George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. Since Shaw's death scholarly and critical opinion has varied about his works, but he has regularly been rated as second only to Shakespeare among British dramatists; analysts recognise his extensive influe... Read More
An American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright Harry Sinclair Lewis became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of humour characters." In the Academy's presentation speech, special attention was paid to Babbitt. In hi... Read More
English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain. Considered a Victorian realist, Hardy examines the social constraints on the lives of those living in Victorian England. Also, Hardy wrote a number of significant war poems that relate to both the Boer Wars and World War I, including "Drummer Ho... Read More
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891. The “fine and handsome” daughter of a poor country peddler, with evidently little more than her brimming emotions and her “large innocent eyes” to distinguish her from the other gi... Read More
English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain. Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. The Woodlanders is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1887. The Woodlanders marks the beginnings of controversy for Hardy's novels. At th... Read More
As Alexander Theroux once said that Hardy was "committed to the deep expression of ironic chaos and strange apathy, even hostility, toward man." Thomas Hardy was one of Britain’s greatest authors. Hardy's work was admired by many younger writers, including D. H. Lawrence, John Cowper Powys, and Virginia Woolf. One of Thomas Hardy’s most powerful works, The Return of the Native centres famously... Read More
An English writer and social critic Charles Dickens created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. A Tale of Two Cities has been cited as one of the best-selling novels of all time. It has been stated to have sold 200 million copies since its first publication, though this figure has been dismissed as "pure fict... Read More
Charles Dickens was the most popular novelist of his time and remains one of the best-known English authors. Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. His works have never gone out of print, and have been adapted continually for the screen. A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Rev... Read More
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was... Read More
An English writer and social critic Charles Dickens is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. David Copperfield is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens. It marked the point at which Dickens became the great entertainer and also laid the foundations for his later, dar... Read More
Charles Dickens, in full Charles John Huffam Dickens, English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian era. His many volumes include such works as A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, and Our Mutual Friend. One of Charles Dickens’s most fascinating novels, Great Expectations follows the orphan Pip as he leaves behind a childhood of misery and poverty after an a... Read More
Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812 in Portsea Island, the second of eight children of Elizabeth Dickens and John Dickens. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Little Dorrit is a novel of serendipity, of fortunes won and lost... Read More
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. He was extremely popular and widely read, both at home and abroad. Ivanhoe was the first of Scott's novels to adopt a purely English subject and was also his first attempt to combine history and romance, which late... Read More
Quentin Durward, the novel of adventure and romance by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1823. The novel was a popular success and solidified Scott’s reputation as a stirring writer. The novel is set in 15th-century France, where the title character saves the life of Louis XI. Quentin Durward was composed in a remarkably short space of time. After carrying out some preparatory research towards the... Read More
Jane Austen, for some, is simply the supreme English novelist, on any list. Some will say: she is the greatest. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Of... Read More
Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Persuasion was the last novel Jane Austen completed, and it didn’t appear in print until 1818 after she had passed away. It’s also shorter than most of her other novels, and some critics think that, because she wrote t... Read More
The reception history of Jane Austen follows a path from modest fame to wild popularity. During her lifetime, Austen's novels brought her little personal fame. Like many women writers, she chose to publish anonymously, but her authorship was an open secret. Jane Austen’s Love and Freindship is part of the second volume of Austen’s Juvenilia, short works she wrote from 1787 to 1793 mostly to ent... Read More
Novel-writing was a suspect occupation for women in the early 19th century because it imperilled their social reputation by bringing them publicity, viewed as unfeminine. Therefore, like many other female writers, Austen published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen that was published anonymously in three volumes in 1811 and that became a classic. The satirical, comic w... Read More
Walter Scott noted Austen's "resistance to the trashy sensationalism of much of modern fiction - 'the ephemeral productions which supply the regular demand of watering places and circulating libraries'". Yet her rejection of these genres is complex, as evidenced by Northanger Abbey and Emma. Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be completed for publication, in 1803. However... Read More
William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. O. Henry's stories frequently have surprise endings. In his day he was called the American answer to Guy de Maupassant. The Gift of the Magi is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christ... Read More