12. British literature

12. British literature

The oldest important written epic works is Beowulf. It describes the fight between a king and a dragon.
One of the most important personalities of 14th century was Geoffrey Chaucer. His masterpiece is Canterbury Tales and they are four stories about 30 pilgrims travelling to Canterbury. It is in verse.

William Shakespeare came from 16th century and he was one of the greatest dramatists. He was a poet as well. He was born in Stratford upon Avon on 1564. He died on the same day as he was born. He married Anne Hathaway. He left to London. He became an actor. At the begging he rewrote old plays and later he started write his own plays. He bought Globe theatre. He wrote comedies like Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night Dreams, Much ado about nothing, Merry Wife’s of Windsor, Taming of the Shrew, historical plays like Richard II., III., Henry IV., V., VI. and tragedies like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear. He was translated by Josef Václav Sládek. He wrote over 150 sonnets and 37 plays. Queen Elizabeth I. loved him.

John Milton is the main figure of 17th century. His masterpiece is Paradise Lost, which is about the revolt of Satan against Heaven and God.

In 18th century there were writers such as Johnatan Swift, Daniel Dafoe.
Johnatan Swift was a sharp critic. He wrote satirical pamphlets on unfair events in British society. His most popular work is Gullivers Travels – allegory of Lemuel Gulliver's travelling thorough imaginary countries. He criticises politics in England, kingdoms, armies, bad politicians etc.
Daniel Defoe was a politician, traveller and journalist. His most famous work is Robinson Crusoe. Robinson shipwrecked on a lonely island.

Period of romanticism is represented by Sir Walter Scott, Lord George Gordon Byron, Pervy Bysshe Shelly.
S. Walter Scott is a founder of historical novel. He draws the themes for his romantic novels from old folk ballads. His works are Ivanhoe, Waverly, Kenilworth.
L. G. G. Byron represent revolutionary romanticism. Byron was a son of nobleman. He was physically disabled from his birth. His main work is Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.
P. B. Shelly represents also as a Byron revolutionary romanticism. His greatest work is Prometheus Unbound, based on an old Greek legend about Prometheus who steals fire from Olympus to give it to people.

The period of realism is represented by Brönte sisters, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Oscar Wilde.
Emily Brönte - Wuthering Hights, dark story, full of violence, revenge (Catherine and Heathcliff)
Charlotte Brönte - Jane Eyre, based on her experiences as a boarding school pupil and a governess, Jane is an orphan, she has a difficult childhood. She falls in love with Mr Rochester. They wanted married but Mr Rochester is already married to mad woman who he hides from the world. Jane leaves him. After few years Jane decides visit him but she finds his house burn from a fire that his mad wife started. His wife was killed and in the end Jane and Mr Rochester get married.
Charles Dickens wrote about an unhappy life and about the life of poor people in England. Among his major novels belong Little Dorrit, David Copperfild, The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist.
W. M. Thackeray wrote novels against snobbery and hypocrisy. His main novel is Vanity Fair.
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. After college he continued writing poems and he moved to London. He publishes here his first book called Poems. He wrote comedies such as An Ideal Husband or The Importance of Being Ernest. He only wrote one novel called The picture of Dorian Gray.
Dorian Gray is man who loves himself so much that he doesn’t grow old and his portrait grows old instead of him and it shown all his sins, although real Dorian is still young and nice. Oscar Wilde is also known for his fairy tales The happy prince, The nightingale and the Rose.