210-] English Literature
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The Transition From the Victorian Period to the Modern Period
It
is nearly a fact to state that no other transitional period in English
literature has been as rich in its diversity and complexity, in the confluence
of advancement and regression at the same time. Writing is always a reflection
of life and also a product of the times, and modernist writing has been more
influenced by its social environment than literature from other eras. In the
first decades of the century, new technologies and ideas were quickly changing
the globe, and social life in all of its diverse physical, intellectual,
political, economic, and moral facets had essentially begun afresh.
Changes
in the literature
There
were various changes took place in the field of literature also during the
modern period. The imaginative writing, verses, and structure of the verses of
the Victorian period became obsolete. Writers’ work started losing the magic
they used to have in the previous age. Victorian writers were becoming rancid
and their works were failing to evoke the spirit of the readers. Art has to be
renewed in order to revitalize the readers. However Victorian artworks lacked
the surprising elements and freshness in the content.
Declination
of sentiments and values
Modern
world people are more into independence, they don’t want to be bound by
parental authority, whereas Victorians believed in maintaining the home life,
they consider themselves a family person. Moreover, the feeling of love was
getting limited to sex in modern times, love had become less of a romance and
more like a greed. Such things portray the decline in the values, emotions and
feelings of the people of the modern period. Literary work also portrays a
similar lifestyle. If writers tried to write on the themes of the Victorian age
then it would be no longer a striking piece of literature. Therefore, you will
find the literature of the modern period having less zeal for love, natural
beauty and sentiments. Modern writers come up with fresh points of view to suit
the conventional audience.
Age
of machinery
There
is no doubt that machinery has dominated the modern people’s life. The modern
period is also known as the age of machinery. People had become too
materialistic brought by the machinery. There is no doubt that the advent of
machinery made life comfortable for modern man. Living became quite easy and
production of goods was also accelerated. But the downward side of mechanical
life was that man has mechanical like a clock, using all his energy not
according to his/her own will but rather according to the time scheme. Such an
atmosphere of modern life brought great distress among the people.
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Literature
of the Modern period
Everything
in Victorian culture suffered greatly from a large deal of contempt during this
all-encompassing and thorough transition process. New spheres of experience
were included, outdated literary expression theories were abandoned, and new
ones emerged. All branches of the period’s literature, including poetry, the
novel, and drama, reflect this.
Literary
trends
The
trend of modernism emerged after the end of the First World War. They include:
-Stream
of consciousness
-Surrealism
-Cubism
-Dadaism
-Futurism
-Expressionism
-Imagism
-Symbolism
a)
Modern English poetry
Modern
English poetry is a sort of revolution against the traditional thoughts and
types of Victorian-era poetry. The Red Wheelbarrow, The Embankment, Darkness,
and Image are a few of the masterpieces of modern English poetry. There is no
doubt that these poems are the best in their way, but the major problem arises
when it comes to understanding their meaning. Students studying English
literature often experience issues comprehending the serious compression of
information in these lyrics.
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b)
Modern English novels
They
rein the literature in the initial three decades of the twentieth century,
these years are known as the golden period of modernist novels.
c)
The development of 20th-century English drama
George
Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde were the most known, praised and celebrated drama
writers of the nineteenth century. They were highly popular in the last decade
of the century. One can say that they marked the beginning of the modern drama.
However, these two eminent writers never brought many variations or innovations
in the writing techniques and types.
2.
Modern period: Artistic features
Rapid
advancements in technology and industry have inspired artists to portray the
world in fresh and creative ways. The end result was art that experimented with
minimalism and incorporated new colours and other forms.
a)
Modernism
Modernism
is a quite unique and complex movement in almost all the creative areas. It
began at the end of the 19th century. During this period literature was the
inception of the greatest renaissance of the 20th century. When the First World
War ended, a number of literary trends of the modern period such as Dadaism,
stream of consciousness, futurism, cubism, expressionism and imagism emerged.
b)
Basic characteristics of modernism:
The
foundation of modernism lies in the theory of psychoanalysis and irrational
philosophy. One of the main characteristics of the modern period is “the
dehumanization of art”. Some other crucial themes of modernism involve
alienated, ill and distorted relations between man and man, man and his own
self, man and society and most importantly between man and nature.
The
pillars of modernism
David
Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) – Sons and Lovers
James
Joyce (1882- 1941) Ulysses
Thomas
Stearns Eliot (1888- 1965) Murder in the Cathedral
George
Bernard Shaw (1856- 1950) Mrs. Warrant’s Profession
William
Butler Yeats (1865- 1939) The Land of Heart’s Desire
John
Galsworthy (1867- 1933) The Man of Property
These
authors are regarded as major figures in modernist literature. Reading their
literary works can help you become familiar with the main modernist concepts.
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Let’s
know more about the lives, thoughts and works of some major representatives of
this age:
D.
H. Lawrence
David
Herber Lawrence was born in 1885 in a mining village which lies in
Nottinghamshire. He was reared by parents who belonged to different classes and
saw a silent conflict of views. His father was a man who acquired little
education and led his life as a coal miner. On the other hand, his mother was
educated and had experience working as a teacher. She used to think that she
her marriage was beneath her and had a strong desire to provide education to
her sons so they could stay away from the tough life of the coal miners.
His
personal life had a great impact on this literary work. It can be read in his
masterpiece “Sons and Lovers” as well. In that, he has portrayed the consistent
conflict between a strong strong-willed, up-climbing mother and a coarse,
energetic, earthy but often drunken father. “Sons and Lovers” is considered an
autobiographical novel.
His
masterpieces include:
Lady
Chatterley’s Lover
The
Rainbow
Woman
in Love
The
theme in the novels of Lawrence
In
his opinion, the bourgeois industrialization or civilization, which made its
realization at the cost of ravishing the land, started the catastrophic
uprooting of man from nature and caused the distortion of personality, the
corruption of the will, and the dominance of sterile intellect over the authentic
inward passions of man.
In
most of his writings, D.H. Lawrence showcased a stern reaction against the
then-mechanical civilization.
According
to him, materialistic civilization or industrialization became the cause of
detachment between man and nature. His opinion suggested that these factors are
at the cost of ravishing lives and land.
He
considered materialism as the prime cause of the corruption of the will, the
dominance of sterile intellect defeat of real inward passion of humans and
distortion of personality.
Lawrence
thought that the mechanism for making humans in animated matter, this agonized
view regarding the dehumanizing impact of robotic civilization on the
sensitivity of human nature always haunted the writing of Lawrence.
Read
More: A Complete Guide on Reflection Paper
Brief
Analysis of Lawrence’s Masterpiece
Sons
and Lovers – Introduction
Sons
and Lovers is known as one of the best writings of Lawrence. It is more or less
an autobiographical piece which is written in vivid episodes and straightforward
narrative. The novel follows a chronological sequence, where the story begins
with the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Morel, parents of Paul. Mrs. Morel belongs to
a well-settled middle-class family who is highly ambitious, Lawrence presents
her as “a woman of character and refinement”. She is an intelligent,
strong-will woman and falls in love with an energetic and sensuous coal miner
named Walter Morel. In the course of her love, she marries beneath her own
class and enters into a chaotic life full of everyday struggles.
Sons
and lovers – Theme
D.
H. Lawrence is remembered as one of the first writers who brought the theme of
psychology into literature. Through his works, he presented a number of
psychological themes in a precise manner. Lawrence had an opinion that life
impulse or sexual impulse is the safest way to the psychological development of
human beings. For him human sexuality had some different notions, he considered
him a symbol of the force of life. He showcases the slight and deep psychological
experience of individuals and relationships. Through Sons and Lovers, he began
a new territory of novels.
Analysis
of two main characters of Sons and Lovers
Mrs.
Gertrude Morel
She
is the first major character and protagonist in the story. She marries beneath
her class in her fascination with energetic Walter Morel, a coal miner. With
the passage of time, she comes one after another struggling with both financial
and emotional aspects of her marriage. Her unhappiness with her marriage
creates detachment with her husband and she devotes her life to their 4 kids.
Paul
Morel
After
Gertrude Morel her son Paul Morel takes over the role of main protagonist from
the second half of the novel. He emerges as a main character after his elder
brother William dies. William Morel was the first child of Mrs Morel and her
favourite among all children. When he dies, it is Paul who becomes her
favourite. Throughout the novel, he struggles to bring a balance between his
love for Mrs. Morel and other relationships with women.
James
Joyce
James
Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882. He belonged to a Catholic family and got his
education from Catholic schools. During his studies he went through a phase of
religious zest, however, he rejected the Catholic Church. He was influenced was
Ibsen and inspired by his views, Joyce took literary mission as a career. He
was sternly against the bigotry of Philistines in Dublin.
His
most remarkable works include:
A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Dubliners
The
theme in the works of Joyce
Ulysses
Joyce
brought a number of changes in the conventional forms of fiction by generating
a unique medium of art. He portrayed the crisis and chaos of consciousness in
his contemporary world.
He
brought light to the stream of consciousness as a genre in modern period
literature.
Brief
analysis of Joyce’s writing
Ulysses
It
gives insight into a man’s life in a day (16 June, 1904). The main characters
of Ulysses are An Irish Jew, his wife, Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and
Marion Tweedy Bloom. The novel’s division is into eighteen chapters resembling
18 hours of the day.
Conclusion
All
the institutions that once rebelled against now adhere to modernism as the new
tradition. The grand story of modernism was broken down by postmodern artists
with the goal of studying cultural norms, politics, and social ideology in
their specific environment, pushing the boundaries of modernism to new heights.
The use of new media and technology, such as video, techniques of bricolage and
collage, the collision of art, and the appropriation of older styles within a
contemporary context are characteristics of postmodern art.
To
conclude everything, in short, I would say there are many more things you
should know about the modern period and the literary development of this era.
The more you study the works of this modernist literature, the more you will
admire them. We all know that English literature can both be interesting and
difficult at the same time.
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