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

Neo-Romanticists refused to deal with day-to-day reality and desired to take their readers away from the vulgarity of life. They followed the idea of the romanticist of the beginning of the 19 cent. Representatives: Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling.
Joseph Conrad was a Pole. He became a French sailor, then joined the English Navy. He mastered the English language so well that he became one of the best known stylists in English literature. His stories and novels combine adventure with profound subtle psychologism. (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Youth,). For the adventure and exotic elements in his books Conrad is ranked among neo-romanticists, but the psychological aspect of his works makes him one of modernists: he gives a very deep insight into the inner world of the person.
Rudyard Kipling was a very prolific writer and poet. His works dealt with the difficult life in English colonies. He sang prays to brave people who carried on “the burden of the white man in colonial India”. The collection of stories “The Jungle Book” which is full of exotics. Kipling’s works made a great contribution to fostering in young people such qualities as perseverance, strong will and patriotism. In this sense his poem “If” is very important. But Kipling is often accused of fostering jingoism – the British chauvinism, for he supported the colonial policy of his country.
9. Critical realism of the early 20th c. J.Galsworthy, H.Wells, B.Shaw, their major works
Features of Critical Realistic Writings: 1) Criticized the capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and portrayed the crying contradictions of bourgeois reality. 2) exposure of the greed and hypocrisy of the ruling classes, sympathy for the laboring people. 3) Humor and satire are used to expose and criticize the dark side of reality. 4) The major contribution of the critical realists lies in their perfection of the novel.
John Galsworthy (a Nobel Prize winner) was born in a well-to-do bourgeois family. He studied law at Oxford, but took to literary work after graduation. “The Man of Property” was a landmark in the development of Galsworthy’s art. It established his place in literature as a representative of bourgeois realism in the 20th century English novel. The idea of creating a series of novels portraying the history of English bourgeois life occurred to Galsworthy. The project was carried out in The Forsyte Saga, his masterpiece. It gives a profound and true-to-life picture of the English bourgeois society.