John Galsworthy
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John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was educated at Harrow and studied law at New College, Oxford. He travelled widely and at the age of twenty-eight began to write, at first for his own amusement. His first stories were published under the pseudonym John Sinjohn and later were withdrawn. He considered The Island Pharisees (1904) his first important work. As a novelist Galsworthy is chiefly known for his roman fleuve, The Forsyte Saga. The first novel of this vast work appeared in 1906. The Man of Property was a harsh criticism of the upper middle classes, Galsworthy's own background. Galsworthy did not immediately continue it; fifteen years and with them the First World War intervened until he resumed work on the history of the Forsytes with In Chancery (1920) and To Let (1921). Meanwhile he had written a considerable number of novels, short stories, and plays. The Forsyte Saga was continued y the three volumes of A Modern Comedy, The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), Swan Song (1928), and its two interludes A Silent Wooing and Passersby (1927). To these should be added On Forsyte Change (1930), a collection of short stories. With growing age Galsworthy came more and more to identify himself with the world of his novels, which at first he had judged very harshly. This development is nowhere more evident than in the author's changing attitude toward Soames Forsyte, the «man of property», who dominates the first part of the work.
Galsworthy was a dramatist of considerable technical skill. His plays often took up specific social grievances such as the double standard of justice as applied to the upper and lower classes in The Silver Box (1906) and the confrontation of capital and labour in Strife (1909). Justice (1910), his most famous play, led to a prison reform in England. Galsworthy's reaction o the First World War found its expression in The Mob (1914), in which the voice of a statesman is drowned in the madness of the war-hungry masses; and in enmity of the two families of The Skin Game (1920).
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John Galsworthy (1867 - January 31, 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequel, A Modern Comedy. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1932.
Born August 14, 1867 at Kingston Hill in Surrey, England, Galsworthy was educated at Harrow and New College, Oxford, training as a barrister. However, he soon began to put his writing first, especially after forming a friendship with Joseph Conrad. His first play, The Silver Box (1906) was successful, and he followed it up with The Man of Property, the first in the Forsyte trilogy. This remains by far his best-known work, but in his lifetime he published several other novels, including The Island Pharisees (1904) and many plays, the best-known of which are Strife (1909) and The Skin Game (1920). Much of Galsworthy's work may be seen as social commentary, focusing especially on the British class system. Another recurring theme in his work is that of a woman in an unhappy marriage.
John Galsworthy died from a brain tumour.
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14 August | 14th August | 1904 in literature | 1909 in literature | 1932 | 1932 in literature | 1933 | 1933 in literature | 31 January | 31st January | August 14 | August 14th | Burial place | Family saga | Ford Maddox Ford | Ford Madox Ford | Henry Salt | Heroines in literature | Historical anniversaries/January 31 | January 31 | January 31st | List of British playwrights | List of dramatists | List of famous cemeteries | List of people by name: Ga | List of people by name: Ga-Gd | List of people by name: Gb | List of people by name: Gc | List of people by name: Gd | List of playwrights | NobelPrize/LiteraturE | Nobel Prize/Literature | Nobel Prize for Literature | Nobel Prize in Literature | The Forsyte Saga | The Skin Game
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Galsworthy".
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John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was educated at Harrow and studied law at New College, Oxford. He travelled widely and at the age of twenty-eight began to write, at first for his own amusement. His first stories were published under the pseudonym John Sinjohn and later were withdrawn. He considered The Island Pharisees (1904) his first important work. As a novelist Galsworthy is chiefly known for his roman fleuve, The Forsyte Saga. The first novel of this vast work appeared in 1906. The Man of Property was a harsh criticism of the upper middle classes, Galsworthy's own background. Galsworthy did not immediately continue it; fifteen years and with them the First World War intervened until he resumed work on the history of the Forsytes with In Chancery (1920) and To Let (1921). Meanwhile he had written a considerable number of novels, short stories, and plays. The Forsyte Saga was continued y the three volumes of A Modern Comedy, The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), Swan Song (1928), and its two interludes A Silent Wooing and Passersby (1927). To these should be added On Forsyte Change (1930), a collection of short stories. With growing age Galsworthy came more and more to identify himself with the world of his novels, which at first he had judged very harshly. This development is nowhere more evident than in the author's changing attitude toward Soames Forsyte, the «man of property», who dominates the first part of the work.
Galsworthy was a dramatist of considerable technical skill. His plays often took up specific social grievances such as the double standard of justice as applied to the upper and lower classes in The Silver Box (1906) and the confrontation of capital and labour in Strife (1909). Justice (1910), his most famous play, led to a prison reform in England. Galsworthy's reaction o the First World War found its expression in The Mob (1914), in which the voice of a statesman is drowned in the madness of the war-hungry masses; and in enmity of the two families of The Skin Game (1920).
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