3.Renaissance. William Shakespeare as the central figure of the English Renaissance.

Renaissance means Rebirth or Revival of Learning. It signified a new stage in the development of culture in Europe. It was a golden age of the English literature. The English Renaissance gave birth to an amazing galaxy of great writers, but William Shakespeare outshines them all. He had a greater influence on the development of the whole of world literature than any other author. A great poet, an unsurpassed dramatist, an unrivalled psychologist, he was also a philosopher of the first magnitude. The greatest of all English authors, William Shakespeare belongs to those rare genii of mankind whose works have become landmarks in the history of culture. It was Shakespeare who embodied in the immortal images of his plays all the greatest ideas of the Renaissance. The idea of humanism being the main idea means love for mankind and blends an active struggle for its happiness and passionate intolerance towards injustice, human falsehood and perversity.

W. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. He was educated at a local school where he studied history and Latin. At the age of 18 he married Anna Hathaway. They got 3 children. In 1585 Shakespeare went to London where he began to play the plays and to write the plays himself. He became a professional playwright. His literary career is divided into 3 main periods during which he produced 37 plays, two narratives and 154 sonnets. The works written by this tremendous poet are real masterpieces of English literature.

I. 1590-1600 (comedies and historical dramas)

Some of the most famous comedies of that period are: “The Taming of the Shrew”, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “Much Ado About Nothing”, “As You Like It”, “Twelfth Night”, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”. His comedies are written in his playful manner and the bright spirit of the Renaissance. Each comedy has a main plot and one or two sub-plots, and sometimes it is the sub-plot we pay most attention to. The text is full of jokes and puns.

Historical dramas include: “Richard III”, “Henry VI”, “Richard II”, “King John”, “Henry IV”, “Henry V”. Three plays on the reign of Henry VI were the beginning of his epic treatment of English history.

II. 1601-1608 (tragedies)

The great tragedies are the peak of Shakespeare’s achievement, and made him truly immortal. At the turn of the century the world outlook of the author radically changed. The joyous spirit of his early plays was gone forever. He became a master of tragedy, creating the finest examples of the genre. His depictions of human character and psychology are unsurpassed. All the tragic characters of Shakespeare are shown in their development; a hero at the end of the tragedy isn’t the man he was at the beginning, his soul having undergone great changes. This is the first innovation introduced by Shakespeare. Macbeth was human; he wanted to become a king; he became a king, and became a monster. Lear was a king, and a monster; when he ceased being a king, he became human. His second innovation is his way of explaining the evolution (or degradation) of his heroes by the social factors that form their psychology and influence their lives. Among the most outstanding tragedies one should mention: “Hamlet”, “Macbeth”, “King Lear”, “Othello”.

Sonnets.

Shakespeare’s sonnets can’t be placed among his best works; only few of them may be placed among the best English sonnets in general; but they occupy a unique place in the Shakespearian heritage, because they are his only lyric pieces, the only things he has, it seems, written about himself. The three main characters of his sonnets are the Poet, his Friend and the Dark Lady. The sonnets show how Shakespeare’s incomparable poetic style was forged and perfected; to some extent they raise the veil over his private life, of which we know so little. Quite a number of them may be read as lyrical pieces, independent of the whole.

III. 1608-1612 (romantic dramas)

The last years of Shakespeare’s career as a playwright are characterized by a considerable change in the style of the drama. His works are written around a dramatic conflict, but the tension in them is not so great as in the tragedies. The author tries to find some new positive solution of tragic events. He places the characters into some imaginary world. Here should be mentioned “The Tempest”, “Winter’s Tale”, “Cymbeline”. When Shakespeare retired from the stage in 1612, two of his fellow actors made him immortal by gathering his plays together and publishing them in 1623, seven years after his death.

Not everyone believes that William Shakespeare wrote all his plays. They think that he was not educated enough to write plays and his plays were written by the lord who wanted to be incognito.

Shakespeare’s immortality.

In many of his views Shakespeare was far ahead of his time. His works are truly immortal, and will retain their immortality as long as the human race exists. It is only natural that the greatest minds of the world admired Shakespeare and acknowledged his unsurpassed merit; among them were Goethe, Pushkin, Victor Hugo and many others.

He was a great master of plot. He was the first to mix comedy and tragedy. The phrases Shakespeare introduced are still in common use nowadays. For example, Much ado about nothing, Delays have dangerous ends, Brevity is the soul of wit, All is well that ends well, All that glistens is not gold.

Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Maxym Rylskyi, Mykola Bazhan, Dmytro Pavlychko, Dmytro Palamarchuk translated Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets into Ukrainian.

Boris Pasternak and Samuel Marshak made the best translations into Russian.

Questions for check-up:

1. What was the first major work of the old English literature?

2. What times are described in it? Who is the author of it?

3. Who is the main character of the poem? What are his distinctive features?

4. What does Beowulf’s victory over the monsters symbolize?

5. What are the merits of the poem?

6. Who occupies the central position in Middle English literature?

7. What are the peculiarities of Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”?

8. Why is Geoffrey Chaucer considered to be an innovator and the father of the English language?

9. What dialect became the basis of the English literary language?

10. What does the “Renaissance” mean? What was the main idea of the Renaissance?

11. Why is the Renaissance called a golden age of the English literature?

12. What is the literary heritage of William Shakespeare?

13. What periods is Shakespeare’s literary career divided into? What are their peculiarities?

14. Name some of Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies, historical dramas.

15. What phrases from Shakespeare’s works that are still in common use do you remember? Translate them into Ukrainian.

SUMMARY

The first major work of old English literature is the epic poem “Beowulf”. The merit of the poem lies in the vivid description of the life of that period, in the heroic deeds of Beowulf and in the beauty of the language. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) occupies the central position in Middle English literature. Chaucer was an innovator as far as genres are concerned. He introduced into the English literature the psychological versified novel, the ode /oud/ (ода). He is considered to be the father of the English language. He wrote in the London dialect and his writings helped it to become the basis of the English literary language. Renaissance means Rebirth or Revival of Learning. The idea of humanism being the main idea meant love for mankind. It was a golden age of the English literature. The English Renaissance gave birth to an amazing galaxy of great writers. William Shakespeare is the greatest representative of that time. His literary career is divided into 3 main periods during which he produced 37 plays, two narratives and 154 sonnets. The works written by this tremendous poet are real masterpieces of English literature.

LECTURE 5

ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE 18^th -19^th CENTURIES

PLAN

1. The Enlightenment in the English Literature.

2. The representatives of Pre-Romantic and Romantic Literature.

3. Critical Realism in the English Literature.

RECOMMENDED LITERATURE:

1) Англійська література : Навч.посібн./Укладач С.В.Гапонова – К.: Товариство «Знання», КОО, 1998.

2) Мансі Є.О. Тексти з англійської і американської художньої літератури. – К.:»Логос», !999.

Active Vocabulary:

The Enlightenment, evil, the leading genre, a representative, a political pamphlet, to publish anonymously, to be marooned on an island, to take advantage of, social and economic surroundings, satirist, to ridicule, bitter satire, to be deeply concerned about, to urge, to avoid the extremes, to lead moderate and sensible life, authentic folk songs, unique genius, tolerance, to reject the traditions of the past, to inherit the title, melancholic and proudly self-assured man, to oversimplify

The second half of the 17^th century and the 18^th century was a period of Enlightenment in the English Literature. The enlighteners wanted to bring knowledge, that is “light”, to the people. To their understanding this would do away with all the evils of society, and the social harmony would be achieved. English literature of this period may be characterized by the following features:

1) the novel has become the leading genre of the Enlightenment;

2) the hero of the novel was no longer a prince but a representative of the middle class.

3) literature became very instructive: problems of good and evil were set forth.

1. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was an English novelist and journalist. He wrote “Robison Crusoe”, one of the first English novels and one of the most popular adventure stories in Western literature. Some critics have called Defoe the father of the English novel. Others rate him as much less important. But he was one of the greatest masters of realistic narrative long before such writers as Theodore Dreiser and Ernest Hemingway.

Defoe was born in London, the son of a butcher and candle merchant. He started a business career, but he went bankrupt and turned to writing. One of his political pamphlets led to his imprisonment in 1703 for about 4 months. For about 25 years Defoe earned his living writing for newspapers.

Defoe is unique in the quantity and variety of his works. It is difficult to tell how many works he produced, because most were published anonymously. They included works of poetry, theology, economics and geography. For most readers today Defoe is known primarily as a novelist. His novels reflect the growing power and wealth the new English middle class developed through new business opportunities at home and abroad. “Robinson Crusoe” is the story of a man marooned on an island. It is an adventure story. It is also a success story, because Crusoe’s hard work, inventiveness and ability to take advantage of others turns his island into a successful colony.

Defoe’s novels marked an important break with fiction of the past. He offered the ordinary lives of real people who were the normal products of their social and economic surroundings.

2. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), is called a great satirist because of his ability to ridicule customs, ideas and actions he considered silly or harmful. His satire is often bitter. Swift was deeply concerned about the welfare and behavior of the people of his time, especially the welfare of the Irish and the behaviour of the English toward Ireland.

Swift was born in Dublin on November 30, 1667. Her parents were of English birth. Swift graduated from Trinity College in Dublin and moved to England. !713 he became dean (head clergyman) of St.Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. It was as dean that Swift wrote “Gulliver’s Travels”. This book is often described as a book that children read with delight, but which adults find serious and disturbing. Some people believe Swift was a misanthrope (hater of humanity). Others argue that Swift was a devoted and courageous Christian. Still others claim that in “Gulliver’s Travels”” he is really urging us to avoid the extremes and to lead moderate and sensible lives.

3. Robert Burns is the best known of all Scottish poets. His poems celebrate the simple love between man and woman and the fierce pride of the independent individual. Burns was born on January 25, 1759, into a family of a peasant farmer in Scotland. His father was determined that his son should be well educated. Robert was given a thorough grounding in English and knowledge of French and mathematics.

Burns was interested in authentic folk songs. He collected about 300 original and traditional Scottish songs for books compiled in his day, including The Scots Musical Museum. He wrote many poems to be sung to Scottish folk tunes. Some poems, such as “A Red, Red Rose”, he pieced together almost entirely from songs by other writers. But even those works that Burns adapted from other sources have qualities uniquely his own. Burns wrote in both the Scots dialect and standard English. He died at the age of 37 in 1796. The heavy farm labour in Burns’ youth had weakened his health. His works include “The Jolly Beggars”, “Comin Thro’ the Rye” etc.

4. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a Scottish romantic writer. He created and popularized historical novels in a series called the “Waverley” novels. In his novels, Scott showed his unique genius for recreating social history. Scott’s art shows the influence of the Enlightenment of the 18^th century. Tolerance for different ways of life is a major theme in his historical works. “The Waverley” novels express his believe in the need for social progress that does not reject the traditions of the past. He was the first novelist to portray peasant characters sympathetically and realistically.

He was born in Edinburgh. He was trained for a law career. A childhood illness, probably polio, left Scott lame in his right leg. But he had unusual physical strength. He enjoyed taking trips into the Scottish countryside. In 1810 he wrote his most popular storypoem “The Lady of the Lake”, which deals with picturesque Highland customs and history. In 1814 Scott devoted himself primarily to fiction. His talents as a storyteller and as a creator of character were realized in novels. He wrote frequently about the conflicts between different cultures. “Ivanhoe” (1819) deals with the struggle between Normans and Saxons.

5. Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) was the most colourful of the English romantic poets. Many people find his adventurous life as interesting as his poetry. His poetry is sometimes violent, sometimes tender and frequently exotic.

G.G. Byron was born in London, but he lived most of his first 10 years in Scotland with his mother. Byron inherited the title Lord Byron at the age of 10, upon the death of his great-uncle. He then returned to England where he attended Harrow School and Cambridge University. From 1809 to 1811 Byron traveled through southern Europe and parts of the Near East. In 1812 he published the first two cantos (sections) of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”. These cantos immediately established his fame. This work and the sequence of “Turkish Tales” that followed defined the character type known as “the Byronic hero”. This character is melancholic, proudly self-assured man associated with Byron. Byron left England forever in1816. His last and greatest work was the long unfinished epic “Don Juan”. The poem deflates the legendary lover Don Juan to the level of a comic epic hero. In 1823 while writing this poem Byron decided to join the Greeks in their war for independence from the Turks. After the brief illness he died in Greece.

6. William Thackeray (1811-1863) was one of the great novelists of the English Victorian Age. His “Vanity fair” is one of the finest and best-known novels in English literature. Thackeray wrote in a colourful, lively style, with a simple vocabulary and clearly structured sentences. These qualities, combined with his honest view of life, give him an important place in the history of realistic literature.

He was born in Calcutta, India. At the age of 5 he was sent to England to live with relatives and begin his education. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1829, but left it after a year and a half to travel abroad. He ensured his fame with “Vanity Fair”. He called “Vanity Fair” “a novel without a hero” meaning that most people are a mixture of the heroic and the ridiculous. He knew that men and women are complex and he avoided oversimplifying them.

Questions for check-up:

1. What are the peculiar features of Enlightenment?

2. What writer is called “the father of the English novel”? Why?

3. Why was Jonathan Swift called a great satirist? What was he concerned about?

4. What did Robert Burns celebrate in his poems?

5. What did Walter Scott create and popularize?

6. Who is considered to be the most colourful of the English romantic poets? Why?

7. What character type is known as “the Byronic hero”?

8. What are the peculiarities of Thackeray’s style?

9. Why was Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair” called “a novel without a hero”?

10. Name literary works of the writers mentioned in the lecture.

SUMMARY

The second half of the 17^th century and the 18^th century was a period of Enlightenment in the English Literature. Daniel Defoe wrote “Robison Crusoe”, one of the first English novels and one of the most popular adventure stories in Western literature. Some critics have called Defoe the father of the English novel. Jonathan Swift is called a great satirist because of his ability to ridicule customs, ideas and actions he considered silly or harmful. His satire is often bitter. Swift was deeply concerned about the welfare and behavior of the people of his time. In “Gulliver’s Travels”” he is urging people to avoid the extremes and to lead moderate and sensible lives. Robert Burns is the best known of all Scottish poets. His poems celebrate the simple love between man and woman and the fierce pride of the independent individual. Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish romantic writer. He created and popularized historical novels. He wrote frequently about the conflicts between different cultures. G.G.Byron’s poetry is sometimes violent, sometimes tender and frequently exotic. His literary character is a melancholic and proudly self-assured man associated with Byron himself. William Thackeray was one of the great novelists of the English Victorian Age. His “Vanity fair” is one of the finest and best-known novels in English literature. His “Vanity Fair” is “a novel without a hero” because the author considered that most people are a mixture of the heroic and the ridiculous.

LECTURE 6

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN

PLAN

1. Rudyard Kipling and his “Jungle Book”

2. Literary heritage of Edward Lear and Alan Milne.

3. Fairy-tales of Oscar Wilde.

4. “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carrol.

5. Mark Twain and his books for children.

Recommended Literature:

1. Полупан А.П., Полупан В.Л., Махова В.В. English-speaking countries: A cultural reader–Х.: Країна мрій, 2002.

2. Полупан А.П., Полупан В.Л., Махова В.В. English-speaking countries: A work-book–Х.: Країна мрій, 2002

3. Письменная О.А. «Окна в англоязычный мир (история, география, социальные аспекты, языковая ситуация). К.: ООО «ИП Логос», 2004.

4. Тучина Н.В., Меркулова Т.К., Кузьміна В.С. Speak English with pleasure/За ред..Луїзи Грін.- К.: Майстер-клас, 2005

5. Англійська література: Навч.посібн./Укладач С.В.Гапонова – К.: товариство «Знання», КОО, 1998.

6. Мансі Є.О. Тексти з англійської і американської художньої літератури. – К.: «Логос», 1999.

Active Vocabulary:

To achieve great popularity, to be highly estimated, to illustrate, a selection of poems, nonsense, a limerick, delightful, an essay, a playwright, volumes of fairy-tales, to glorify artificial beauty, despise, the greatest merit, to enrich, to claim for, to inspire, a pen-name, native humour

1. Rudyard Kipling was born on December, 30, 1865. His parents were English but worked in India. Rudyard spent his childhood in India and hindoo was the first language he spoke. He studied in English College in North Devon.

His most popular books for children which became classics are “The Jungle Book”, “Captains Courageous” and “Just so Stories”. Kipling achieved great popularity among ordinary people. And at the same time his works were highly estimated by prominent writers. In 1907 he received the Noble Prize for literature. He was the first writer and the first Englishman to whom this prize was awarded. He was one of those rare writers who are equally at home in prose and in verse. The charm of his stories lies in exciting plots and the variety of characters.

“The Jungle Book” is beautifully written. Each chapter begins with a poem and ends with a song. This book shows that a man is a very curious animal. He is the weakest and at the same time the strongest animal in the world. It is his intellect that finally wins him power over nature.

2. Edward Lear (1812-1888) was born in London but he lived in the South European countries and in the East. He was an English writer, painter and traveler. He did not only write books about travels but also illustrated them. In 1846 his selection of poems for children appeared. It was “Book of Nonsense”. Later he wrote such books for children as “Nonsense songs and Stories”, “More Nonsense Songs”, “Laughable Lyrics”, “Nonsense ABC”. These books made him famous. His poems are about funny episodes of people’s and animals’ life. They are short (4-5 lines). His poems are called limericks. He was the first to write them.

3. Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956) is an English author of a series of children’s books that have become classics. The delightful books written for his son, Christopher Robin, include “When We Were Very Young” (1924), “Winnie-the-Pooh” (1926), “Now We Are six” (1927) and “The House at Pooh Corner” (1928).

Alan Milne studied mathematics at Trinity College in Cambridge. He received his B.A. in 1903, and started to write essays and poems. They were published in satirical magazines. His first book, “Lovers in London”, appeared in 1905, and in 1910, he became well-known as a playwright.

At the age of 42, Milne published a collection of poetry for children “When We Were Young”. Two years later, he published “Winnie-the-Pooh”. They show Milne’s son Christopher Robin (1920-1996) with different talking animals and animated version of his toys- among them the famous teddy bear, Piglet, Tigger, EEyore and others. “The House at Pooh Corner” continued the adventures of Pooh Bear and his friends. Later Pooh became an industry, producing toys, comics and films.

4. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was born in a rich Irish family. He got good education. He is famous for such books as a novel “The Portrait of Dorian Grey”, 5 plays (“An Ideal Husband”, “the Importance of being Earnest”, and others.) Two volumes of fairy-tales are called “Happy Prince” and “A House of Pomegranates”. Selection “Happy Prince” contains such fairy-tales as “The Happy Prince”, “The Nightingale and the Rose”, “The Selfish Giant”, “The Devoted Friend”, “The Remarkable Rocket”. Selection “The House of Pomegranates” includes “The Young King”, The Birthday of Infanta”, “The Fisherman and his Soul”, “The Star Child”.

In his works, in his fairy-tales in particular, the author glorifies beauty, and not only the beauty of nature and artificial beauty, but the beauty of devoted love. He admires unselfishness, kindness and generosity, he despises egoism and greed. Oscar Wilde’s greatest merit is his beautiful style: laconic, exact, expressive and colourful. It has enriched the English language and contributed greatly to the popularity of the author. Oscar Wilde did not solve any problems in his fairy-tales. The end of them is mainly pessimistic, kindness does not win the evil. But they claim for kindness, sympathy and beauty.

5. Lewis Carrol (1852-1898) was a famous mathematician. He taught mathematics in Oxford University. He had no family but loved children very much. He often visited his friend Henry George Liddell, who had a large family (3 daughters). Lewis Carrol liked to tell Alice (Liddell’s daughter who was only 4 years old at that time) interesting stories which he made up himself. It was this girl who inspired him to write a story for children “Alice in Wonderland”. He took a pen-name Lewis Carrol, but his real name was Charles Dodgson.

6. Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, was born into a family of John and Jane Clemens on November 30, 1835 in a small town called Florida in Missouri. In 1839 the family moved to a small town of Hannibal situated on the Mississippi River where he spent his boyhood. He was able to swim the river and was the leader in all boys’ games. When Samuel was a boy, he dreamed of becoming a sailor. At twenty he found a job on a boat traveling up and down the Mississippi. Later the young man worked with the gold miners in California for a year. There he began to write short stories and he was invited to work as a journalist for a newspaper. The many professions that Mark Twain tried, gave him knowledge of life and people and helped him to find his true profession – the profession of a writer. Mark Twain enriched the American short story with native American humour.

In 1876, Mark Twain published “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, one of the most popular children’s books all over the world. It is full of humour from cheerful jokes to satire. Many events in this book really took place and characters were from real life. Tom Sawyer was very often a portrait of Mark Twain himself; Aunt Polly was his mother. Another book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” appeared in 1884. An outstanding American writer Earnest Hemingway wrote: “All modern American literature comes from the book by Mark Twain called “Huckleberry Finn”.

Questions for check-up:

1. Who was the first writer and the first Englishman to whom the Noble Prize was awarded?

2. Where does the charm of Kipling’s stories lie?

3. Who is considered to be the creator of short 4-5 lines- long poems called limericks? What was he?

4. Who is the author of “Winnie-the-Pooh”? Whom was this book dedicated to?

5. What fairy-tales do the volumes called “Happy Prince” and “A House of Pomegranates” include?

6. What does the author glorify in his fairy-tales? What is Oscar Wilde’s greatest merit?

7. Who inspired Lewis Carrol to write a story for children “Alice in Wonderland”? What was the author’s real name?

8. What are the most popular children’s books written by Mark Twain?

SUMMARY

Rudyard Kipling’s most popular books for children which became classics are “The Jungle Book”, “Captains Courageous” and “Just so Stories”. He received the Noble Prize for literature. He was the first writer and the first Englishman to whom this prize was awarded. The charm of his stories lies in exciting plots and the variety of characters. Edward Lear was an English writer, painter and traveler. He did not only write books about travels but also illustrated them. He wrote such books for children as “Nonsense songs and Stories”, “More Nonsense Songs”, “Laughable Lyrics”, “Nonsense ABC”. He was the first to write limericks. Alan Alexander Milne is an English author of a series of children’s books that have become classics. The delightful books written for his son, Christopher Robin, include “When We Were Very Young”, “Winnie-the-Pooh”, “Now We Are six” and “The House at Pooh Corner”. Later some of his characters (Pooh and his friends) became an industry, producing toys, comics and films. Oscar Wilde wrote two volumes of fairy-tales called “Happy Prince” and “A House of Pomegranates”. He has enriched the English language thanks to his laconic, exact, expressive and colourful style. It contributed greatly to the popularity of the author. Lewis Carrol wrote a story for children “Alice in Wonderland” inspired by a little girl, a daughter of his friend. Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is one of the most popular children’s books all over the world. Another very famous book of the author is called “Huckleberry Finn”.They are full of humour: from cheerful jokes to satire. He enriched the American short story with native American humour. An outstanding American writer Earnest Hemingway highly appreciated Mark Twain’s literary works. He wrote: “All modern American literature comes from the book by Mark Twain called “Huckleberry Finn”.

LECTURE 7

CULTURE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE USA (PAINTING, ARCHITECTURE, MUSIC, THEATRE AND CINEMA)

PLAN

1. Artists of the 18^th century. Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, Joseph Turner.

2. Outstanding architects of the 17^th-18^th centuries. Christopher Wren.

3. Music of Great Britain. Modern English Music.

4. English theatre, cinema. Outstanding dramatic actors, actresses and producers (S.Thorndyk, Vivien Leigh, Edith Evans, M.Redgrave, Lawrence Olivier, Peter Brook and others).

RECOMMENDED LITERATURE:

1. . Полупан А.П., Полупан В.Л., Махова В.В. English-speaking countries: A cultural reader.- Х.: Країна мрій- 2002.

2. Іноземні мови, 2008, №2, ст..63

3. Internet resourses.

Active Vocabulary:

An artist, painting, landscape, a drawing, the subject matter, to exhibit, to have an immediate and lasting effect on smth, snapshots of nature, anticipate, watercolour, a succession of masterpieces, an interplay between dark and light, warm and cold masses, genius, a contemporary, to have much in common, to be an acute observer of nature, fundamental principles, an architect, an ambition, to rival, to be worth admiring, to deserve the fame, a symphony orchestra, a musician, to have a great reputation, chamber music, a solemn overture, a cheerful or pathetic air,

I. Artists of the 18^th century. Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, Joseph Turner.

Painting in England in the period of the 15^th-17^th centuries was represented mostly by foreign artists. But the 18^th century was called the golden age of British art. In this century a truly national painting school was created in England. Portrait art was the main kind of painting. At that time British art began to develop independently.

Thomas Gainsborough (1721-1788)

Thomas Gainsborough was a creator of English school of landscape. He was the first to introduce lyrical freedom into British painting. His famous pictures are “Blue Boy”, “A peasant girl gathering sticks”, “River scene with Horse Drinking”. In 1768 he was elected a foundation member of the Royal Academy, and soon he became a favourite painter of the Royal family, even though his rival Reynolds was appointed King’s Principal Painter. Gainsborough sometimes said that while portraiture was his profession, landscape painting was his pleasure, and he continued to paint landscapes long after he had left a country neighborhood. He produced many landscape drawings, some in pencil, some in charcoal and chalk.

John Constable (1776-1837)

John Constable was the first English landscape painter who asked no lessons from the Dutch. He was born in a picturesque place of England on the bank of the river Stour. The beauty of the surrounding landscape, beautiful meadows, the river and the woods became the subject matter of his painting. He wanted to give a true and full impression of nature, to paint light, dews, breezes and freshness. His famous picture “The Hay Van” which was exhibited at the Louvre in 1824 had an immediate and lasting effect on French art. “The Leaping Horse” was placed in the Diploma Gallery of the Royal Academy. Constable didn’t paint snapshots of nature. He understood the science of picture-making. He anticipated much of what had been done in France by the Impressionists.

Joseph William Turner (1775-1851)

Turner’s first known watercolour was painted in 1788 and this marks the beginning of a long career during which he produced a succession of masterpieces. He was a sailor in heart and often painted sea pictures. He was famous for the wonderful colours in his pictures. Turner was a master of watercolour. Some of his masterpieces are “Bridge of sighs”, “Venice”, “Snow Storm”, “Rain”, “Steam and Speed” and others. In his works we can see Turner’s realization of an interplay between dark and light, warm and cold masses.

The two geniuses Constable and Turner are usually placed head and shoulders above their contemporaries. They are so different from each other that it’s difficult to compare them. At the same time they have much in common. Both were acute observers of nature and both shared the romantic passion for light. Where they differ was not in fundamental principles, but in their way of looking at things.