English prose

English prose

The father of English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer, was the first one to write a work which started the era of English prose. His “Canterbury Tales” is a prose written in verse. It follows the travel of pilgrims to the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett, on their way they share 4 stories for a chance to get a free dinner. Chaucer was the first one to demonstrate the vividness of English language in written form.

During the Elizabethan period, The Humanists were on the rise, Humanists tried to break the gap between Ancient times and their own period. The prose works which had the most influence were those written by Sir Francis Bacon. Meanwhile, diaries started to be very popular, these documents recorded past actions and arrangements of an individual. Travel logs, on the other hand, were used among travelers, mainly captains of ships, who wrote about their experience during their journey. Next highly respected author was Jonathan Swift, who is known for his works which floated on the waves of satire. His best known work is “Gulliver’s Travels” but the satirical essay “A modest proposal” in which he recommends to sell orphans as food for rich gentlemen brought him attention.

The first English novel was written by Jane Austin and its name is “Pride and Prejudice“. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, morality, education, and marriage in the high society. Thanks to its popularity, up until now the book has had many adaptations thanks to its futuristic and catchy concept. During the reign of Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens emerged from nowhere, and started to deal with the problems of his age. Even though Charles was a man of high standards, in his work “Oliver Twist”, he attacks the injustice of social system and with grim realism depicts life of an orphan who struggles to satisfy his basic needs but eventually manages to live peacefully. Dickens still remains to be the most popular out of many English novelists. The Victorian age was also the prime time of Emily Bronte, who broke the ice with “Wuthering Heights”.

A story of two lovers who face many setbacks during their relationship. Destiny’s disfavor forces the couple to destroy their own families. The path to aestheticism is inlaid with the works of Oscar Wild, whose “Picture of Dorian Gray” was an ultimate success. The book tells of a man named Dorian Gray, who is painted by his close friend. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade away, hi sells his soul, so that the painting would age instead of him. This decision, leads him to terrible crimes. At the end of the day, Dorian destroys the painting and is found dead with his body suddenly aged.

The author of Edwardian era who, through his works challenged the ideals of Victorian era was John Galsworthy. Thanks to the work “The Forsyte Saga” he became a Nobel Prize winner. In this work his criticism towards Victorian authors becomes even stronger. Like previous authors, he deals with the life of upper-middle class. Surprisingly he highlights their snobbish ways, selfish attitudes and moral code. Thanks to his original view he became so popular. Unlike Galsworthy, David Lawrence focused on the devastating aspects of modern, industrial life on average people. In his novel “Women in Love”, Lawrence explores the life and living within an Industrial setting, which was his favorite theme. More so, he was a fan of short stories and poems, he was able to write more than 800 of them.

No one would ever think that such a horrible thing which war surely is could bring something positive. Ironically, it brought inspiration to Roald Dahl. Not only Roald was a spy and a war hero, he had no problems with writing stories for both children and grown-ups. To point out only few of them is very hard, but undoubtedly “Charlie and the chocolate factory” belongs among the best of his works. The story was inspired by Dahl’s passion for chocolate. His war life influenced him in his work named “The Gremlins”, in which mythical creatures and RAF join sides and fight against Hitler’s army. Dahl’s books were so popular, that number of them got a movie adaptation and the author also has his own encyclopedia.

One would think that the well of inspiration will once meet its bottom. Surprisingly George Orwell managed to get the best out of the world’s situation and the regime which threatened the safety of humanity. In his work “1984” he successfully predicts what could happen if a small group of people gained too much power over the society. The manipulation and brainwash would eventually destroy the soul of mankind, as it is said: Who masters the presence, masters the past. Thanks to this fulfilled prediction Orwell is thought to be the greatest author of the English prose.

English prose generally flourishes with originality, tradition and quality. As a literary fan I am only left to admire and praise its works. Hopefully, we still haven’t read everything, and the best is yet to come.