Civil war (1642-1648) and the English Bourgeois Revolution

Herbert George Wells (1866--1946): a system of “technocracy”, socialist in his view, wrote science-fiction novels, took a keen interest in Russia. “The 1st man in the Moon”, “The invisible man”,”The war of the worlds”,”The time machine”-the problem of morality - whether people would be able to control machines they create. Also the author of several social novels, not as good as science fiction.
Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) – proclaimed that dramaturgy should deal with social and moral issues. Made a revolution because he came out against “well-made” plays. He was from Norway and his work had a great impact on the English theatre. Shaw said that drama shouldn’t be afraid to shock.
Shaw divided his plays into: 1) Plays Unpleasant: ‘Widower’s Houses’, ‘The Philanderer’, ‘Mrs. Warren’s Profession’ – showed the dirt of the rich income, wealth, showing at the same time that not individuals but society at large was to blame for letting such people be prosperous. 2) Plays Pleasant: ‘Arms and the Man’, ‘Candida’, ‘The man of Destiny’, ‘You never can tell’ – showed the tough reality without its romantic shade. 3) 3 plays for Puritans: ‘Devil’s Disciple’, ‘Caesar and Cleopatra’, ‘Captain Brassbound’s Conversation’.
Gradually Shaw’s satire was getting sharper and sharper. The tragic and the comic, philosophical, moral, historical issues are combined in his plays.
10.English modernism. J.Joyce and V.Woolf, their aesthetic programms
The flourishing of Modernism dates back to the 20-30ss of the 20th century. In this period a new generation of writers appeared, who were called ‘modernists’. Those writers used a new technique “a stream of consciousness” – the unspoken thoughts and feelings of the character without resorting to objective description or conventional dialogue and often without logical sequence and syntax.
Modernists were influenced by the ideas of Zigmund Freud. Levels: - the Super Ego – the sphere of the social morals, conventions, laws, according to which man in society has to live.- the Ego – this is a part of human aspect which combines both the Super Ego and Id.- the Id – the subconscious, subliminal sphere of human basic instincts (like that of surviving) – Modernists. Very often the id and the Super Ego are in conflict. Such a conflict became the conflict of the new modernist literature. In accordance with Freud’s ideas Modernists attached great importance to the experiences - impressions – of man’s childhood. Their narration is very often based on associations rather than on logical grounds.
Representatives: James Joyce (1882-1941), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930), Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), Thomas Eliot (1888-1965), Ezra Pound (1885-1972).
James Joyce: He was born in Dublin. His father was an unbeliever and the mother – a devoted Catholic. Family religious conflict was depicted in his works. Supported the Irish revival but didn’t wanted to struggle for it. He wanted creative freedom and left Ireland. ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’(1916)- autobiographical novel (Bildungsroman). The themes: family, religion, motherland, art, politics, education. ‘Ulesses’- based on Homer’s “Odyssey”. The book contains a minute record of the perceptions, thoughts and impressions of the many characters caused by the events of the day. The novel is very hard to follow, complicated.
Virginia Wolf had a dramatic life. She was a great admirer of Joyce, but her writings were quite different. The most important part of her works is the projection of mental processes, subordination of actions to private thoughts and feelings. She is called the master of the psychological school and her manner of writing resembles the impressionistic technique of painting. Most famous novels – “Mrs. Dalloway”, “To the Lighthouse”, “The Waves”, “The Years”