love in victorian writing

The Victorian period was one of dramatic social and technological change where the City and industrialisation rapidly engulfed the space that was once occupied by countryside and beautiful scenery. Yet, it was common among Victorian writers to associate love and romance with nature and the countryside, such as Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes, Elizabeth Gaskell's Cousin Phillis, Robert Browning's love poetry in Men and Women, and in some of Tennyson's poetry also. "Much …

…Victorian writing, but I couldn't find a better description of it's main themes than William C. DeVane's comment on Browning, (but this could also be related to Gaskell and Hardy):"In the full scope we see love triumphant, and love rejected; love eager and young, and love satisfied; love a strong support, and love betrayed; love making heroes of men, and love enslaving and corrupting them. The poet's theme is love in all it's guises."(7)