literature overly complex. There is beauty and deep personal meaning in simplicity.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Reach out to the contact details below if your question is not adressed

How cool is Ms. Merz?

The coolest.

Would I recommend this class to future students?

Absolutely, I would! This class presented a unique perspective between my major, data science, and the arts & literature, an intersection I previously thought unlikely.

How does Ms. Merz run on such little sleep?

No clue, but it's very impressive how patient and kind a person she can be with two hours of sleep... 😳

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