Е. В. Воевода английский язык великобритания: история и культура Great Britain: Culture across History Учебное пособие
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Painting
Britain’s naval supremacy in the 18th century gave rise to marine painting. Victories at sea led to a steady demand for pictures of sea-battles, and marine painters made a good living from naval commissions. Another factor that promoted marine painting was a changing attitude towards the sea and the seashore. Many of the novelists, poets and artists turned to the sea as a source of inspiration.
The 18th century was also the great age of British landscape and portrait painting. Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Hogarth and Thomas Gainsborough were the greatest masters of the century. They debated whether painting should follow poetry.
Sir Joshua Reynolds was more academic in his views and manner of painting. That English portrait painter dominated English artistic life in the middle and late 18th century. Through his art and teaching, he attempted to lead British painting away from the indigenous anecdotal pictures of the early 18th century toward the formal rhetoric of the continental Grand Style. With the founding of the Royal Academy in 1768, Reynolds was elected its first president and knighted by King George III.
Thomas Gainsborough was known for his portraits of fashionable society in the late 18th century and for his landscapes of the English countryside. His art could be described as “natural”. One of Gainsborough’s celebrated works is his portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews featuring a wealthy Suffolk landowner and his wife against the background of their estate.
William Hogarth was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist. He is best known for his moral and satirical engravings and paintings and may well be called a painter and engraver of modern moral subjects.
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ll three of them unmistakably are recognized as the 18th century greatest English artists whose pictures belong to the treasure-trove of European painting.- Music
In music, the leading musician of the century was George Frederick Handel (1685 – 1759). He was a musician and composer of German birth and a naturalized Englishman. He composed with extreme facility. For example, “Messiah” was written in 21 days. His immense output includes over 40 operas (the best known of which is “Rinaldo”), about 20 oratorios, organ concertos, vocal and choral music and a great mass of chamber and instrumental music. Even his religious and formal music is dominated by the influence of the theatre. His music expresses the full range of human feelings; it is profoundly psychological and subtle.
As Handel was patronized by the king, he sometimes fell victim to the intrigues of courtiers and politicians who wanted him to support their cause in front of the king. Handel was bitterly criticized by a group of playwrights and composers who promoted a national way in English music. Among them was John Gay (1685 – 1732), a poet and playwright. His most famous work, a lyrical drama “The Beggar’s Opera” was turned into a music piece by John Pepusch, another German composer, mostly known for his vocal music. The new musical comedy, based on the plot suggested by Jonathan Swift, was a bitter political satire on politicians, witty and joyful. Handel was mocked at in the second act, when a group of robbers marched to the music from his opera “Rinaldo”. “The Beggar’s Opera” was a tremendous success. During the winter season of 1728 it was performed 62 times.
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8. The Enlightenment
he problem of vital importance for the 18th century philosophers and writers was the study of man and the origin of his good and evil qualities. Human nature, they claimed, was virtuous and any deviation from virtue was due to the influence of a vicious society. Formulated in this way, the problem acquired social importance. The survivals of feudalism, on the one hand, and the evils of the new system of production, on the other hand, were to be seen everywhere. Progressive writers explained that vice was caused by ignorance and the way out was to enlighten the people. Thus, the 18th century English writers started a public movement of Enlightenment. They hoped to improve the world by teaching and bringing the light of knowledge to the population. The enlighteners rejected Church dogmas and class distinctions.
The movement of the Enlightenment appeared in England, and then spread to the Continent. Later, France produced eminent writers who fought for enlightening the people: Voltaire, Rousseau and others In every country, supporters of the Enlightenment shared the same views: a deep hatred for feudalism and its survivals, systematic education for all, self-government and liberty. They all spoke up for the ordinary people particularly for peasants whose fate was to be decided in the 18th century.
Notwithstanding these common features, there was a difference between the ideas expressed by the English and those expressed by the French writers of the period: an intellectual calm is felt in English literature because the English were past their revolution, while in France the turbulent spirit of the fight for freedom was only beginning. The French literature of the Enlightenment prepared the French for the Great Revolution which broke out at the end of the 18th century.
- Literature of the Enlightenment
In England, the period saw the transition from the poetic age of Shakespeare to the prosaic age of essayists. The style of prose became clear, graceful and polished. Writers accepted such literary forms as were intelligible to all. Satire gained popularity. The period also saw the rise of the political pamphlet. Most of the authors of the time wrote political pamphlets, but the best came from the pens of Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift. Among the best known essayists were Steele and Addison. Periodical newspapers had been published since the Civil War, and in 1702 the first daily newspaper was established.
Much of the drama was written in prose, and the leading form of literature was the novel. The hero of the novel was no longer a prince, but a representative of the middle class. That had never happened before – ordinary people had usually been represented only as comical characters.
Towards the middle of the century there appeared a new literary trend – sentimentalism. Richardson, Goldsmith, Fielding – those names evoked a lively response in the hearts of readers both in Europe and across the Atlantic. The first writer of the sentimental school in Europe was Samuel Richardson. His novels Pamela, Clarissa and History of Sir Charles Grandison were the works that showed the inner world of the characters. Richardson appealed to the hearts of the readers and made them sympathize with his unfortunate heroes. The novels were a tremendous success in the 18th and 19th centuries all over Europe.
We can say that the English writers of the Enlightenment formed two groups. Those who hoped to better the world merely by teaching were Joseph Addison (who wrote essays), Richard Steele (who wrote essays, comedies), Daniel Defoe (the author of Robinson Crusoe), Alexander Pope (the author of The Rape of the Lock), Samuel Richardson (the author of Pamela). The other group included the writers who openly protested against the vicious social order. Those were Jonathan Swift (the author of Gulliver’s Travels), Henry Fielding (who wrote The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling), Oliver Goldsmith (the author of The Vicar of Wakefield), Richard Sheridan (the author of The School for Scandal), Tobias Smollett (the author of Peregrine Pickle), Robert Burns (who wrote Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect).
The poetry of the 18th century was didactic and satirical. It was the poetry of the town and its fashionable life as well as the poetry of worldly wisdom. The leading poet of the century was Alexander Pope – one of the first English classicists. He had little contact with the average reader because in order to read and enjoy Pope one had to be familiar with the works of Horace, Virgil and the Greek poet Theocritus. In 1715 Pope published his translations of the Iliad and the Oddysey by Homer, which made him famous. Pope had a delicate sense of style, which he polished to the last degree of gleaming finish. His poems, such as The Rape of the Lock, are notable for their elegant style.
Pope organized a society of literary men who called themselves the “Martin Scriblerus’ Club”. Martin Scriblerus was an imaginary personage: anyone who wished to publish a satire in a magazine was allowed to use the name of Martin Scriblerus as a pseudonym. Pope hoped that when put together those stories would make an interesting book. But they remained isolated compositions. Yet, it was Martin Scriblerus that inspired Swift to write the famous novel Gulliver’s Travels.
- R
obert Burns (1759-1796)
Robert Burns, who is rightly considered to be the national pride o f Scotland, began writing poetry at the age of 15. But it was only 10 years later that his first volume of poems was published – Poems: Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. The book won him immediate success. The source of Burns’ poetry is Scottish folklore. Burns was deeply aware of the dignity and equality of men. He wrote epigrams on idle noblemen and at the same time composed tender lyrical verses.
Oh my luve’s like a red, red rose…, John Barleycorn, The Tree of Liberty, Auld Lang Syne – these famous poems and songs have been popular for two centuries. The Burns festival is held every year with people coming from all over the world.
Most of Burns' poems were written in Scots. They document and celebrate traditional Scottish culture. Burns wrote in a variety of forms: letters to friends, ballads, and songs. He is well known for the over three hundred songs which celebrate love, friendship, work, and drink with often hilarious and tender sympathy. Even today, he is often referred to as the National Bard of Scotland.
- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Doctor Johnson is little known outside Britain. But in his time he
was a popular English poet, essayist, biographer, lexicographer and a critic of English Literature.In the words of a modern scholar, he was a “great literary personality”. He compiled and published the Dictionary of the English Language (1755). Despite common assumptions that Dr. Johnson wrote the first dictionary of the English language, there had been nearly twenty "English" dictionaries in the preceding 150 years. Johnson's dictionary was to rise above all these because of his meticulous research; his depth and breadth of definitions and his careful use of description.
Samuel Johnson was the son of a poor bookseller. He attended Lichfield Grammar School and a few weeks after he turned nineteen, he became a student of Oxford University. After thirteen months, however, poverty forced him to leave Oxford without taking a degree and he returned to Lichfield. Just before the publication of his Dictionary, Oxford University awarded Johnson the degree of Master of Arts. In 1775, Oxford University awarded him an honorary doctorate.
The two outstanding figures in the 18th century literature of England were Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift.
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
Swift was an Irish-born Englishman who spent a large part of his
life in Ireland. He got a Bachelor’s degree in 1686 and for a long time had to work as a private secretary and accountant to Sir William Temple, a statesman and a courtier, who resided at Moor Park, not far from London. And although Sir William liked the young man, the ambitious Swift considered that he was treated just a little better than a servant. In 1692 he went to Oxford to take his Master’s degree. After that he became a vicar at a little parish church in Ireland. Later, he returned to Sir William Temple and continued working for him and writing pamphlets and satires in his spare time. Swift was one of the most critical and sarcastic journalists of the time. One of his best-known pamphlets was The Tale of the Tub. Swift was wonderfully popular in England and especially in Ireland. The Lord Governor of Ireland once said that all he managed to do in Ireland was done with the kind permission of Mr. Swift. But his life could hardly be called happy. By the end of his life he became even more embittered and satirical than before. Swift's misfortunes and the death of his wife undermined his health. In 1740 his memory and reason were gone. He became completely deaf. He wouldn't touch food if there was anyone present in the room. He died in Dublin in 1745.
What brought Swift real fame was his book Gulliver's Travels. In that book Swift satirized the evils of the existing society. It was altogether a novelty in English literature.
At first Swift intended to publish the book as the story of Martin Scriblerus. But later he heard of a farmer called Gulliver, who was a real giant, so strong and tall that he could carry a horse across a fence. That impressed Swift tremendously, and that is how his favourite character got his name.
The first two travels – to the land of Lilliputs and to the land of Brobdingnag (the giants) – are well-known as children's entertaining reading. In the description of the third voyage – to the floating island of Laputa, and the fourth – the land of the intelligent horses, Swift abandons delicate fancy and unmasks the selfish and brutal nature of humanity. He shows the stupidity of the so-called academicians and the true nature of human civilization. In the land of the intelligent horses, humans, called Yahoos, are shown as filthy degenerated creatures, unable to speak clearly or do any decent work. The book is written with wonderful energy and polemical skill. It has been translated into many languages and is read and enjoyed by thousands of readers.
- D
aniel Defoe (1661-1731)
D. Defoe was born in London to the family of a butcher who was a Dissenter, that is, a non-conformist. Their family name was Foe. Daniel was about 40 years of age when he first changed his signature of D. Foe into De Foe and then Defoe. Daniel got the best education his father could afford. The boy was to become a minister in the Nonconformist Church; therefore, at the age of 14, he was placed in an academy for a full course of five years. But when his training was completed, he refused to devote himself to the Church. In his opinion, it was neither honourable and pleasant, nor profitable. He decided to start business as a merchant. But though he was energetic and practical, a businessman to his fingertips, Defoe never succeeded in business. He went bankrupt several times. What he used to say was, “Thirty times I was rich and poor”. The only branch of business in which he proved to be successful was journalism and literature.
When Defoe was 23, he started writing pamphlets. Usually he was very outspoken and wrote what he thought. That’s why his pamphlets sometimes got him into trouble. In 1685 he took part in the revolt led by the Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of Charles II, against James II. Monmouth hoped to get the Crown with the help of the Protestants. The rebellion was put down, and Defoe had a narrow escape.
When the Protestant king, William III, came to power in 1688, Defoe wrote pamphlets praising his policy. It was the beginning of his literary career. Defoe anticipated the greatest public improvement of modern times; higher education for women, the protection of seamen, the construction of highways and the opening of savings-banks. He urged the establishment of a special academy to study literature and languages.
Owing to the fact that William III was the king of the Whig party, he was attacked by the Tories, who called him Dutch William. Some Tories demanded in pamphlets that the English race should be kept pure. Opposing this foolish idea, Defoe wrote the pamphlet The True-Born Englishman in which he proved that a true-born Englishman did not exist, since the English nation consisted of Danes, Picts, Scots, Angles, Saxons, Normans and other peoples. He said “A true-born Englishman is a contradiction in speech, an irony, in fact, a fiction.” The king personally thanked Defoe for the pamphlet.
During the reign of Queen Anne, persecution of the Dissenters began again. In 1702 Defoe wrote a pamphlet in defence of the Dissenters (The shortest Way With the Dissenters) in which he attacked the Tories and the established Church. But the irony was so subtle that the enemy did not recognize it at first. They considered it to be next best to the Bible. When they realized the real character of the pamphlet, Defoe was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. To disgrace him even more, the Tories subjected him to standing in the pillory in a public square. Before he went to prison, he wrote his Hymn to the Pillory, in which he demanded a fair trial. Though the Hymn>
After his release he worked as an editor of a journal, which supported the ruling party - his former enemies. After the death of Queen Anne, the Whigs came to power, and Defoe continued serving the new ruling party. All this time he was regularly receiving money from the government. But the English government never paid money for nothing - only for some services. Later, it turned out that Defoe had been in her Majesty’s Secret Service.
In 1719 he tried his hand in fiction and wrote the famous novel about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe. The idea of writing about a man who had to live on a desert island was taken from a story published in Steele's magazine “The Englishmen”. It was about a sailor Alexander Selkirk, who had spent four years and four months on a desert island. Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe spent 26 years alone on his island. The novel is praise to human labour and the triumph of man over nature. Labour and fortitude help Robinson to endure hardships. They save him from despair. The very process of hard work gives him satisfaction.
Defoe is a great master of realistic detail. When reading his description of Crusoe’s life and work, one feels that the author must have lived through all the adventures himself. The charm of the novel lies in Robinson as a person. He develops into a strong-willed man, able to withstand all the calamities of life.
The novel is a study of man, a great work showing man in relation to nature and civilization.
When Robinson Crusoe was published, Defoe became famous and came into money. He was now able to pay his debts. He built himself a house and kept a coach and a pleasure-boat.
It is said that not long before his death Defoe fell victim to a serious mental disease. In 1729 he was at work on a new book. Part of it was in print when he broke off abruptly and fled. He was very fond of his wife and daughters, but did not want them to know his hiding-place. For two years he lived in poverty and quite alone, and died in 1731. The inscription on his gravestone says, "Daniel Defoe. Author of Robinson Crusoe..."
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1. Napoleonic Wars
In the 1790s, the wars of the French Revolution turned into the Napoleonic wars, as Napoleon Bonaparte took over the French government. The war caused a boom in farm production and in certain industries. At the same time, it caused rapid inflation. In 1797 the Bank of England was forced to stop payment of gold for paper currency, and Parliament voted the first income tax.
The war did not go well for Britain. During the Napoleonic wars it had to form four coalitions. Three coalitions collapsed and Napoleon was planning to invade Britain. It was Admiral Nelson's victory in the dramatic battle of Trafalgar in 1805 that prevented the invasion. The battle was won at the price of Nelson's life, but the French forces never stepped on the British soil. Admiral Nelson was buried in Westminster Abbey, and the column set up in Trafalgar Square in the center of London is topped with a bronze statue of the national hero.
Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 led to the fourth coalition, which brought together the armies of Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia. Britain's contribution included an army led by The Duke of Wellington, who first fought in Spain and later won the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington proved to be a capable commander early in the war. Unlike the majority of the officers of the allied forces, he did not believe either in the genius of Napoleon himself or in the invincibility of his army. He insisted that Napoleon usually won his victories largely due to the psychological effect produced by his army and his personality. On his appointment as commander of the British army he wrote about the French, “I am not afraid of them. I suspect that all the continental armies were more than half beaten before the battle was begun. I, at least, will not be frightened beforehand.” At the beginning of March 1815, the Emperor Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France. He reformed his army with astonishing speed, and determined to conquer Holland as the first move in rebuilding his empire. The representatives of the allied European countries that met at the Congress of Vienna mobilized their armies to stop him, but only two armies could be brought to Flanders in time: the Prussian army commanded by Marshal Blucher, and a mixed army of British, Dutch and German troops under the command of the Duke of Wellington. They were all divided in their languages, loyalties and experience, so it was largely due to Wellington's military talent that the allied forces defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, in Belgium, on June 18, 1815. The battle of Waterloo brought about Napoleon's downfall. Wellington is rightly considered to be a national hero, like Admiral Nelson.
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2. The political and economic development of the country
t the beginning of the century Britain enlarged its colonial territories, adding to the empire the former Dutch possessions of Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope.
In the 1820s, Prime Minister Robert Peel turned his attention to the problem of crime by establishing a regular police force for London in 1829. The government employed a specially trained army of men to catch criminals. Although at first Londoners laughed at the blue-uniformed men in their top-hats, during the next thirty years almost every other town and country started a police force of their own. The new police units soon proved themselves successful, as much crime was pushed out of larger cities, then out of towns and finally out of the countryside. Robert Peel was able to show that certainty of punishment was far more effective than cruelty of punishment.
The beginning of the century also saw the innovations of Robert Owen, a factory owner from Scotland, who gave his workers shorter working hours and encouraged trade unions. He built his factory in the countryside, away from the smog and dirt of the big cities, and provide d
good housing for workers and a school for their children. Owen was able to prove that his workers produced more goods in less time than those forced to work longer hours. Better working and living conditions resulted in an increase in labour productivity. Owen’s ideas and example were supported and put into life by other reformers, like Authur Cadbury, the owner of the famous Birmingham chocolate factory, who built first-class housing for workers.
The main political issue of the 1830s was the Reform Bill, which became law in 1832. The bill set up a system of registration that encouraged political party organization, both locally and nationally. That measure weakened the monarch and the House of Lords. Other reforms came in a quick succession. In 1833 slavery was abolished. By the New Poor Law of 1834 workhouses were opened. They were meant to provide the homeless people with work and shelter. Abandoned children were also taken care of in workhouses. But although the new system involved supervision by a central board (or Committee), working and living conditions of people in workhouses were even worse than those of slaves. As the country's industry was rapidly developing, child labour became common practice. Children from poor families started working at the age of 4 or 5. They worked in textile factories and in mines for 16 hours a day. There were cases when little workers had to stay at work for 18 hours. They worked and slept in the same place. But the worst fate was of those children who worked as chimneysweeps. They seldom lived to become adults. It was only in 1849, during the reign of Queen Victoria, that an act of Parliament limited the working hours of children under the age of 10 – to 10 hours a day.
In 1836 a special law placed the registration of births, deaths and marriages in the hands of the state rather than the Church. All attempts on the part of the state to influence and subsidize education were strongly opposed by the Church.
During the economic depression of 1837 the reform spirit declined. Working conditions became even worse. The protest organization, known in history as the
Chartist movement, came into being. The Chartists demanded the immediate adoption of the People's Charter, which might have transformed Britain into a political democracy with universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts and the secret ballot. It was also expected to improve living standards. Millions of workers signed Charter petitions in 1839, 1842 and 1848. Some Chartist demonstrations turned into riots. Parliament repeatedly rejected the People's Charter and the idea was never realized.
3. Romanticism
In the 1820s Britain welcomed the independence of Spain's South American colonies and aided the Greek rebellion against the Turkish rule. The events in Greece were praised and supported by Romantic writers and poets. Extending from about 1789 until 1837, the Romantic age stressed emotion over reason. In English literature the Romantic age was characterized by the subordination of reason to intuition and passion, as well as the cult of nature (much as the word is understood now). Individual will was superior to social norms of behaviour, immediate experience was more important than generalized and typical experience.
The first Romantics were the poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth adored and idealized the countryside and nature. Another Romantic poet and novelist was Sir Walter Scott. At the beginning of his literary career he wrote poetry. After the publication of the poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Scott became the most famous poet of the day. Later though,
he turned to novels. Walter Scott is known as the founder of the historical novel in English literature.
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alter Scott was a faithful son of Scotland and studied the past of his native land through documents, history and legends. His most famous novels are Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and Quentin Durward. When his business partner died leaving Scott to pay the debts, the writer had to start working day and night. That explains the fact why Scott's later novels are less elaborately worked out than the earlier ones. U
nlike Coleridge, Wordsworth and Scott the next generation of Romantic poets were full of revolutionary spirit. George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) exemplifies a personality in tragic revolt against society. Byron was born to an aristocratic family and educated at Harrow College. The boy>Hours of idleness) was published in 1807, he was bitterly criticized in the press. But that didn’t stop him. He retorted with an epigram and continued writing. Byron traveled a lot – both in England an on the Continent. In 1809-1811 he travelled to Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Greece. The earliest fruits of his travels were the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812). The poem brought him immediate success and established his reputation as a great poet of England. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is partly autobiographical. The hero is a disillusioned rebel, demanding absolute personal freedom, who quickly became the symbol of the vanguard literary thought in Europe. Byron let his hero travel from country to country, filling the poem with vivid descriptions and satirical remarks.
Between 1813 and 1816 Byron wrote Oriental Tales, which included 4 pieces. In 1816 he left England and up to 1823 lived in Switzerland and Italy, where he at first supported and later joined the Carbonari movement. He wrote two more cantos of Childe Harold, Manfred and the most famous of his poems, Don Juan, which>
In the 1820s Byron got particularly interested in the struggle of Greece against Turkey. He financed the buying of medicines and arms for the Greeks and then joined them in person. He participated in the defence of the Fortress of Missolungui. There he went down with a fever and died.
Byron produced a tremendous impact on A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, W. Goethe and other European poets. They translated and imitated Byron's poems. Pushkin described Oneguin as “москвич в гарольдовом плаще”, “вторым Онегин Чильд Гарольдом”. Byron's poem My Soul Is Dark was wonderfully well translated by M. Lermontov.
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4. Art and artists
he Romantic movement was also reflected in art. Landscape painting especially acquired new importance, notably in Britain, and its greatest exponents were among the leaders of Romanticism. It was the time of the great English painters John Constable and William Turner. They are both famous for their landscapes, but Turner is especially known for his remarkable light effects. Sketching all over Europe during a long life, Turner produced a succession of water-colours and oil painting of great subtlety and power. Constable reinvented the medium of oil paint as a vehicle for his personal sensations in front of English rural scenery. And though his painting met with little success at the Royal Academy exhibitions, his idea of making art from direct observation of nature brought profound changes to painting later in the 19th century. Unlike Constable, Turner was hugely successful in his own time, partly because the works he exhibited basically corresponded to the prevailing academic theory that in art landscape should be transformed by the artist's imagination. Even so, his extraordinary use of colour and light, and his dramatic innovations in the painting of stormy seas and effects of weather, made him controversial throughout his career.
Other artists set out to explore the inner world of the mind. William Blake developed a whole private mythology to investigate the meaning of human life and its place in God's creation. Blake was a poet, an artist, a professional engraver and a mystic. His early works (Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience), although Romantic, were never free from symbolism. Some of his poems were published only in 1925. Most of his books were self-illustrated.
5. Victorian Age
During the Victorian Age, the British Empire reached its height and covered about a fourth of the world's land. Industry and trade expanded rapidly, and railways and canals crossed the country. Science and technology made great advances. The size of the middle class grew enormously. By the 1850s, more and more people were getting an education. In addition, the government introduced democratic reforms.