With the advent of inexpensive printing publishers and authors were able to offer a new genre of novel, cheaply, to the newly educated classes of Victorian society. These readers’ tastes tended toward lurid, quickly readable stories that provided them with an escape from the drudgery of their daily lives. There were many publishers willing to cater to their readers’ more prurient interests, so much so that, not only did they draw criticism from all corners of society, but they eventually went “underground”.
Penny Dreadfuls vs. Sensation and Dime Novels
Penny dreadfuls had plot lines similar to those found in sensation novels and dime novels, but they were more inclined to push the moral ticket and were blasted by literary critics and moral arbiters of the times. They were often cited as being destructive in nature and poisonous in regards to the class system and the minds of women and youngsters. They made these allegations at a time when juvenile crime was on the rise and the class system as the Victorians had once known it was in the process of major changes.
Dangerous Novels
The critics felt that these tales were for the lower classes and not suitable for middle-class women to read. They had stories filled with moral depravities such as bigamous husbands, bloody murders, some of which were based on actual events of the time, carnal pleasures that proper women should have no knowledge of, and often the heroines were low-class women assuming the identities of their betters. The women were the exact opposite of the Victorian prim and proper angel, whose whole purpose in life was meant to be running the household, not having sexual encounters with strangers.
Cover Art
The covers of these cheaply made books were their biggest lure and just as offensive to their critics as were the stories inside. These covers were the forerunners of today’s bodice-rippers, or romance novels, science fiction, and the true crime and detective magazines that were popular during the mid-1900. They were enticing because they hinted, sometimes overtly, about the nature of the tales between the covers. Though tame by today’s standards, they were risqué in the Victorian era.
The covers of Beadle and Adams’ books were particularly controversial. They often featured women in perilous situations and doing things that no proper woman should have done at the time. Beadle and Adams, who published novels from 1860 to 1864, often placed women facing down Indians and wayfarers, in danger for their lives. Occasionally the covers showed the women armed with guns or rifles, riding on horseback in a less than restrained manner.
End of an Era
The interest in these books waned toward the end of the 19th century, passing into history in much the same way as all popular fads. The publishers tried to keep the dreadfuls going by making them more and more appealing to young men. They featured stories about teenage boys running away from home to join up with travelling men with shady pasts or spoke of the boys having to turn to a life of crime to support themselves while they were on the run.
Eventually the decline in readership caused the publishers to close their doors at the end of the century. Their works were being replaced by wholesome magazines specifically geared towards children and comic books. Though the penny dreadfuls were controversial, their existence led to the birth of many of the popular fiction genres today; detective novels, horror stories, westerns, and science fiction. By doing this they served a greater purpose than their readership and critics could ever have imagined at that time.
 |
 |
 |
