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Chapter 5

The Modern Period

♦ Brief introduction of the modern period

♦ In the second half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20 th 

century, both natural and social sciences in Europe had enormously

advanced

♦ Their rapid development led to !reat !ains in material "ealth But"hen capitalism came into its monopoly sta!e, the sharpened

contradictions bet"een sociali#ed production and the private

o"nership caused fre$uent economic depreddions and mass

unemployment

♦ The !ap bet"een the rich and the poor "as further deepened Tocro"n ot all, the catastrophic %irst &orld &ar tremendously people as

"ell

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I 'istorical, social and cultural bac(!round

♦ .

 Historically

♦ Modernism rose out of s(epticism and disillusion of capitalism The

%irst &orld &ar and the )econd &orld &ar had !reatly influenced

the En!lish literature

♦

2. Economically

♦ The Second World War marked the last stage of the

disintegration of the British Empire. Britain suffered

heavy losses in the war thousands of people were

killed! the economy was ruined! and almost all its

former colonies were lost. "eople were in economic#

cultural# and $elief crisises.

♦%. &deologically

♦ The rise of the irrational philosophy and new science

greatly incited modern writers to make new

e'plorations on human natures and human relationships.

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II. Literary history of the period

♦ .

  Literary trends

♦

*fter the %irst &orld &ar, all (inds of literary trends of modernismappeared+ symbolism, epressionism, surrealism, cubism, futurism,

-adaism, ima!ism and stream of consciousness ♦ .1/Modern En!lish poetry+

It is, in some sense, a revolution a!ainst the conventional ideas and

forms of the ictorian poetry ♦ .2/ Modern En!lish novels+

The first three decades of 20th century "ere !olden years of the

modernist novel ♦ ./ The development of 20th century En!lish drama+

The most celebrated dramatists in the last decade of the 19thcentury "ere scar &ilde and 3eor!e Bernard )ha", "ho, in asense, pioneered the modern drama, thou!h they did not ma(e somany innovations in techni$ues and forms as modernist poets ornovelists

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2. Artistic features of modern peroid 

♦

.1/ Modernism 

♦ Modernism "as a comple and diverse international movement in

all creative arts, ori!inatin! about the end of the 19th century It

 provided the !reatest renaissance of the 20th century *fter the %irst

&orld &ar, all (inds of literary trends of modernism appeared+

symbolism, epressionism, surrealism, cubism, futurism, -adaism,ima!ism and stream of consciousness 

♦ .2/ The basic characteristics of Modernism in literature+Modernism ta(es the irrational philosophy and the theory of

 psycho4analysis as its theoretical base ne characteristic of

En!lish Modernism is 5the dehumani#ation of art5 The ma6orthemes of the modernist literature are the distorted, alienated and ill

relationships bet"een man and nature, man and society, man and

man, and man and himself 

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3.Major figures of this period 

3eor!e Bernard )ha" .1784 1980/ Mrs &arrant: Profession

;ohn 3ala"orthy .17and of 'eart:s -esire

Thomas )tearns Eliot .17774 198/ Murder in the ?athedral-avid 'erbert >a"rence .17784 190/ )ons and >overs

;ames ;oyce .17724 19@1/ Alysses

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III. Representatives of this period 

D. . La!rence ♦

 .

 Biography

♦ 1778-avid 'erbert >a"rence "as born at a minin! villa!e in Cottin!hamshire 'is father "as a coal4miner "ith little educationD but

his mother, once a school teacher, "as from a some"hat hi!her class,"ho came to thin( that she had married beneath her and desired to haveher sons "ell educated so as to help them escape from the life of coalminers

♦ The conflict bet"een the earthy, coarse, ener!etic but often drun(en

father and the refined, stron!4"illed and up4climbin! mother is vividly presented in his autobio!raphical novel, )ons and >overs .191/

(iterary works

♦ The Rainbow

♦ Women in Love 

♦ (ady )hatterley*s (over 

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2. Major theme

♦ In his "ritin!s, >a"rence has epressed a stron! reaction a!ainst

the mechanical civili#ation♦ In his opinion, the bour!eois industriali#ation or civili#ation,

"hich made its reali#ation at the cost of ravishin! the land, started

the catastrophic uprootin! of man from nature and caused the

distortion of personality, the corruption of the "ill, and the

dominance of sterile intellect over the authentic in"ard passionsof man

♦ Ander the mechanical control, human bein!s "ere turned into

inanimated matter, "hile the inanimated matter should be

animated to destroy both man and earth

♦ It is this a!oni#ed concern about the dehumani#in! effect ofmechanical civili#ation on the sensual tenderness of human nature

that haunts >a"rences "ritin!

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3. Ana"ysis of his masterpiece 

♦+ ,

 Brief introduction of

Son and (over

 

♦ Sons and Lovers is lar!ely an autobio!raphical novel told by means ofstrai!ht4for"ard narrative and vivid episodes in chronolo!icalse$uence The story starts "ith the marria!e of Pauls parents MrsMorel, dau!hter of a middle4class family, is 5a "oman of character andrefinement5, a stron!4"illed, intelli!ent and ambitious "oman "ho is

fascinated by a "arm, vi!orous and sensuous coal miner, &alter Morel,and married beneath her o"n class

♦ +2,  Theme♦ >a"rence "as one of the first novelists to introduce themes of

 psycholo!y into his "or(s 'e believed that the healthy "ay of the

individual:s psycholo!ical development lay in the primacy of the lifeimplulse, or in another term, the seual impulsehuaman seuality "as,to >a"rence, a symbol of life forceby presentin! the psycholo!icaleperience of indivudual human life and of human relationships,>a"rence has opened up a "ide ne" territory to the novel

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♦+%,

 )haracter analysis

♦-ertrude orel 0 The first protagonist of the

novel. She $ecomes unhappy with her hus$and Walter and

devotes herself to her children.

♦ #au" More" 4 Paul Morel ta(es over from his mother as the

 prota!onist in the second half of the boo( *fter his brother

&illiams death, Paul becomes his mothers favorite and stru!!les

throu!hout the novel to balance his love for her "ith his

relationships "ith other "omen ♦

+1,

 rtistic features

♦ >a"rence:s artistic tendency is mainly realism, "hich cimbines

dramatic scenes "ith an authoritative commentary *nd the realistic

feature is most obviously seen in its detailed portraiture &ith the

"or(in!4class simpilicity and directness, >a"rence can summon up

all the physical attributes associated "ith the common daily ob6ects 

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$ames $oyce

  %.&iography♦ 1772 ;ames ;oyce "as born into a ?atholic family -ublin, !ot his education

at ?atholic schools "here he passed throu!h a phase of reli!ious enthusiasm

 but finally re6ected the ?atholic ?hurch and started rebellion a!ainst the

narro"ness and bi!otry of the bour!eois Philistines in -ublin Influenced by

Ibsen, ;oyce finally decided to ta(e the literary mission as his career 

♦ ;oyce is not a commercial "riter In his lifetime, he "rote alto!ether

three novels, a collection of short stories, t"o volumes of poetry, and

one play The novels and short stories are re!arded as his !reat "or(s,

all of "hich have the same settin!+ Ireland, especially -ublin, and the

same sub6ect+ the Irish people and their life

  Literary !or's

♦  Dubliners

♦  A Portrait of Artist as a Young Man 

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2. Major theme

♦  'e chan!ed the old style of fictions and created a stran!e mode of art

to sho" the chaos and crisis of consciousness of that period

♦  %rom him, stream of consciousness came to the hi!hest point as a

!enre of modern literature♦  In %inne!ans &a(e, this pursue of ne"ness overrode the normalness

and sho"ed a tendency of vanity

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3. Ana"ysis of his masterpiece

♦+ ,  Brief introduction of Ulysses  

♦ Ulysses !ives an account of mans life durin! one day .1 ;une, 190@/in -ublin The three ma6or characters are+ >eopold Bloom, an Irish;e", his "ife, Marion T"eedy Bloom, and )tephen -edalus, the prota!onist in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man The "holenovel is divided into 17 episodes in correspondence "ith the 17 hoursof the day

♦ +2,  Theme

♦ Ulysses is "idely re!arded as the most 5revolutionary5 literary effortsof the t"entieth century if only for ;oyces 5stream of consciousness5techni$ue In his efforts to create a modern hero, ;oyce returned toclassical myth only to deconstruct a 3ree( "arrior into a parody of the5&anderin! ;e"5 ;oyce set a fla"ed and endearin! human bein!;oyce devoted considerably detailed passa!es to the most banal andtaboo human activities+ !luttony, defecation, urination, dementia,masturbation, voyeurism, alcoholism, sado4masochism and coprophiliaand most of these depictions included the hero, Bloom

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(3) Character ana"ysis Bloom, >eopold 5Poldy5+ The prota!onist of ;oyces moc(4epic Bloom is a

5modern5 hero in contrast to the 'omeric Alysses Throu!hout the novel,

;oyce eposes Bloom, an ad4canvasser, as an outsider and as a ?hrist4li(efi!ure

Bloom, Molly .Marion T"eed/+ The "ife of >eopold Bloom "ho has an

affair "ith fello" sin!er, Bla#es Boylan

Boylan, Bla#es+ a -ublin sin!er "ho has se "ith Molly Bloom on the

afternoon of ;une 1, 190@

(*) Artistic featuresUlysses has become a prime eample of modernism in literature It is such

an uncommon novel that there arises the $uestion "hether it can be termed

as a 5novel5 allD for it seems to lac( almost all the essential $ualities of the

novel in a traditional sense+ there is virtually no story, no plot, almost no

action, and little characteri#ation in the usual sense The events of the day

seem to be trivial, insi!nificant, or even banal But belo" the surface of the

events, the natural flo" of mental reflections, the shiftin! moods and

impulses in the characters inner "orld are richly presented in an

unprecedentedly fran( and penetratin! "ay