8. Aestheticism. O.Wild and his program. Neoromanticism and its representatives. R.Kipling, j.Conrad

Aestheticism – a movement in search of beauty. was prepared by the ideas of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (the group of English poets and artists who idealized the arts of the Middle Ages. “Art for Art’s Sake” was the motto of aesthetes and their basic principle. Behind this expression laid the intense desire of making art an end in itself and justifying the role of the artist. Aesthetes ('iːsθiːt) protested against vulgar reality, bourgeois pragmatism; concentrated their art on pure form; rejected moral and social function of art; try to lead readers away from the problems of the day into the world of dreams and beauty.

O.Wilde was born in the family of well-known Irish physician. Mother wrote poetry & was an Irish patriot. From his mother he inherited scornful attitude towards the hypocrisy of British bourgeois morals. He joined the Aestheticism movement & became the leading figure. He studied at Oxford. In 1881 the first volume of his poetry appeared. Problems: of Good & Evil; good qualities of the poor; hypocrisy in human relations; the endings are tragic; criticism of upper classes.

-The happy prince and other tales;The house of pomegranates;-The picture of Dorian Grey;An ideal husband(play). In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Wilde sharpened his pen to express his disillusion and sarcastic vision of the aristocracy.

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.

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.