Lytton strachey was born into an eminent intellectual family, and his mother, one of his sisters and a sisterinlaw were active in promoting womens suffrage and other feminist causes. Lytton strachey quotes author of eminent victorians. I touched upon this a little bit in my last blog post, when i wrote about his use of satire to criticize those poor laws, but i thought it would be interesting for. It ushered in the modern biography and raised the genre to the level of high literary art. T he strand, which so greatly delighted charles lamb, and which, in a letter to wordsworth, he described as having as many charms for him as had the tinted hills. In fact, lytton strachey is best known for his ironic attitude towards the subjects of his biographical studies. Twenty years ago, a friend of mine, steve swanson, recommended lytton stracheys eminent victorians as a classic in the field of biography and a delightful read as well. The strand, london streets and thoroughfares, victorian era 18371901, victorian history, queen victoria, fashion, sports, culture and social history of the victorian era 18371901. Stracheys biased descriptions of the eminent victorians exerted a lasting influence on the subsequent perceptions of the victorian era. Chatto had published it at the price of 106 equivalent. Strachey s impressionistic portraits occasionally led to inaccuracy, since he selected the facts he liked and had little use for politics or religion.
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Eminent victorians lytton strachey by laurenkohl issuu. Cardinal manning florence nightingale thomas arnold general gordon lytton strachey s biographical essays on four eminent victorians dropped a depthcharge on victorian england when the book was published in 1918. Biographical portrayals in stracheys eminent victorians. The biographer lytton strachey belonged to the bloomsbury group. Stracheys targets of irony were evangelicalism, liberalism, humanitarianism, education and imperialism.
In contrast, he wrote short, pithy, artful biographies that told the truth about the subjects as strachey understood it. One should rather read lytton stracheys eminent victorians if one is interested to gain an insight into how strachey dismounts with relish victorian heroes and values. Eminent victorians by strachey, lytton and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. It replaced reverence with skepticism and strachey s wit, iconoclasm, and narrative skill liberated the biographical enterprise. It replaced reverence with skepticism and stracheys wit, iconoclasm, and narrative skill liberated the biographical enterprise. Jun 17, 2009 eminent victorians, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. My motivation to read this book has been generated from my interest in the bloomsbury group, which the eccentric lytton strachey 1880 1933 was a prominent member of. Eminent victorians is a groundbreaking work of biography that raised the genre to the level of high art. Strachey published this in 1918, just after the end of wwi. All of these works were published much more recently than eminent victorians, and it says something about the power of stracheys writing that his versions of people has survived, even as his work is read less and less frequently. Aug 27, 2007 instead of using the conventional method of detailed chronological narration, lytton strachey carefully selected his tact to present eminent victorians.
Eminent victorians by lytton strachey preface the history of the victorian age will never be written. The author chooses four notable personalities henry manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and charles george gordon and uses their lives to illuminate the broader history of victorian england. Cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold and. Iconoclastic in all their efforts, the bloomsbury writers did an interesting thing regarding biography. A genrechanging work of biography eminent victorians marked an epoch in the art of biography. What effect do you think his background and associations may have had on his. With the publication of eminent victorians, lytton strachey set out to breathe life into the victorian era for future generations to read.
Eminent victorians, first published in and consisting of. It is a strange way of loving the son to slight the mother. Victorian era enlightenment by francesca vaccari on prezi. In eminent victorians 1918, lytton strachey examined the lives of four famous english individuals from the victorian era and found that they were not quite what previous biographies and popular legend had made them out to be. Strachey was educated in private schools and by tutors until. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey 9781604597479. Strachey s portraits of cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and eminent victorians, collection of short biographical sketches by lytton. He inaugurated the new era of biographical writing at the close of world war i.
Lytton strachey approached his subjects with scepticism rather than reverence, and. It replaced reverence with scepticism and strachey s wit, iconoclasm, and narrative skill liberated the biographical enterprise. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey consists of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. Lytton strachey, an english biographer, critic and essayist, is best known for his ironic attitude towards the subject of his biographical studies. But his sense of form and his witty, ironic style inspired a host of imitators who were eager to reduce historical figures to life size. Lytton strachey carefully selected his tact to present eminent victorians. Eminent victorians, collection of short biographical sketches by lytton strachey, published in 1918 strachey s portraits of cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and general charles chinese gordon revolutionized english biography. A founding member of the bloomsbury group and author of eminent victorians, he is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit. Landmarks in french literature lytton strachey 18 downloads. Drawing on the victorians is a singularly diverse and multinational collection, a fine critical embodiment of the palimpsest trope that stands at its conceptual core. The strand, london streets and thoroughfares victorian. By portraying his eminent victorians as multifaceted, flawed human beings rather than idols, and by informing public knowledge with private information, strachey ushered in a new era of biography.
We are very grateful to you all for your patronage and support over the years. For ignorance is the first requisite of the historianignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the. Biographical portrayals in stracheys eminent victorians and. The four in question were cardinal manning, the leader of englands roman catholic community. I read most of the book at an emergency clinic, where i was stuck for almost twelve hours without food or drink. In conclusion, the victorian era consisted of writers who combined romanticism with morality and also realism most works and authors are still studied and relavent today although a time of tremendous upheaval, writers still created influential pieces authors linked with this. In it, strachey cleverly exposes the selfseeking ambitions of cardinal manning and the manipulative, neurotic florence nightingale. Cardinal manning florence nightingale thomas arnold general gordon lytton stracheys biographical essays on four eminent victorians dropped a depthcharge on victorian england when the book was published in 1918.
Apr 24, 2011 almost a century after its publication, lytton stracheys eminent victorians remains a landmark work in the field of biography. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till then been regarded as heroes and heroine. It replaced reverence with scepticism and stracheys wit, iconoclasm, and narrative skill liberated the biographical enterprise. Ive owned a copy for nearly that long, but only now have come to make my way through it, and i find that everything steve said about the book is true.
The poor laws during the victorian era literary london. Strachey, in eminent victorians reflects on the character of infamous historical heroine florence nightingale to cast the past lives of ordinary citizens, primarily women, as unsatisfactory and unfulfilling, and through this negative depiction of victorian england, the author is able to uphold perceptions of the 20th century, through contrast, as a period of female liberation. What effect do you think his background and associations may have had on his assessments of nightingales views and character. Giles lytton strachey 1880 1932 has written an extremely unconventional collection of biographical sketches, in. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey full text free. Strachey went on to publish queen victoria in 1921, elizabeth and essex in 1928. His portraits of cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and general gordon changed perceptions. The main thing, as he saw it, was that eminent victorians was discussed all over, from the prime minister downwards. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey librarything. Jul 03, 20 eminent victorians lytton strachey download here. His biography queen victoria 1921 was awarded the james tait black memorial prize. Up until that point, as strachey remarked in the preface, victorian biographies had been as familiar as the cortege of the undertaker, and wear the same air of slow, funereal barbarism. Lytton strachey as a biographer in eminent victorians. Stracheys portraits of cardinal manning, florence nightingale, thomas arnold, and general charles chinese gordon revolutionized english biography.
The saintly, selfsacrificing woman, the delicate maiden of high degree who threw aside the pleasures of a life of ease to succour the afflicted, the lady with the lamp, gliding through the horrors of the hospital at scutari, and consecrating with the radiance of her goodness the dying soldiers couchthe vision is familiar to all. His point of view was highly personal and some of his judgments have been described as exaggerated. Eminent victorians lytton strachey oxford university press. Florence nightingale in eminent victorians by lytton. A writers promise is like a tigers smile, it is probably always disastrous not to be a poet. Almost a century after its publication, lytton stracheys eminent victorians remains a landmark work in the field of biography. Everyone knows the popular conception of florence nightingale. Eminent victorians is a book by lytton strachey one of the older members of the bloomsbury group, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey 1918 not even past. Eminent victorians, collection of short biographical sketches by lytton strachey, published in 1918. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till.
Eminent victorians by strachey lytton, first edition. Lytton strachey was born on march 1, 1880, in clapham, london, the eleventh of thirteen children born to an uppermiddle class family. Lytton strachey s biographical essays on four eminent victorians dropped an explosive charge on victorian england when the book was published in 1918. Perhaps lytton strachey was the first to create the new biography, not wrapping his subjects in flowery adjectives as was the style of his times, but instead skewering them with sarcastic and scathingly funny written portraits. Lytton stracheys eminent victorians is both a new and modern form of biography, rebelling against the standards of his period, and a return to the moral emphasis and form of plutarchs lives. The university of adelaide library is proud to have contributed to the early movement of free ebooks and to have witnessed their popularity as they grew to become a regular fixture in study, research, and leisure. Eminent victorians, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era.
These deliberations suffice to signify that strachey is the greatest biographer of the victorian age. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had until then been regarded as heroes. A view of the victorians from eminent victorians a modernist perspective. The result, in eminent victorians, is a series of radical reinterpretations. Knoepflmachers opinion, joyce suggests that the text now reads as a more positive assessment of the past than it. Cardinal manning is presented as a scheming, ambitious man rather than a pious representative of god. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Who could ask for eminent victorians by lytton strachey more.
Jul 19, 2002 eminent victorians was strachey s counterassault. Publication date 1918 topics manning, henry edward, 18081892, nightingale, florence, 18201910, arnold, thomas, 17951842, gordon, charles george, 18331885. Ambivalent victorians in modern and postmodern perceptions. All of these works were published much more recently than eminent victorians, and it says something about the power of strachey s writing that his versions of people has survived, even as his work is read less and less frequently. Eminent victorians by lytton strachey eminent victorians is a book by lytton strachey one of the older members of the bloomsbury group, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era. Wikipedia eminent victorians is a book by lytton strachey one of the older members of the bloomsbury group, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the victorian era.
Jan 16, 2017 the main thing, as he saw it, was that eminent victorians was discussed all over, from the prime minister downwards. While reading oliver twist, the one thing that really stuck out to me was dickens criticisms of the poor laws of the victorian era. We would like to thank you for visiting our website. Strachey may 212, 2012 when bertrand russell read the book while in jail during the first world war he laughed so loud that he was admonished by his wardens that you were not supposed to have so much fun in jail. Lytton strachey, florence nightingale from eminent. Biographical portrayals in stracheys eminent victorians and keyness biography of isaac newton the bloomsbury notion of biography moved against what was the predominant norms of biography at the time. Strachey author of eminent victorians crossword clue.
555 1476 288 1083 740 174 213 1195 98 586 1512 1544 1039 902 1142 129 745 108 908 782 1659 118 977 1599 1360 577 1110 1055 195 742 345 766 873 1228 104 875 1132 558 393 1335 32 1447