GRADUATION EXAM IN ENGLISH
BRITISH PROSE, POETRY, AND DRAMA, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
British literature and drama → unseparable and one of the most important parts of both
European and world literature and drama → has influenced substantially their development
and the development of European and world culture as a whole as well; has given the world
many outstanding writers, poets as well as dramatists / playwrights; one of those national
literatures with the most number of personages awarded by a Nobel Prize; has inspired a lot of
authors and artists in many other countries. It is very extensive → tens or even hundreds of
authors and hundreds or perhaps thousands of their works; the best quality / masterly works
reflect / describe / value or even reveal and criticize the most decisive periods in the history
of Great Britain and the development of its society and deal with all possible human
problems; they help us to understand better the country, its nation, people, and its past /
history and presence as well.
British literature and drama can be divided, according to its origin, into three main parts, each
of which originated in a different period and was made with a different kind of the English
language :
- the Early-Middle Ages literature = Old English literature
- the Mid- and Late-Middle Ages literature = Middle English literature
- the New Ages literature = Modern English literature
I. The Early-Middle Ages Literature = Old English Literature
The period : the 7th – 11th century (until the year 1100).
The language used in the works : Old English ( = the Anglo-Saxon language).
The author unknown → Beowulf : the oldest literary monument of the Anglo-Saxon period;
a heroic poem (based on an old Germanic legend; about a strong and courageous pagan hero,
Beowulf who kills a monster, the monster´s mother, and even a dragon);
Caedmon and Cynewulf → the first known authors in British literature, both being poets
King Alfred the Great → inspired the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Anglosaská kronika)
(describing English history until the middle of the 12th century)
II. The Mid- and Late-Middle Ages Literature = Middle English Literature
The period : the 12th – 15th century (1100 –1500)
The language used in the works : Middle English
John Wycliff → religious literature; translated the Bible from Latin into English, thus
cultivated the English language; a thinker → criticized the abuses and misdeeds of the Church
→ influenced substantially John Huss and the European Reformation;
Sir Thomas Malory → “chivalrous“ (rytířská) literature → the first novel in English
literature : Arthur´s Death (Artušova smrt);
Geoffrey Chaucer → the outstanding author of this period, “the father of English poetry”,
wrote a series of poems : Canterbury Tales (Canterburské povídky) (a brilliant portrait of 30
pilgrims travelling to the grave of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and telling some
stories on their way; the stories give us a vivid picture of the society and its life in the 14th
century);
William Langland → one of the greatest poems of the Middle Ages : Visions of Piers
Ploughman (Vidění oráče Pierse) – a vast allegory of the human condition (suggesting that
some people prefer false earthly treasures to the true treasure of heaven).
III. Modern English Literature
The period : the 16th – 21st century (since the year 1500 until now)
The language used in the works : Modern English
Several periods can also be distinguished :
a) the Renaissance and Humanism
b) the Baroque, Restoration, Classicism (in poetry), and the first appearance of Realism
(in prose)
c) the Pre-romanticism
d) the Romanticism
e) the Critical Realism and the Realism
f) the first half of the 20th century
g) the second half of the 20th century and present (= the contemporary literature and
drama)
a) The Period of Renaissance and Humanism in British Literature
(1485 –1603 = the end of the 15th and the 16th century)
1476 –William Caxton → introduced printing into England → much quicker spreading of
literature and philosophy; the Middle Ages scholastic philosophy (theological, with turning to
God and human life after death in Heaven)) was slowly pushed back and replaced with new
Renaissance philosophy (returning back to the Ancient Greek Plato and Aristotle, and thus to
earthly human life and its pleasures and beauties ) → new philosophical learning – humanism
→ interests in education, social reforms. The reign of Queen Elizabeth I (the Elizabethan
Age) → rich in poetry (especially sonnets), prose, and particularly drama (about 200
dramatists worked → more than 2000 plays written !!).
Sir Thomas More → (King Henry VIII´s teacher and later Lord Chancellor, also a scientist
and philosopher; later beheaded) → wrote the Utopia (Utopie) (a vision of imaginary island
with the state with perfectly organized society).
Out of the many playwrights of this period two should be definitely mentioned :
Christopher Marlowe → a very talented Shakespeare´s contemporary and sometimes even
co-author of some of his works, unfortunately died quite young (was killed); his perhaps best
play : Edward II; another famous play : The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (Tragický
příběh doktora Fausta) (started the drama form of the medieval legend of a man who sold his
soul to the Devil for money and earthly success and fame; later developed e.g. by Goethe);
William Shakespeare → considered to be the greatest of all dramatists / playwrights all over
the world; born to the family of John Shakespeare, a glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon (in
1564); attended grammar school, after he finished school, he married Anne Hathaway from
the near-by village Shottery (her cottage has still been preserved there); they had 3 children –
two girls and a boy; in 1594, after moving to London and establishing himself as a playwright
and actor, he became a member of Lord Chamberlain´s Men, a local all-male theatre group,
where he continued acting and writing plays; he bought the Globe Theatre and acted there
(tragedy stuck the Globe theatre in 1613 in the form of a fire; the fire actually broke out
during a performance, attended by King Henry VIII; the theatre group later moved to another
theatre – the Blackfriars; the Globe has been renewed again); at first helped to re-adapt or rewrite older plays, later wrote his own plays; both Queen Elizabeth I and (after her death in
1603) King James I liked him very much; he became rich, eventually returned home to his
wife and daughters (his son had died at the age of eleven), bought a new house in Stratfordupon-Avon, and lived there with his family again until his death (in 1616); buried at the local
church.
He wrote an unbelievable number of 37 plays (written mostly in free-verse) and a lot of
beautiful sonnets (written in the special 14-line form: ababababababcc); his masterly works
are characterized with the richness of the language and deep humanism, they try to show the
depths and hidden corners of human heart and mind, and reveal the complexity of moral
questions, and also of problems of social and political life. Shakespeare´s works still remain
alive, and can tell and teach us very much.
Shakespeare´s plays include comedies, historical plays, tragedies (which are the bestknown), and romances. The best and perhaps best-known and most popular include :
Comedies :
The Comedy of Errors
- (Komedie plná omylů)
The Taming of the Shrew
- (Zkrocení zlé ženy / Jak zkrotit saň)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- (Dva šlechticové z Verony)
The Merchant of Venice
- (Benátský kupec)
A Midsummer-Night´s Dream
- (Sen noci svatojánské)
The Merry Wives of Windsor
- (Veselé paničky windsorské)
Much Ado for Nothing
- (Mnoho povyku pro nic)
As You Like It
- (Jak se vám líbí)
Twelfth Night or Whatever You Like - (Večer tříkrálový aneb Cokoliv chcete)
Historical plays :
Richard II, Richard III; Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII (Jindřich IV,V,VI,VIII);
Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra (Antonius a Kleopatra), Coriolanus (Koriolanus)
Tragedies :
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear (Král Lear) , Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (Romeo a Julie)
Romances :
Pericles (Perikles), The Winter´s Tale (Zimní pohádka), The Tempest (Bouře)
The short summaries of some of Shakespeare´s best-known tragedies :
Romeo and Juliet
A tragedy of the unhappy love and tragic death of Romeo of the House of Montague and Juliet of the House of Capulet, two powerful
families of Verona that hate and fight each other. After they fall in deep and passionate love, Romeo accidentally kills Juliet´s cousin, Tybalt
in a sward duel, and that is why he is sent outside Verona. To avoid her approaching marriage to another man whom she does not love, Juliet
pretends death and is put in the Capulet´s vault (krypta). Romeo returns and being mad with grief (žal) kills himself next to Juliet´s body.
Juliet wakes up and kills herself as well. Only then, after the death of their beloved children, both families re-conciliate (usmířit se), but for
the two dead young people it is too late.
Hamlet
A tragedy of sufferings (utrpení) and hesitation (váhání) of an honest, strong but responsible man who is not able to kill or punish (potrestat)
without having a clear evidence / proof of guilt (vina). Hamlet is the young Prince of Denmark living in Elsinor Castle. His uncle, Claudius
becomes King, and marries Hamlet´s mother, the Queen, after he had treacherously (zrádně) murdered (poisoned) Hamlet´s father, the
previous King of Denmark. The ghost of the dead King tells Hamlet the truth of his death. Hamlet wants / longs to revenge (pomstít) his
father´s death but not without proving Claudius guilty. After Hamlet´s much painful hesitation and pretending madness the murderer, King
Claudius betrays himself (prozradit se) during a theatrical performance prepared / arranged by Hamlet, in which the murder is re-enacted
(znovu zahrát), and Hamlet stabs (probodne) the murderer with his sword. The whole story ends very tragically, though, with the death of
Hamlet, his mother and sweetheart, Ofelia and her father Polonius, and brother Laertes as well.
King Lear
A tragedy of loyalty and treason (věrnost a zrada) and the true and false daughter´s love to father. (This theme was later used in the famous
fairy-tale film ”Once upon a Time There Was a King” based on the well-known fairy-tale “Salt More Precious than Gold” (Sůl nad zlato).)
King Lear banishes (poslat do vyhnanství) his sincere, good, and loving youngest daughter, Cordelia only because he thinks she does not
love him enough (she says she loves him according to her duty), and foolishly keeps the insincere and selfish older daughters, Regan and
Goneril, because they are very crafty (lstivý) and pretend love to their father. Later they repay for his kindness with evil (zlo) – banish him as
well. The story ends tragically – King Lear, realizing his unjust treatment to unhappy Cordelia and his cruel mistake, goes mad, Cordelia is
imprisoned and hanged by her treacherous sisters, and King Lear dies of grief.
Macbeth
A tragic bloody story of a noble and brave Scottish soldier, Macbeth whose strong ambition makes him a cruel and murdering despot
(despota, tyran). After hearing the prophecies (věštby) of three old witches (čarodějnice) of his chance to become King one day, his even
more ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth persuades (přesvědčit) him to murder King Duncan during his visit to their castle. To keep his new
position, he becomes a tyrant reigning with unbelievable cruelty, and murders and executes / puts to death (popravuje) a lot of his opponents
/ adversaries (odpůrci) including their small children. He even kills his former good fellow-soldier only because, according to one of the
prophecies, he is also to become (má se také stát) King. Finally, however, the last evil prophecy comes true (vyplnit se), and Macbeth is
defeated and killed by the right heir to the throne (dědic trůnu), King Duncan´s son, Prince Malcolm. Lady Macbeth, tortured (mučená) with
bad / guilty conscience (špatné svědomí), goes mad after all the murders, and dies as well.
Othello
A tragedy of sexual jealousy (žárlivost). Othello, a Moor (Maur) is an honored (ctěný, vážený) Venetian general. He marries beautiful
Desdemona, but Iago, one of his officers, who is a totally evil man, envies (závidět) Othello and his lieutenant (lef´tenәnt)(poručík), Cassio,
so he tells Othello that Desdemona is Casssio´s lover / that she commits adultery (dopouští se nevěry) with Cassio, which, of course, is not
true at all. Othello believes crafty treacherous Iago, is enraged (rozzuřit se) by unjustified (neoprávněný, neopodstatněný) jealousy, and
strangles his wife, Desdemona, and kills himself as well. Iago stabs his wife, who does not agree with his bad behavior, and is arrested.
b) The Period of Romanticism in British Literature
- It was preceded by the Pre-Romanticism (the second half of the 18th century) :
→ especially in poetry :
Robert Burns → the famous Scottish “national” poet → e. g. his famous beautiful “love”
poems “A Red, Red Rose” (Rudá, rudá růže) or “My Heart´s in the Highlands” (Moje srdce
je na Vysočině), or the song “Auld Lang Syne” (Tak dávno tomu již), which is traditionally
sung on Scottish New Year´s Eve (= on Hogmanay); he partly used the dialect of the Scottish
Highlands in his works;
William Blake → wrote very simple but beautiful poems; his best books of poems : Songs of
Innocence (Písně nevinnosti) and Songs of Experience (Písně zkušenosti);
→ in prose : the main feature of Pre-romanticism in prose → the “gothic novel” : the authors
such as Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliff, etc.
- The Romanticism followed (the end of the 18th century + the first third of the 19th century) :
It can be divided into two main periods (with three streams):
→ the first period :
● the Lake Poets :
→ they took their inspiration from the Lake District in England, loved and admired wild
natural beauties of the unspoilt scenery of the district →
William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge → they both wrote together Lyrical Ballads
(Lyrické balady);
Samuel Coleridge → the author of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Verše starého
námořníka) – a ballad about a crime and punishment (the mariner shoots the albatross, and for
this cruel deed the whole ship is cursed, then only he survives, and his penalty is to wander
about the seas with his suffering soul)
→ the second period :
● the stream of the revolutionary Romanticism in poetry :
→ poems about unhappy and usually lonely heroes who fight for freedom, but their fight ends
in vain :
Lord George Gordon Byron → his life was full of revolt against the society, religion, and
monarchy; (he passionately loved Greece and actively supported its struggle for independence
against the Turks, was able / capable of self-sacrifice, died of malaria in Greece at last) →
“Byronism” = feeling oneself an outcast of human society became the philosophy of life with
many poets of his time in Europe; his main work : Child Harold´s Pilgrimage
(Child Haroldova Pouť) (the hero travels all around Europe and makes comments on the
hypocritical society and unfairness in life);
Percy Bysshe Shelley → his greatest work : Prometheus Unbound (Odpoutaný
Prometheus)– (based upon an old Greek legend about one of the Titans, Prometheus who
steals fire from Olympus to give it to people and for this he is chained to a rock forever;
Shelley´s Prometheus, however, is saved finally, and with others he fights against the tyrant,
Jove);
John Keats → one of the greatest English poets and a major figure in the romantic
movement; he loved beauty and rest, wrote a lot of books of poems, e. g. Hyperion, etc.
● the stream of the Romanticism in prose :
Mary Shelly (Percy Bysshe Shelley´s wife) → Frankenstein – a novel about a tragic
character of the man-made man (who was created by Dr Frankenstein in his laboratory to
make good but who could not behave like other “real” people and made evil instead);
Jane Austen → as a girl loved to read many novels (grew up in a quite rich family having a
lot of books), so later she herself wrote many romantic domestic novels, dealing with family
life (marriage was the main theme); she wrote about people and their relationships, their
feelings and problems, about the conflicts between reason and feeling, prejudices in people,
about people´s desire to be happy; e. g. Sense and Sensibility (Rozum a cit), Pride and
Prejudice (Pýcha a předsudek), Emma, etc.
Sir Walter Scott→ a founder of historical novel; Scot also by his nationality; wrote many
masterly romantic novels based upon old folk ballads and medieval romances, especially from
Scottish history, and with this he significantly supported Scottish national feeling; (he ,
however, described historical events not only in Scotland, but also in France or Palestine; his
novels are very adventurous, thrilling, but typically with much picturesque description of the
scenes and the characters); probably Scott´s best-known historical novel at all is Ivanhoe
(about a noble-minded honest brave knight, Ivanhoe, living in the times of King Richard, the
Lion-Heart, and his love to the “lady of his heart ”, beautiful noble woman, Lady Rowena);
some other novels include Waverly, Rob Roy (both dealing with Scottish heroes fighting in an
uprising of the Scots against the English), Kenilworth (a picturesque account of the famous
reign of Queen Elizabeth I), The Heart of Midlothian (a novel about the fate of a seduced
(svedené) girl taking place in the beautiful scenery near Edinburgh), Quentin Durward
(taking place in France), or The Talisman (taking place in Palestine in the times of King
Richard I, the Lion-Heart), etc.
c) The Period of Realism in British Literature
- the beginnings of realism were in prose (the first half of the 18th century) :
Daniel Defoe → a politician, traveler, journalist; his most popular works were novels :
Robinson Crusoe (about a young sailor who managed to survive but only alone, after his
shipwreck on a desert island thanks to his wit and cleverness, good manual skills, invention,
and bravery) → thus representing the qualities which the middle class needed in free market
competition of his time to be successful;
Moll Flanders (Moll Flandersová) (a realistic picture of the life and adventures of a London
prostitute;
Jonathan Swift → a dean in Dublin, sharp critic; satirical pamphlets on all unfair events in
British society, e.g. Modest Proposal (Umírněný návrh) (offers that children of poor Irish
people could serve as food for rich people which would be convenient for both sides); his
most popular work : Gulliver´s Travels (Gulliverovy cesty) – a satirical allegorical novel
criticizing the bad conditions / circumstances in the Kingdom and its army and society
(corruption, immorality, stupidity, and foolishness) (the hero visits successively a few
different strange countries : Lilliput with its dwarfs, Brobdingnag with its giants, the flying
island Laputa with its crasy scientists and philosophers, and the land of the Houyhnhnms –
speaking horses with reason – here Swift´s misanthropy and life bitterness is shown in
comparing the noble wise horses to the dirty dull Yahoos, disgusting beasts in the shape of
men);
Henry Fielding → a journalist, lawyer, and playwright, the founder of the modern English
novel → the realistic novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (Tom Jones, příběh
nalezence) - here Fielding describes the life in the 18th century England through many
characters (Tom gets wisdom and happiness as late as after many criminal offences and
infidelities).
- the period of Critical Realism and Realism followed
(the 19th century, especially its second part, and the turn of the 19th century) :
The Victorian Age → especially the great novels of this period describe the life of this period
in the realistic way and criticize various evils of prosperous, but undoubtedly (nesporně)
imperialistic society in the Britain of the 19th century.
→ the prose : critical realistic novels; the best authors were :
Charles Dickens → uses his own bitter experience of his hard poor childhood (he also had to
work hard in a factory already as a child) and describes truly the life of poor people and their
children in the 19th century England; (combines comic and serious situations and accuses both
the aristocracy and the middle class of acting heartlessly towards the ordinary people; in his
works many different characters are masterly described); his major novels include : Little
Dorrit (Malá Dorotka), David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Great
Expectations (Nadějné vyhlídky), or his famous masterly work The Posthumous Papers of
the Pickwick Club (or briefly : The Pickwick Papers) (Kronika Pickwickova klubu);
William Makepeace Thackeray → wrote novels criticizing snobbery and hypocrisy; his
main novel : Vanity Fair (Trh marnosti) (the author compares the career of two completely
different characters – gentle and decent Amelia and deceitful adventuress Becky Sharp);
another well-known work : The Book of Snobs (Kniha o snobech);
The three Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily, and Ann (the first two are more known) → their
novels deal with moral and psychological problems; all of them had one thing in common : to
protest against everything that is inhuman and cruel, and support the right of everyone to love,
have a happy life, and be respected by other people;
Emily Brontë → perhaps the greatest writer of the sisters; e. g. the novel Wuthering Heights
(Bouřlivé výšiny / Na Větrné hůrce);
Charlotte Brontë → the novel Jane Eyre (about a long-suffering, plain but determined
governess Jane Eyre and her beloved Mr Rochester) – based upon Charlotte´s own experience
as a governess;
Thomas Hardy → realistic novels representing the naturalistic trend in literature; he
understands well the hard life of common / ordinary people, hates hypocrisy and brutal
egoism of many rich people; his works are ironical and pessimistic → The Mayor of
Casterbridge, Tess of the D´Urbervilles, etc.
David Herbert Lawrence → another representative of the Naturalism in literature and one of
the most famous British novelists; the son of a minor (nezletilce) → knew well the cruelty of
life and humiliation of ordinary working people; his perhaps best-known work is, however,
Lady Chatterley´s Lover (Milenec lady Chatterleyové) (he analyses sexual relations between
a man and a woman);
Robert Lewis Stevenson → wrote romantic adventurous stories, such as his famous
Treasure Island (Poklad na ostrově) (about a boy, Jim Hawkins and his dangerous voyage in
the ship of Hispaniola to get the pirates´ treasure; another important character of this story is
the one-legged sailor (former pirate) John Silver, Jim´s main enemy and competitor at the
struggle over the treasure), or The Black Arrow (Černý šíp) (another adventurous novel, this
time taking place in the Middle Ages); famous is also The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde (or for short : Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) (Podivný případ doktora Jekylla a pana
Hydea) (the author reveals masterly two utterly different parts / aspects of a man´s mind : of
good and of evil);
Lewis Carrol → studied at Oxford, and was a lecturer in mathematics; became famous with
his nursery tales (dětské příběhy), written for a daughter of the head of his Oxford college :
Alice´s Adventures in Wonderland (Alenka v Říši divů), and Through the Looking-Glass
(Za zrcadlem) (a small girl happens to get underground as a dwarf where in a land of wonders
meets many strange fairy creatures and lives many unbelievable adventures);
Oscar Wilde → a representative of English decadence and symbolism; came from Dublin,
founded the aesthetic cult in London, criticized by London society and even put in prison for
homosexuality, later lived in France; the only novel of his : The Picture of Dorian Gray
(Obraz Doriana Graye) (shows the ugly side of the supernatural); excellent dramas such as
Lady Windermere´s Fan (Vějíř lady Windermereové) (he reveals deeper levels of human
character), or The Importance of Being Earnest (Jak je důležité mít filipa); a nice funny fairy
story The Canterville Ghost (Strašidlo Cantervillské) (he mocks the English traditional belief
in ghosts, haunting old English castles, through the Americans´ realistic and pragmatic view
of the world); beautiful fairy-tales such as The Happy Prince and Other Tales (Šťastný
prince a jiné příběhy)), The Nightingale and the Rose (Slavík a růže), etc.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle → one of the greatest modern detective story writers of all times, a
founder of the modern detective story, the creator of the famous brilliant (geniální) fictive
detective, master of deduction, Sherlock Holmes, and his dear friend and assistant, Dr Watson
→ the famous story The Hound of the Baskervilles (Pes baskervillský), volumes / books of
stories The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Dobrodružství Sherlocka Holmese), A Study in
Scarlet (Studie v šarlatové), etc.
Rudyard Kipling → was awarded a Nobel Prize for literature as the first British author / was
the first Nobel Prize winner; supported the British imperial system of his time and the
“superior” role of the white man in British colonies; was inspired by the wildlife in India →
nice short stories about India, the sea, and the jungle and its interesting animals → most
famous are : The Jungle Book (Kniha džunglí), The Second Jungle Bok (Druhá kniha
džunglí) (their hero, a boy Mowgli, was brought up by a pack of wolves in the jungle; he
made friends with many of its animals : a big snake, Kaa, a bear, Baloo, or a black leopard,
Baghira; he was permanently endangered by his greatest enemy – an old lame tiger, Shere
Khan, who always wanted to kill and eat him);
Herbert George Wells → invented a new form of scientific romance which gave birth to
modern science fiction (= sci-fi) literature; they include The Time Machine (Stroj času), The
War of the Worlds (Válka světů) (about the destructive attack of the Earth by warlike
Martians), The First Men in the Moon (První lidé na Měsíci), The Invisible Man
(Neviditelný), etc.
The poetry→ the best–known and so most famous poets of this period include Alfred
Tennyson → e. g. the book of poems The Passing of Artur (Artušova smrt) (he expresses his
deep grief over the death of his best friend), Robert Browning → e. g. his greatest work ,
The Ring and the Book (Prsten a kniha) (based on the proceedings in a murder trial in
Rome), and his wife, Elizabeth Barret Browning
PART III
● The First Half of the 20th Century in British Literature
→ the prose : Aldous Huxley → represented the intellectual stream in literature; a science
fiction novel Brave New World (Statečný nový svět) (about the possible future of mankind; he
satirizes believes in a mechanical world);
John Galsworthy → a Nobel Prize winner, a critical novelist, dramatist, and short story
writer; The Forsyte Saga (Sága rodu Fosyteů) – a novel describing the decay of the Victorian
supper middle class (also made in an excellent film series);
James Joyce → marked a turning point in a modern novel; born in Dublin, wrote some
experimental prose using the stream of consciousness; Dubliners – a collection of short
stories; his masterpiece : Ulysses (Odysseus) (a parallel of Homer´s Ulysses who wandered
for about 20 years around the Mediterranean Sea; Joyce´s Ulysses wanders about Dublin in
the course of one day and all the characters in the book correspond to the characters of the
legend);
Graham Green → probably the most important novelist in the English literature of the 20th
century; his notable works represent the literary studies of crime, guilt, sex, and morality, and
include : Brighton Rock (Brightonská skála), The Power and Glory (Moc a sláva), The Quiet
American (Tichý Američan), and others;
George Orwell → predicted and warned against the future totalitarian (= communist) society
in his excellent allegory novels : Nineteen Eighty-Four (Devetenáct set osmdesát čtyři or
1984)), Animal Farm (Zvířecí farma) (in this story the animals in Mr Jones´s farm get rid of
their human masters and try to rule themselves, and to form a just society, but soon some of
them (the pigs) form a new elite group, and form a totalitarian society much worse than the
former one with the human rulers, with tragic consequences for many of the ordinary inferior
animals);
Some other great novelists : Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, William Somerset Mougham
(mo:m), etc.
→ the drama :
George Bernard Shaw → a Nobel prize winner; the most famous personality in the drama of
this period, a world-famous dramatist; he attacked sharply the society´s evils and abuses and
criticized its false morals; a founder of the socialistic Fabian Society of the end of the 19th
century; his best plays include : Saint Joan (Johanka z Arku nebo Svatá Jana)), Mrs
Warren´s Profession (Zaměstnání paní Warrenové), Widower´s Houses (Vdovcovy domy),
You Never Can Tell (Člověk nikdy neví), and perhaps his best-known “anti-romantic”
comedy, Pygmalion which later became world-known in its film musical version under the
title “My Fair Lady” (its about a famous phonetics expert, Professor Higgins, and his bet on
teaching a poor ignorant flower-girl, Eliza Doolittle, to speak like a member of the upper
class; he really succeeds, but at the same time he himself learns how to love);
→ the poetry :
Thomas Stearns Eliot → a Nobel Prize winner; born in America but later became a British
subject (poddaný Jeho Veličenstva, tj. občan UK); in his cynical and comic poetry he shows
the chaos and sterility of modern world and the emptiness of life where everything loses its
meaning; the poem The Waste Land (Pustá země); he also wrote dramas, e. g. Murder in the
Cathedral (Vražda v katedrále) (dealing with the assassination of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Thomas Becket in the 12th century (1170) in the time of the rule of King Henry
II, the first king of the House of Plantagenets on the English throne)
● The Contemporary Literature
(the second half of the 20th century till the present)
This period was especially characterized with a group of young writers called “Angry Young
Men” who express disillusionment of intellectuals after WWII (World War Two) in their
works; they are angry and dissatisfied with the establishment and criticize snobs and people
in power; this literary stream was inspired and started by the dramatist John Osborne and his
famous drama Look Back in Anger (Ohlédni se v hněvu) (about Jimmy Porter as a prototype
of a man who rebels against the hypocritical society and is in permanent opposition to
everything).
→ prose : Kingsley Amis → the most famous member of this group; world-famous works :
Lucky Jim (Šťastný Jim) (about Jim Dixon, a lecturer at one small university who lives all
possible funny situations; with this the author mocks (zesměšňovat, vysmívat se) the pseudo-scholarly society at the university); later continued in Jake´s Problem (Jakeův problém);
William Golding → a Nobel Prize winner; warns in his work against the danger coming out
from the dark, negative powers in people; the novel Lord of the Flies (Pán much) (about a
group of young boys left after a plane crash on a desert island; at first they are happy without
their parents and try to form an ideal society, but then form two groups that quarrel , and, at
last, some of the boys even show barbarian bestiality);
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien → very popular nice fairy tale novels based on his profound
knowledge of old Germanic and Celtic legends; created a fantasy world of Middle-Earth
(Středozemě) where small hobbits seek happiness and goodness and live many adventures →
Hobbit (Hobit); his famous trilogy The Lord of Rings (Pán prstenů) (having three parts : The
Fellowship of the Ring (Společenstvo prstenu), The Two Towers (Dvě věže), and The
Return of the King (Králův návrat)) ( all made in very popular films at present);
Agatha Christie → the Queen of a detective story, the most widely read author in the world;
wrote an enormous number of works (about 70 novels, 20 dramas, and also many short-story
books and poem collections), e. g. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Zavraždění Rogera
Ackroyda), Ten Little Niggers (Deset malých černoušků), Curtain (Opona / Závěs (?)), or
Sleeping Murder (Zapomenutá vražda (?));
Arthur C. Clarke → a well-known science fiction writer; wrote sci-fi novels, such as 2001:A
Space Odyssey (2001 : Vesmírná odyssea), The Fountains of Paradise (Rajské fontány), and
short-story books;
Some other famous contemporary British writers of prose include James Aldrich, John
Wain, John Braine, John Fowles, Alan Silitoe, Iris Murdoch (a woman writer), and many
others.
→ poetry : Dylan Thomas → one of the best modern poets; e. g. Collected Poems (here he
expresses his desire to return to his lost childhood);
→ drama : the contemporary drama in England flourishes almost comparably to the times of
Elizabeth I. Many excellent playwrights, besides above mentioned John Osborne, include :
Samuel Beckett → a Nobel Prize winner; born in Dublin, wrote both drama and prose; his
famous play : Waiting for Godot (in the story of two tramps, who are hopefully waiting to
mythical Godot, the author studies human character and behavior);
also Harold Pinter, Edward Bond, John Orton, Arnold Wesker, or Tom Stoppard (who is of
Czech origin).