The Victorian Period revolves around the political career of Queen Victoria. She was crowned in 1837 and died in 1901 (which put a definite end to her political career). A great deal of change took place during this period--brought about because of the Industrial Revolution; so it's not surprising that the literature of the period is often concerned with social reform.
As Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) wrote, "The time for levity, insincerity, and idle babble and play-acting, in all kinds, is gone by; it is a serious, grave time."
Of course, in the literature from this period, we see a duality, or double standard, between the concerns of the individual (the exploitation and corruption both at home and abroad) and national success — in what is often referred to as the Victorian Compromise. In reference to Tennyson, Browning, and Arnold, E. D. H. Johnson argues: "Their writings... locate the centers of authority not in the existing social order but within the resources of individual being."