Violet Evergarden: Romanticism, the Victorian Era and More in Relation to Themes and Ideas
The series Violet Evergarden makes for a very unique take on the elements relating to the Victorian Era, Romanticism and Steampunk. I think it's really interesting how they've integrated and explored these elements through their characterisation, themes, artistic choice and music.
For a quick overview, Violet Evergarden is an anime series inspired by a light novel, and is about a young girl named Violet who leaves being a soldier on the battlefield to find a new life and purpose by becoming an "auto memories doll" or a person employed to write letters for people.
The auto memories dolls are mainly female with the job to travel far and wide to reach their clients, to which they write letters on the client's behalf. They are conveyed as being capable to work efficiently, think, feel and act smartly while being particularly observant of their lives and those around them.
This sparked a relation to the challenge of patriarchal society and the growth of the female voice during the Victorian Era (which is what we now know as Feminism). Some famous female thinkers and writers of the time included Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley and the Bronte Sisters. If you don't know who they are, I highly recommend looking them up!
Writing is a highly respected art and form of expression within Violet Evergarden. Violet experiences the most heart-felt moments and learns a great deal through writing down someone's thoughts and feelings. In fact, it's a major hurdle for her as a character to capture her OWN feelings onto paper and you sympathise for her during her moments of confusion, frustration and misery as she "fails" to achieve this.
Much of Romanticism relates to this idea of imagination, emotion and ideals which are captured and expressed through words (novels, diaries, poetry). By doing so, one isn't just simply expressing themselves but they are undergoing a journey as they process their ideas, thus leading to greater understanding and self-revelation.
This is something I personally live by and why I particularly enjoy writing in diaries and blogs.
This one's pretty straightforward in the sense that nature (flowers, trees, the breeze and the sun) are depicted quite prominently in the anime. They symbolise love, emotion, freedom, liberation, spiritual connection, etc. As an auto memories doll, Violet travels mainly outside the city to meet her clients and it is through her journey with her clients that she learns the most about love. In that sense, she leaves the city towards NATURE to discover the values of love and is slowly liberated from the constrains of being titled as a supposedly "heartless" soldier.
This is a pretty clear link with the ideas of Romanticism during the time of the Industrial Revolution and advancements in technology that began to pollute the cities and leaving many people feeling suffocated and imprisoned as they lived in dirty, poor conditions. Many dreamed of the rich, vibrant greenery and valued the natural over the mechanical.
Note: It is interesting that Violet Evergarden explores either a different perspective held in the Victorian Era or simply a more steampunk theme to counteract this. Violet's mechanical hands and the use of type-writing machines displays a sense of value in technology. In a way it symbolises renewal and how it can give someone a second chance.
Following a brutal and bloody war, Violet is given the opportunity to change, live anew and discover a new path to go down. At the same time, she struggles with this notion of "good" and "bad" as she is constantly demonised by Dietfried and often finds herself intimidating other people. Violet also experiences this difficulty in reaching freedom and inner peace as she is constantly battling others.
To that it reminded me very quickly of the Monster vs Dr Frankenstein in Shelley's Frankenstein as well as many other literary works that address the struggle of morality, fitting into society and the notion of monstrosity. Also consider the chaos of the French Revolution and its outcomes.
One thing Violet Evergarden does well is assert the idea that an individual has the ability to grow, understand and gain wisdom through their own experiences and self-reflection on those experiences. You can explain to Violet what love is, but it is not until she looks inward from her outward experiences and thinks/feels deeply about it that she can truly understand what love is.
This was a key element to Romanticism, which can be perhaps explained through philosophers like Kant and Locke:
Please note I am VERY interested and open to further discussion on this topic!
Hopefully in the future, I can get around to analysing the music and soundtrack of Violet Evergarden because that too is very reflective of 18th and 19th century music styles.
Will blog more soon and remember to keep writing ~
- Jess
For a quick overview, Violet Evergarden is an anime series inspired by a light novel, and is about a young girl named Violet who leaves being a soldier on the battlefield to find a new life and purpose by becoming an "auto memories doll" or a person employed to write letters for people.
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| (Pic from here) |
Ideas and Themes
These are ideas and themes that were often explored during the Romantic Period (late 18th century - early 19th century) in Europe. Of course, these are not exclusive or concrete ideas and were often addressed in many different ways (sometimes perhaps exploring the opposite).
- The Rise of Female Writers
The auto memories dolls are mainly female with the job to travel far and wide to reach their clients, to which they write letters on the client's behalf. They are conveyed as being capable to work efficiently, think, feel and act smartly while being particularly observant of their lives and those around them.This sparked a relation to the challenge of patriarchal society and the growth of the female voice during the Victorian Era (which is what we now know as Feminism). Some famous female thinkers and writers of the time included Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley and the Bronte Sisters. If you don't know who they are, I highly recommend looking them up!
 |
| (Gif from here) |
- Writing and Words as a way to Express Personal Feelings and Understand Things Deeply
Writing is a highly respected art and form of expression within Violet Evergarden. Violet experiences the most heart-felt moments and learns a great deal through writing down someone's thoughts and feelings. In fact, it's a major hurdle for her as a character to capture her OWN feelings onto paper and you sympathise for her during her moments of confusion, frustration and misery as she "fails" to achieve this. Much of Romanticism relates to this idea of imagination, emotion and ideals which are captured and expressed through words (novels, diaries, poetry). By doing so, one isn't just simply expressing themselves but they are undergoing a journey as they process their ideas, thus leading to greater understanding and self-revelation.
This is something I personally live by and why I particularly enjoy writing in diaries and blogs.
 |
| (Pic from here) |
- The Value and Power of Nature
This one's pretty straightforward in the sense that nature (flowers, trees, the breeze and the sun) are depicted quite prominently in the anime. They symbolise love, emotion, freedom, liberation, spiritual connection, etc. As an auto memories doll, Violet travels mainly outside the city to meet her clients and it is through her journey with her clients that she learns the most about love. In that sense, she leaves the city towards NATURE to discover the values of love and is slowly liberated from the constrains of being titled as a supposedly "heartless" soldier. This is a pretty clear link with the ideas of Romanticism during the time of the Industrial Revolution and advancements in technology that began to pollute the cities and leaving many people feeling suffocated and imprisoned as they lived in dirty, poor conditions. Many dreamed of the rich, vibrant greenery and valued the natural over the mechanical.
"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." - Jean-Jeaques Rousseau
Note: It is interesting that Violet Evergarden explores either a different perspective held in the Victorian Era or simply a more steampunk theme to counteract this. Violet's mechanical hands and the use of type-writing machines displays a sense of value in technology. In a way it symbolises renewal and how it can give someone a second chance.
 |
| (Pic from here) |
- War, Chaos and Revolution to Bring About Change
Following a brutal and bloody war, Violet is given the opportunity to change, live anew and discover a new path to go down. At the same time, she struggles with this notion of "good" and "bad" as she is constantly demonised by Dietfried and often finds herself intimidating other people. Violet also experiences this difficulty in reaching freedom and inner peace as she is constantly battling others.To that it reminded me very quickly of the Monster vs Dr Frankenstein in Shelley's Frankenstein as well as many other literary works that address the struggle of morality, fitting into society and the notion of monstrosity. Also consider the chaos of the French Revolution and its outcomes.
 |
| (Pic from here) |
- The Potential of the Individual
One thing Violet Evergarden does well is assert the idea that an individual has the ability to grow, understand and gain wisdom through their own experiences and self-reflection on those experiences. You can explain to Violet what love is, but it is not until she looks inward from her outward experiences and thinks/feels deeply about it that she can truly understand what love is.This was a key element to Romanticism, which can be perhaps explained through philosophers like Kant and Locke:
"It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge that begins with experience." - Immanuel Kant.
"I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts" - John Locke.
 |
| (Gif from here) |
Conclusion
I've had a long interest in the Victorian Era and Romanticism. I hope you've enjoyed my little comparison between Violet Evergarden and this particular era, but please note I am no historian nor academic in this field of literature/history/art/etc. Just a person that explored a little more of her high school English classes lol. It's also really nice to do this in relation to anime for once!Please note I am VERY interested and open to further discussion on this topic!
Hopefully in the future, I can get around to analysing the music and soundtrack of Violet Evergarden because that too is very reflective of 18th and 19th century music styles.
Will blog more soon and remember to keep writing ~
- Jess
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