British Literature XX CENTURY

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British Literature
XX CENTURY

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Contents
George Bernard Show
Herbert Wells
James Joyce
Virginia Woolf
Agatha Cristie
George Orwell
Samuel Becket
William Golding

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GEORGE BERNARD SHAW1856-1950
George Bernard Shaw, novelist and playwright, was born in Dublin in an impoverished middle-class family. As a boy he seldom saw his parents. His father was occupied in a business which was almost bankrupt, and his mother devoted all her time to musical interests. She had a beautiful voice; Bernard himself and his sister could sing well enough and there were, besides the piano, many other musical instruments. Music came to play an important educative part in young Shaw’s life.

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GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Highlights how poverty forces women into prostitution; criticizes societal hypocrisy.
Exposes how the wealthy exploit the poor through slum housing; a critique of moral hypocrisy.
«Unpleasant» because they force the audience to face harsh social realities rather than offer simple entertainment.
Satirizes modern relationships and gender roles; questions both traditional and progressive values.
Widower’s Houses
Plays Unpleasant
The Philanderer
Mrs Warren’s Profession

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Arms and the Man (1894) The Man of Destiny (1895) and Candida (1894)
Plays Pleasant
The title of the plays is rather ironical: through the amusing situations and witty scenes with sparkling dialogues Bernard Shaw continued his criticism of bourgeois morals and ideals. He attacked militarism and war (Arms and the Man), showing their senselessness and cruelty, and dethroned Napoleon (The Man of Destiny).

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Three Plays for Puritans
The Devil’s Disciple (1897) – Set during the American Revolution, it follows a rebel who sacrifices himself for others, revealing unexpected heroism.– Theme: Self-sacrifice, identity, and moral courage.
Caesar and Cleopatra (1898)
– A historical play showing Julius Caesar as wise and patient, guiding the young Cleopatra toward maturity.– Theme: Leadership, education, and political realism.
Captain Brassbound’s Conversion (1899)
A story of revenge transformed by justice and compassion when a strong-willed woman changes a pirate’s heart.– Theme: Justice vs. revenge, transformation, and moral influence.

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In 1912 Shaw wrote his most popular play Pygmalion, which scandalized the «respectable» public by using dialect words which English usage considered vulgar.
By 1900 Shaw had established his reputation as a playwright. He wrote one play after another as well as books of criticism and pamphlets. Shaw’s plays deal with various problems: politics, science, religion, education and economics.

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Bernard Shaw was at the peak of his fame (1925) when he received the International Nobel Prize for Literature. Shaw’s plays of the second period become still more complex, for the problems Shaw deals with are now more complicated and significant.
In his play Too True to Be Good Shaw dwells on the decay of the bourgeois system. Besides he depicts the birth and growth of new progressive forces in the world.
In his play The Apple Cart Shaw touches upon the theme of rivalry between the USA and England in the political arena
The Apple Cart (1929)
Too True to Be Good (1931)

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Herbert Wells (1866-1946)
Herbert George Wells is often called the great English writer who looked into the future.
His novels are of three types: science fiction, realistic novels on contemporary problems and social tracts in the form of novels
Themes
Works

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Main works
Support for the war against Germany, hoping it will lead to a lasting peace and a reformed global order.
Protagonist, who journeys to the distant future and explores themes of class division and human evolution.
Offering observations and critiques of the social and political conditions following the Bolshevik Revolution.
A scientist becomes invisible and descends into madness.
The War That Will End War (1914).
Russia in the Shadows
The Time Machine (1895)
The Invisible Man (1897)

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A satirical novel about a man who experiences strange adventures on a remote island, blending fantasy and psychological exploration.
H.G. Wells’s personal memoir reflecting on his life, ideas, and the development of his thinking and writing.
The second period: 1914 – World War II
A semi-philosophical novel presenting H.G. Wells’s views on society, politics, and human progress through the life story of a fictional man.
The World of William Clissold (1926)
Mr Blettsworthy on RampoleIsland (1928)
Experiment in Autobiography (1934)

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Wells’s contribution to literature becomes quite clear when we view him as a scientist. He is not a pure scientist, who works for the experiment only. He is much more interested in the fate of humanity than in science as such. Wells’s aim was to show today through what might happen tomorrow. Man should realize that the future depends on what he is doing today. One must admire his courage and his faith in written word. «We are going to write about the whole of life», he announced, and so he did.

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English Literature of the 20th Century
(the 20s-30s)
Basic religious and political beliefs were questioned by more people. The crisis of the bourgeois world reached its highest point. The writers of this period were greatly influenced by various decadent philosophical theories which led to the creation of works marked by great pessimism.
A symbolic method of writing had already started early in the 20th century. There were writers who refused to acknowledge reality as such. They thought reality to be superficial. They were sure that everything that happened, — that is, what led to events — was the irrational, the unconscious and the mystical in man. These writers called the inner psychological process «the stream of consciousness» and based a new literary technique on it.

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James Joyce (1882-1941)
James Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882. His family was middle class and very large. He was educated at a Catholic School, then at a Jesuit college, and finally at University College, Dublin.
His school interests were Languages, Poetry, Latin and Philosophy. James Joyce first published work was a volume of poems called Chamber Music (music played with a small group of instruments) (1907). He wrote in many genres. In 1914 Joyce wrote Dubliners, a collection of fifteen short stories set in Dublin.

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And after Ulysses he went further. He wrote Finnegan’s Wake, which was finally published in 1939. Joyce took the novel and language to new limits. It is a highly experimental novel and very surprising to read. The main theme is Fall and Resurrection, told about Dublin settings. The novel uses dreams, play on words, invented words and jokes to make a unique text.

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Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)Virginia Woolf was born in London in 1882. She had two brothers, Thoby and Adrian, and one sister, Vanessa. Her mother, Julia, died in 1895, when Virginia was thirteen years old. Her father, Leslie Stephen, was a noted intellectual of the day, a philosopher and a critic. He was connected with many of the leading artists and writers of that period.

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Main works
The Voyage Out (1915).
A young woman’s journey of self-discovery on a trip to South America, exploring society and gender roles.
Jacob’s Room. (1922)
A modernist portrayal of a young man’s life told through fragmented impressions and the perspectives of others.
Night and Day (1919).
A novel contrasting two women’s approaches to love and independence in Edwardian London.
Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
A day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, reflecting on time, memory, and identity in post-WWI London.

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To the Lighthouse (1927)
Main works
Orlando (1928)
The Waves (1931)
A Room of One’s Own (1929).
A family’s visit to a summer home explores time, perception, and the nature of art and relationships.
Explores gender and identity through a time-traveling, gender-changing character.
A poetic, experimental novel following six characters capturing the flow of time, inner consciousness, individual identity.
An essay arguing women need financial independence and personal space express themselves freely.

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She spoke out for women, particularly in A Room of One’s Own (1929). She also published a lot of criticism, such as The Common Reader (two series, 1925 and 1932). Her final works The Years (1937) and Between the Acts (1941) continue her experiments, and prove her to be one of the most important and original novelists of the 20th century.Virginia Woolf committed suicide in 1941.

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Agatha Christie (1890-1976) Agatha Christie is known all over the world as detective novelist and playwright whose books have been translated into 103 foreign languages. She is one of the best-selling authors in the world, whose books were sold more than 100 000 000 copies. Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie was born on September 15, 1890 in Torquay, Devonshire. She was educated at home by her mother and took singing lessons in Paris. She began writing detective fiction while working as a nurse during World War I.

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Main works
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
Was published in 1920. That was the first appearance of Hercule Poirot, who became one of the most popular private detectives. This little Belgian amazes everyone by his powerful intellect and his brilliant solutions to the most complicated crimes.
Curtain (1925)
He reappeared in about 25 novels and many short stories before returning to Styles, where in Curtain (1925) he died.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
The elderly Miss Jane Marple, Christie’s other principal detective figure, first appeared in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), which is considered Christie’s masterpiece. It was followed by some 75 novels that usually made best-seller lists.

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Main works
The Mousetrap (1952)
which set a world record for the longest continuous run at one theatre (8,862 performances — more than 21 years — at the Ambassadors Theatre, London);
Witness for the Prosecution (1953)
Courtroom drama by Agatha Christie about a murder trial full of twists, where truth and deception blur until the shocking ending.
Absent in the Spring (1944)
A psychological novel by Agatha Christie (as Mary Westmacott) about a woman who, during a solitary break, confronts uncomfortable truths about herself and her relationships.

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George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in India in 1903. His family lived in British India where his father worked for the colonial Civil Service. In 1907, the Blair family returned to England where Orwell was educated, first at a private Preparatory School, and then at the famous boys’ school, Eton.
After leaving school in 1921, Orwell returned to India and became a policeman. His first commission, in 1922, was in Burmah.
He remained in the Police Force until 1928, when he resigned
George Orwell (1903-1950)

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Main works
Burmese Days (1934)
described his experiences in the Police Force in Burmah and demonstrates his developing anti Imperialist politics
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
A critique of capitalism, focusing on a poet torn between artistic ideals and the pressure to earn money.
Down and Out in Paris and London (1933)
It was for this book that he first adopted the pseudonym George Orwell
The Road to Wigan Pier (1937)
Poverty and working-class life in northern England, mixed with his critique of socialism.
A Clergyman’s Daughter (1935)
Follows a woman’s struggle with faith, duty, and societal expectations in a rigid, class-based world.

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Main works
Homage to Catalonia (1938)
Coming up for Air (1939)
Animal Farm (1944)
1984 (1949)
Orwell’s firsthand account of fighting in the Spanish Civil War, showing disillusionment with political factions.
A middle-aged man reflects on lost innocence and the coming threat of war.
A political allegory about a farm animal rebellion that mirrors the corruption of the Soviet regime.
A dystopian novel warning against totalitarianism, surveillance, and loss of individual freedom.

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In 1944 he worked as the literary editor of the important left-wing newspaper Tribune, He wrote his best-known work Animal Farm in 1944. In 1949 his novel Nineteen Eighty-four was published. It describes a future world (in 1984) when the political system has total control over people. The slogan Big Brother is Watching You gives an idea of the power of this system.

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Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in Foxrock, near Dublin, in 1906. He belonged to a middle class family. He distinguished himself at school and then went to Trinity College, Dublin where he studied Modern Languages. After graduating in 1928, he moved to Paris and worked as a teacher of English at the University of Paris (1928-1929). In 1930, he returned to Dublin where he taught French at Trinity College, but in 1931, he left this University career and, after travelling in Germany

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Works
Contents
Dante… Bruno… Vico… Joyce (1921)
a collection of critical essays, and the monograph,
Proust 1931
A critical essay analyzing Marcel Proust’s themes of memory, habit, and time.
More Pricks than Kicks (1934)
A darkly comic collection of stories following Belacqua Shuah, highlighting absurdity and aimlessness.
Murphy (1938)
A novel about a man seeking freedom from society by retreating into his mind, mixing comedy with existential themes.

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Waiting for Godot 1952-1954
Was published first in French in 1952 and was translated into English in 1954
It was immediately received with critical appraisal and met with much popular interest
Krapp’s Last Tape (1959)
An old man listens to recordings of his younger self, revealing regret and memory.
Happy Days (1961)
A woman buried in earth clings to routine and optimism as life decays around her.
Not /(1973) and Breath (1970)
A rapid monologue from a disembodied mouth, expressing trauma, isolation, and identity loss. A super-short play showing life’s cycle—birth, breath, and death—in under a minute.

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William Golding 1911-1993William Golding was born in Cornwall, England in 1911. He attended the famous private school, and then went to Brasenose College, Oxford, where he started to study science. After a short period he changed to study English Literature. Golding graduated from Oxford in 1935 and started a career in teaching.

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Main works
Free Fall (1959)
A man reflects on his moral choices and loss of freedom through his life’s turning points.
Lord of the Flies (1954)
Boys stranded on an island descend into savagery, showing the fragility of civilization.
The Spire (1964)
A priest’s obsession with building a cathedral spire leads to madness and destruction.
The Inheritors (1955)
A Neanderthal tribe faces extinction with the arrival of violent, modern humans.
Darkness Visible (1979)
Explores good and evil through the lives of a disfigured war survivor and twin sisters on dark paths.
Pincher Martin (1956)
A shipwrecked man struggles to survive—until the twist reveals a psychological or spiritual dimension.

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