They Were Amused!
Some Examples of Late Victorian Humour

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It is sometimes said that the Victorians lacked a sense of humour.

This is nonsense.

During the Queen Empress’s reign some of the funniest books ever written were published.

So, for example, Dickens’s vision of life in his novels is shot through with comic gusto.

We’ll be looking at three examples of late Victorian humour though no prior knowledge will be assumed.

The Savoy Operas by Gilbert and Sullivan

(including The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers) were hugely popular in their day both in Britain and America.

They are still revived and, given a good production, come up fresh as paint.

We’ll be exploring their humour and why they have survived so long.

The Diary of a Nobody (1892) by George and Weedon Grossmith  is a spoof diary which provides a detailed and comic insight into life in suburban London).

Three Men in a Boat (1889) is the best known novel of Jerome K. Jerome and has been described by one critic as ‘one of the comic gems in the English language.

We will be looking at these wonderful examples of humour in the context of their time and looking at how they have affected later writers.