The Victorians disliked extremes of feeling or passion or even language. There was a tacit understanding as to what was to be depicted on the stage and what was to be left to the imagination.
A general reticence concerning matters of sex is a common characteristic of literature in the Victorian age. H.M. Jones remarks: Victorianism is the pretence that if you do not name a thing it isn’t there. According to Elwin, “prudery and humbug” presided over the age. This prudery placed a real limitation on the contents of the novel. It made it impossible for the novelist and poets to portray a real, living woman. Hence it is that decorum and solemnity are associated with Victorianism.