home
Women's names
British Classical Literature. English classics - a priceless pearl of world literature

British Classical Literature. English classics - a priceless pearl of world literature

06.02.2019

English literature- This centuries-old history, great writers, unique works that reflect the features national character. We grow up with the books of these great authors, we develop with their help. It is impossible to convey the meaning of English writers and the contribution they made to world literature. We bring you 10 world-renowned masterpieces English Literature.

1. William Shakespeare - "King Lear"

The story of King Lear is the story of a man blinded by his own despotism, who, in his declining years, first encounters the bitter truth of life. Endowed with unlimited power, Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters Cordelia, Goneril and Regan. On the day of his abdication, he expects from them flattering speeches and assurances of tender love. He knows in advance what his daughters will say, but he longs to once again hear the praises addressed to him in the presence of the court and foreigners. Lear invites the youngest of them and the most beloved Cordelia to tell about his love in such a way that her words will prompt him to give her a "greater share than his sisters." But the proud Cordelia dignifiedly refuses to perform this ritual. A fog of rage covers Lear's eyes and, considering her refusal an infringement on his power and dignity, he curses his daughter. Having disinherited her, King Lear abdicates in favor of Goneril and Regan's eldest daughters, not realizing dire consequences his act...

2. George Gordon Byron - "Don Juan"

"I'm looking for a hero! .." Thus begins the poem "Don Juan", feathered the great English poet George Gordon Byron. And his attention was attracted by a hero well known in world literature. But the image of the young Spanish nobleman Don Juan, who became a symbol of a seducer and womanizer, acquires a new depth in Byron. He is unable to resist his passions. But often he himself becomes the object of harassment by women ...

3. John Galsworthy - “The Forsyte Saga”

“The Forsyte Saga” is life itself, in all its tragedy, in joys and losses, life is not very happy, but accomplished and unique.
The first volume of The Forsyte Saga includes a trilogy of novels: The Owner, In the Loop, For Hire, which presents the history of the Forsyte family over the course of for long years.

4. David Lawrence - “Women in Love”

David Herbert Lawrence shocked the minds of his contemporaries with the freedom with which he wrote about the relationship of the sexes. In the famous novels about the Brengoin family - "Rainbow" (it was banned immediately after publication) and "Women in Love" (published in a limited edition, and in 1922 its author was censored), Lawrence describes the story of several couples. Women in Love was filmed by Ken Russell in 1969 and won an Oscar.
“My great religion is the belief in flesh and blood, that they are wiser than the intellect. Our minds may be wrong, but what we feel, what we believe, and what our blood says is always true.”

5. Somerset Maugham - “Moon and penny”

One of Maugham's finest. The novel about which literary critics have been arguing for many decades, but still cannot come to a consensus - whether to consider history tragic life and death English artist Strickland with a kind of “free biography” of Paul Gauguin?
Whether it is true or not, The Moon and the Penny still remains the true pinnacle of English literature of the 20th century.

6. Oscar Wilde - “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Oscar Wilde is great English writer, who gained fame as a brilliant stylist, inimitable wit, an extraordinary personality of his time, a man whose name, through the efforts of enemies and gossip-greedy mob, became a symbol of depravity. This edition includes famous novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is the most successful and most controversial of all Wilde's books.

7. Charles Dickens - “David Copperfield”

The famous novel David Copperfield” by the great English writer Charles Dickens has won the love and recognition of readers around the world. Largely autobiographical, this novel tells the story of a boy forced to fight alone against a cruel, bleak world populated by evil teachers, mercenary factory owners and soulless servants of the law. In this unequal war David can only be saved by moral firmness, purity of heart and an extraordinary talent that can turn a dirty ragamuffin into greatest writer England.

8. Bernard Shaw - “Pygmalimon”

The play begins on a summer evening in Covent Garden Square in London. A sudden torrential downpour took the pedestrians by surprise and forced them to take shelter under the portal of St. Paul's Cathedral. Among those gathered are Professor of Phonetics Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering, a researcher of Indian dialects, who has come specially from India to see the professor. Unexpected meeting excites both. Men start animated conversation, in which an incredibly dirty flower girl interferes. When begging gentlemen to buy a bouquet of violets from her, she makes such unthinkable inarticulate sounds that horrifies Professor Higgins, who talks about the advantages of her method of teaching phonetics. The frustrated professor swears to the colonel that thanks to his lessons, this dirty girl can easily become a saleswoman. flower shop, in which now they will not let her even on the threshold. Moreover, he swears that in three months he will be able to pass her off as a duchess at a reception at the envoy.
Higgins sets to work with great enthusiasm. Obsessed with the idea at all costs to make a simple street girl real lady, he is absolutely sure of success, and does not think at all about the consequences of his experiment, which will radically change not only the fate of Eliza (that's the name of the girl), but also his own life.

9. William Thackeray - “Vanity Fair”

The pinnacle of creativity of the English writer, journalist and graphic artist William Makepeace Thackeray was the novel Vanity Fair. All the characters of the novel - positive and negative - are involved, according to the author, in the "eternal circle of grief and suffering." Full of events, rich in subtle observations of the life of its time, imbued with irony and sarcasm, the novel “Vanity Fair” took pride of place in the list of masterpieces of world literature.

10. Jane Austen - “Sense and Sensibility”

"Sense and Sensibility" is one of the best novels of the wonderful English writer Jane Austen, who is rightly called the "First Lady" British literature. Among her most famous works are such masterpieces as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey and others. “Sense and Sensibility” is a so-called romance of manners, representing the love stories of two sisters: one of them is restrained and reasonable, the other gives herself to spiritual experiences with all her passion. Heart dramas against the backdrop of the conventions of society and ideas of duty and honor become a real “education of feelings” and are crowned with well-deserved happiness. The life of a large family, the characters of the characters and the vicissitudes of the plot are described by Jane Austen easily, ironically and penetratingly, with inimitable humor and purely English restraint.

Truly admirable. It is based on the works of a whole galaxy outstanding masters. No country in the world has given birth to so many outstanding masters of the word as Britain. There are numerous English classics, the list goes on and on: William Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Daphne du Maurier, George Orwell, John Tolkien. Are you familiar with their works?

Already in the 16th century, the Briton William Shakespeare earned the fame of the best playwright in the world. It is curious that until now the plays of the “spear-shaking” Englishman (this is how his surname is literally translated) are staged in theaters more often than the works of other authors. His tragedies "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth" are universal values. Getting to know him creative heritage We recommend a MUST READ philosophical tragedy"Hamlet" is about the meaning of life and moral foundations. For four hundred years she has led the repertoires of the most famous theaters. There is an opinion that English classic writers started with Shakespeare.

She became famous thanks to the classic love story Pride and Prejudice, which introduces us to the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, Elizabeth, who has a wealthy inner world, pride and an ironic look at the environment. She finds her happiness in love for the aristocrat Darcy. Paradoxically, this book with a fairly simple plot and a happy ending is one of the most beloved in Britain. It traditionally outstrips the works of many serious novelists in popularity. For that alone, it's worth reading. Like this writer, many English classics came to literature precisely at the beginning of the 18th century.

He glorified himself with his works as a deep and genuine connoisseur of the life of ordinary Britons in the 18th century. His characters are invariably penetrating and convincing. The novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" shows tragic fate simple decent woman. She commits the murder of a scoundrel nobleman who breaks her life in order to free herself from his persecution and find happiness. Using the example of Thomas Hardy, the reader can see that the English classics had a deep mind and a systematic view of the society around them, saw its flaws more clearly than others, and, having ill-wishers, nevertheless courageously presented their creations for the assessment of the whole society.

Showed in her in many ways autobiographical novel"Jen Eyre" emerging new morality- the principles of an educated, active, decent person who wants to serve society. The writer creates an amazingly holistic, deep image of the governess Jane Eyre, who goes towards her love for Mr. Rochester even at the cost of sacrificial service. Bronte, inspired by her example, was followed by other English classics, not from the nobility, calling on society for social justice, for an end to all discrimination against a person.

Possessed, according to the Russian classic F.M. Dostoevsky, who considered himself his student, "the instinct of universal humanity." Huge Talent The writer did the seemingly impossible: he became famous in his early youth thanks to his very first novel Posthumous Notes Pickwick Club”, followed by the following - “Oliver Twist”, “David Copperfield” and others, who gained the writer unprecedented fame, putting him on a par with Shakespeare.

William Thackeray is an innovator in the style of writing the novel. None of the classics before him turned into central images of his work of bright, textured depicted negative characters. Moreover, as in life, often something individually positive was inherent in their characters. His outstanding work - "Vanity Fair" - is written in a unique spirit of intellectual pessimism, mixed with subtle humor.

With her “Rebecca” in 1938, she did the impossible: she wrote the novel at a key moment when it seemed that English literature was running out of steam, that everything that was possible had already been written, that the English classics were “ended”. Having not received worthy works for a long time, the English reading audience was interested, delighted with the unique, unpredictable plot of her novel. The introductory phrase of this book has become winged. Be sure to read this book by one of the world's best masters of creating psychological images!

George Orwell will amaze you with the merciless truth. He wrote his famous novel "1984" as a powerful universal denunciatory tool against all dictatorships: present and future. His creative method borrowed from another great Englishman - Swift.

The novel "1984" is a parody of a dictatorship society that has finally trampled on universal human values. He denounced and called to account for the inhumanity of the ugly model of socialism, which in fact becomes the dictatorship of the leaders. An extremely sincere and uncompromising person, he endured poverty and deprivation, having passed away early - at 46 years old.

Is it possible not to love Professor's "Lord of the Rings"? This real miraculous and surprisingly harmonious temple of the epic of England? The work brings its readers deep humanistic and it is no accident that Frodo destroys the ring on March 25 - the day of the Ascension. The creative and competent writer showed insight: all his life he was indifferent to politics and parties, passionately loved "good old England", was a classic British tradesman.

This list goes on and on. I beg your pardon, dear readers who mustered up the courage to read this article, that it did not include, due to limited volume, the worthy Walter Scott, Ethel Lilian Voynich, Daniel Defoe, Lewis Carroll, James Aldridge, Bernard Shaw and, believe me, many, many others. English classic literature- a huge and interesting layer of achievements human culture and spirit. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of getting to know her.

Everyone knows the plot of the novel by Daniel Defoe. However, the book contains many other interesting details about the organization of Robinson's life on the island, his biography, and inner experiences. If you ask a person who has not read the book to describe the character of Robinson, he is unlikely to cope with this task.

In the mass consciousness, Crusoe is an intelligent character without character, feelings and history. In the novel, the image of the protagonist is revealed, which allows you to look at the plot from a different angle.

Why you need to read

To get acquainted with one of the most famous adventure novels and find out who Robinson Crusoe really was.

Swift does not openly challenge society. Like a true Englishman, he does it correctly and witty. His satire is so subtle that Gulliver's Travels can be read like a normal fairy tale.

Why you need to read

For children, Swift's novel is a fun and unusual adventure story. Adults need to read it to get acquainted with one of the most famous artistic satires.

This novel, let artistically and not the most outstanding, definitely iconic in the history of literature. After all, in many respects he predetermined the development of the scientific genre.

But it's not just an entertaining read. It raises the problems of relations between the creator and creation, God and man. Who is responsible for creating a being that is destined to suffer?

Why you need to read

To get acquainted with one of the main works science fiction, as well as to feel the difficult problems that are often lost in film adaptations.

Difficult to single out best play Shakespeare. There are at least five of them: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. The unique style and deep understanding of life's contradictions made Shakespeare's works an immortal classic, relevant at all times.

Why you need to read

To begin to understand poetry, literature and life. And also to find the answer to the question, what is still better: to be or not to be?

The main theme of English literature in the early 19th century was social criticism. Thackeray in his novel denounces his contemporary society with the ideals of success and material enrichment. To be in society means to be sinful - this is approximately Thackeray's conclusion regarding his social environment.

After all, the successes and joys of yesterday lose their meaning when a well-known (albeit unknown) tomorrow dawns ahead, which we all will have to think about sooner or later.

Why you need to read

To learn to relate more easily to the life and opinions of others. After all, everyone in society is infected with "fair ambitions" that have no real value.

The language of the novel is beautiful, and the dialogues are the epitome of English wit. Oscar Wilde is a subtle psychologist, which is why his characters turned out to be so complex and multifaceted.

This book is about human vice, cynicism, the difference between the beauty of the soul and the body. If you think about it, to some extent each of us is Dorian Gray. Only we do not have a mirror on which sins would be imprinted.

Why you need to read

To enjoy the amazing language of the UK's wittiest writer, to see how much the moral image can not match the external, and also to become a little better. Wilde's work is a spiritual portrait not only of his era, but of all mankind.

The ancient Greek myth about a sculptor who fell in love with his creation acquires a new, socially significant sound in the play by Bernard Shaw. What should a work feel for its author if this work is a person? How can it refer to the creator - the one who made it in accordance with his ideals?

Why you need to read

This is the most famous play Bernard Shaw. It is often staged in theaters. According to many critics, "Pygmalion" - landmark work English dramaturgy.

A universally recognized masterpiece of English literature, familiar to many from cartoons. Who, at the mention of Mowgli, does not hear Kaa's long hissing in his head: "Man-cub ..."?

Why you need to read

In adulthood, hardly anyone will take up The Jungle Book. A person has only one childhood to enjoy the creation of Kipling and appreciate it. So be sure to introduce your children to the classics! They will be grateful to you.

And again the Soviet cartoon comes to mind. It's really good, and the dialogue in it is almost entirely taken from the book. However, the images of the characters and the general mood of the narrative in the original source are different.

Stevenson's novel is realistic and rather harsh in places. But this is a good adventure work that every child and adult will read with pleasure. Boarding, sea wolves, wooden legs - marine theme beckons and attracts.

Why you need to read

Because it's fun and exciting. In addition, the novel is disassembled into quotes, which everyone must know.

Interest in the deductive abilities of the great detective is still great today thanks to the huge number of screen adaptations. A lot of people are only from films and are familiar with the classic detective story. But there are many screen adaptations, and there is only one collection of stories, but what a one!

Why you need to read

H. G. Wells was in many ways a pioneer in the science fiction genre. Before him, people were not at enmity with, he was the first to write about time travel. Without The Time Machine, we would not have seen either the movie Back to the Future or the cult TV series Doctor Who.

They say that all life is a dream, and also a nasty, pitiful one, nap, although the other still does not dream.

Why you need to read

To look at the origins of many of the sci-fi ideas that have become popular in modern culture.

Anna Karenina. Lev Tolstoy

The greatest love story of all time. A story that has not left the stage, filmed countless times - and still has not lost the boundless charm of passion - a destructive, destructive, blind passion - but all the more bewitching with its grandeur.