Bloomsbury and Its Make-Up
Literature and Art were very important in the early 1900’s. Someone could always turn to a book or a painting to help them be more relaxed and feel more comfortable. One of the major groups of the early 1900’s that had both aspects of literature and art was the Bloomsbury group. This group was made up of a number of people, who shared similar interests and views. One of the more notable writers in the 1900’s, Virginia Woolf was a member of the Bloomsberries. Many of her novels have been heavily criticized and talked about throughout the years. Virginia Woolf as well as other members of the Bloomsbury group led very radical lives which led to radical art.
The history of the Bloomsbury Group, with a special emphasis on its association in art and literature, has been well told(Dowling 11). "The Bloomsbury Group, an informal coterie of writers, artists and critics who settled early this century in the district of that name in London, has long been in danger of suffocating beneath a slagheap of nostalgia"(Economist 102). They made Bloomsbury Square in London the center if activities from 1904 to W.W.II. This group included, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, E.M. Forster, V. Sackville-West, Roger Fry, Clive Bell, John Maynard Keynes and Vanessa Bell. Four of the members had gone to Cambridge in 1899 and they were
immediately taken by the intellectual air of the University as opposed to the sterility and boredom of other schools they had attended. Every Bloomsbury who attended Cambridge thrived there. "Body and spirit, reason and emotion, work and play, architecture and scenery, laughter and seriousness, life and art, these pairs which elsewhere contrasted were there fused into one" (http://www.feminista.com). Bloomsbury was always under fire. This is the common fate of all groups, coteries and cliques, particularly if they have sufficient liveliness to make a new contribution to the thought of their time.
Bloomsbury certainly has not been left out from the variations of aesthetic feeling and today its situation is similar to the Pre-Raphaelites forty years ago. "Bloomsbury however was unlike the Pre-Raphaelites in that it had been criticized from a bewilderingly large number of points of view" (Bell 10). The Bloomsbury Group has been
praised as a hothouse for writing talent. The founders main concern was to maintain that "magic quality" they had discovered at Cambridge. There was no formal membership list or leader or set of rules to follow.
The distinctive arches of Walton Bridge alone can be seen in many scenes and landscapes far from the Thames. Having studied architectural drafting at a young age, and later going on to become a professor of perspective at the Academy, it is unsurprising that Grand pieces of forgotten, taciturn architecture frequent many of Turners’ Landscapes. The timeless quality of Turners’ bridges often rest amongst temporary pastoral scenes, as ‘Walton Bridge’ does amongst the sheep shearers. Turner in this way juxtaposes the timeless and stable against the transient and fast passed life of the 19th century. The bridge further provides a common focal point in Turners work, standing as a poetic metaphysical symbol of timelessness and transience; providing a way through for the river and a way over for the pastors for as long as the bridge
Women of both the ages of Victorian and early Modernism were restricted from education at universities or the financial independence of professionalism. In both ages, women writers often rebelled against perceived female expectations as a result of their oppression. To lead a solitary life as a subservient wife and mother was not satisfactory for writers like Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Virginia Woolf. One of the most popular female poets of the Victorian era, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, illustrated "a woman's struggle to achieve artistic and economical independence in modern society" (Longman P.1858). Many Victorian critics were shocked by Barrett Browning's female rebellion, which was rare for the era. With her autobiographical epic poem, Aurora Leigh provoked critics who were "scandalized by its radical revision of Victorian ideals of femininity" (P.1859). In the age of Modernism, women were finally given the some rights to a higher education and professionalism i n 1928 (p.2175). However, female poets of early Modernism, such as Virginia Woolf, were raised in the Victorian age. Rebellion toward "Victorian sexual norms and gender roles" (P.2175) are reflected in Woolf's modern literary piece, such as The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection. Also echoed in the piece, is how Woolf "never lost the keen sense of anguish nor the self-doubt occasioned by the closed doors of the academy to women" (P.2445).
While a large portion of the public was appalled by the thought of independent young working women, they were also fascinated. Therefore, the attitudes of the public toward these women can be seen in the literature that was produced at that time. The works of Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser immediately come to mind as dramatizations of the life of women of this period.
During the 1920’s African Americans were thriving in their culture. African American literature, dance, and art all boomed in Harlem, New York. The Harlem Renaissance showed off the different cultures of the African American people. There were many different people of the arts, but the most well known is author and playwright Langston Hughes. He wrote funny poems, stories, essays, and poetry that really changed how artists were viewed. (The Harlem Renaissance As Told by Langston Hughes)(I, Too). Another black famous figure in the 1920’s was Louis Armstrong. He was an amazing trumpet p...
The Harlem Renaissance gave African American women new opportunities in literature. “The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War 1 and the middle of the 1930s.” (Wormser) It was a challenge for women poets during the Harlem Renaissance because they were both black and women. (Walton) Jessie Fauset, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Regina Anderson, and Nella Larson all played important roles in the Harlem Renaissance. (Lewis) These women inspired many generations of women to come. (Walton)
The 1920’s was a time of great change for both the country we live in as well as the goals and ambitions that were sought after by the average person. During this time, priorities shifted from family and religion to success and spontaneous living. The American dream, itself, changed into a self-centered and ongoing personal goal that was the leading priority in most people’s lives. This new age of carelessness and naivety encompasses much of what this earlier period is remembered for. In addition, this revolution transformed many of the great writers and authors of the time as well as their various works.
Before the 1920’s women had very few rights in politics, education, sports, and fashion. Suffragists fought for a long time against those who said they would never get what they want. In this essay we’ll also be connecting to The Great Gatsby to see how F. Scott Fitzgerald showed examples of the struggles women had went through when they were coming up in the world.
Parties, Prohibition, alcohol, and wealth are common aspects that come to mind when thinking about the Roaring 20s. The end of World War I brought about an aura of discovery and desire. Many women became more provocative in their clothing and makeup. These women were known by the term “Flappers.” Authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, began emerging during this time which was also known as “the Jazz Age” (“Roaring Twenties”). The Great Gatsby, considered as one of Fitzgerald’s most famous works, allowed him to portray not only aspects of the Jazz Age, but also the American Dream of many individuals during the 1920s.
In the early beginnings of this mysterious group many people believed that they were running the US government and that alleged members were Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. It is said that the society
A gender role in the time when British literature was being written was very important to the women history. Women were subservient to men in most of the British literature. Some literature women had a little more power than in others. When women were asked to do something by a man there was no way they could say no. the way women were treated then is the equivalent to a housewife now in the Twenty-First century. When a man told them to do something they had to do it. Throughout the literature women started desiring more respect and power. A very good example of a woman that overcame gender roles is Susan B. Anthony. She was born on February 15, in 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. Susan B. Anthony taught for fifteen years then she decided to be in the women’s rights movement. After that’s she was committed and devoted to be to omen suffrage. Susan B Anthony remained very active with anything that had anything to do with women until her death on March 13, 1906. Another example is Elizabeth Cady Stanton she was born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Throughout her life she stood behind women’s right with the Women’s rights movement as well as Susan B Anthony. She was the president of the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) for 20 years. She died a very respected and honorable woman on October 26, 1902. These women really changed the game for women back in the day. These women were very important representatives in the Women’s Rights Movement. They helped out a lot and put a lot of time throughout their life to make sure women got to where we are today. They were huge role models for women today. Although women had to fight for us to get rights, British literature consisted of women being subservient to men. I am go...
Virginia Woolf, one of the pioneers of modern feminism, found it appalling that throughout most of history, women did not have a voice. She observed that the patriarchal culture of the world at large made it impossible for a woman to create works of genius. Until recently, women were pigeonholed into roles they did not necessarily enjoy and had no way of
It was said that World War I would be the war to end all wars; unfortunately U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was wrong. In 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the global conflict, World War II, began. Fought from 1939 to 1945, World War II consisted of the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. The Axis Powers were led by Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Allied Powers were led by the United States, Britain, France, and several other countries. In total, over sixty million people were killed, making World War II the deadliest conflict in modern history. The intervention of the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought the end of the war 4 years later.
Feminism today remains prominent because even while women’s rights are very strong, women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few rights and they were seen as inferior to men. Anne lived among the puritans whom ruled her everyday life. Although it was against the puritan code for women to receive an education, Bradstreet’s father, Thomas Dudley, loved his daughter dearly and made sure that she was well educated which shows in her works. Anne Bradstreet’s literature became well known only because her family published her works under a male name. This was done because writing poetry was a serious offense to the puritans since poetry was considered creative and the only creating that was done was by God. In the works of Anne Bradstreet, she conveys a feminist attitude, and could very well be one of the first American Feminists.
...ionship dynamics exhibited in both the Wife’s prologue and in her knightly tale place male and female on equal footing; they are by turns equally despicable and commendable. As the Wife finds harmony with the one she loves and the hag provides a happy ending for both herself and for the knight, Chaucer seems to be presenting a balance between the masculine and the feminine: harmony is achieved through sacrifice on both parts. True love and a healthy relationship can never come about without this compromise, because both sexes desire control over the other. Something must be given up on each side. Chaucer implies that female triumph over a male’s control can still bring about a happy ending; as long as they think they’re on top, men will be content, and as long as they are given some semblance of power, women will happily devote themselves to the men they control.
At this point, Mary is sitting at the edge of a pond at “Oxbridge,” a fictional university meant to suggest a combination of the names Oxford and Cambridge, two major British Universities. Mary begins to think about the projected thesis statement, when she is interrupted by a beadle (security guard). He informed her that women are not allowed to sit in the area unless accompanied by a male student.