In 1812, the Elgin Marbles- Ancient Greek sculptures of marble from Athens- were transported from Greece to England. These statues were permitted to leave Greece because of an agreement between England and the Ottoman Empire, which had recently been growing in power. The event had many questioning the ethics of collecting art from other countries without explicit permission of its original ownership. Though this is modernly seen as a negative event, it marked a shift in cultural interest throughout England, a characteristic present in the Regency and Victorian era. This deepend interest in the arts caused the neoclassicism movement in England (The British Museum.) 

With a new found appreciation of classic art, a new genre, the novel, was also growing in popularity. The neoclassicist movement, though restrictive, allowed the novel genre to grow and even thrive. Examples of this genre include Sense and Sensability by Jane Austen and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Elgin Marbles.)

The room containing the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

"Elgin Marbles." Encyclopedia Britannica, britannica.com/topic/Elgin-Marbles. 

"The Parthenon Sculptures." The British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-ob...