The Edwardian Period. (1901 – 1910)

The first decade of the twentieth century (1901-1910) is called Edwardian Age due to the fact that King Edward VII reigned over England during this decade. Some historians, however, think that the literary trends of this age continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914; there are some others who think that those trends continued until the end of the First World War in 1918. Opinions about the end of this age vary because the literary features of this period did not have a sharp closing point in time.

The important facts which influenced the literature of this period are:

  1. The Edwardian Age covers a transitional time between Victorian stability and the impending holocaust of the First World War.
  2. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901.
  3. In 1902 the Second Boer War in South Africa split Britain into anti- and pro-war factions and the conflict eventually resulted in the power reduction of the parliamentarians. 
  4. “Women’s Social and Political Union” was founded in Manchester in 1903.
  5. “First Congress for Freudian Psychology” was held in Salzburg in 1908.
  6. The first transatlantic wireless signals were sent by Guglielmo Marconi.
  7. Pablo Picasso started “cubism” between 1907 and 1911.
  8. Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity in 1905.
  9. Ernest Rutherford published his book on radioactivity.
  10. The Wright Brothers invented the airplane engine and flew for the first time in 1908.
  11. The Old-Age Pensions Act was passed in 1908. It began as one of the foundations of modern social welfare.
  12. The Poor Law that was passed in 1834 had a serious effect on gender conditions.
  13. Although abortion was illegal, it was nevertheless the most widespread form of birth control in use.
  14. Irish National Theatre was founded in Dublin.
  15. The working classes were beginning to protest politically for a greater voice in government and the level of industrial unrest on economic issues was high in 1908.
  16. The first women in the world get to vote in Finland in 1906.
  17. British class system remained rigid.
  18. Rapid industrialization deeply affected the social norms; interest in socialism increased, better economic opportunities were demanded, the plight of the poor drew attention, and the status of women and their demand for the right to vote surfaced.

Major Writers of the Period and Their Major Works:

Henry James (1843-1916):
The Wings of the Dove (1902)
The Ambassadors (1903)
The Golden Bowl (1904)

Andrew Cecil Bradley (1851-1935):
* He is better known as A. C. Bradley, a famous critic of Shakespeare.
Shakespearean Tragedy (1904)
Oxford Lectures on Poetry (1909)

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950):
* He started writing at previous age. He is a modern
dramatist, famous for his ‘drama of ideas.
The Devil’s Disciple (1901)
Caesar and Cleopatra (1901)
The Philanderer (1902)
Man and Superman (1903)
Major Barbara (1905)

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924):
The Nigger of the Narcissus, published in the previous age in 1898
Lord Jim (1900)
Heart of Darkness (1902)
The End of the Tether (1902)
Typhoon (1903)
Nostromo (1904)
The Mirror of the Sea (1906)
The Secret Agent (1907)

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936):
Kim (1901)
Just So Stories (1902)
Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906)
Rewards and Fairies (1910)

John Millington Synge (1871-1909):
* He was an Irish dramatist.
In the Shadow of the Glen (1903)
Riders to the Sea (1904)
The Well of the Saints (1905)
The Playboy of the Western World (1907)
The Tinker’s Wedding (1907)
Deirdre of the Sorrows (1910)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936):
Heretics (1905)
Charles Dickens: A Critical Study (1906)
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (1908)
Orthodoxy (1908)

Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970):
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905)
A Room with a View (1908)
Howards End (1910)

Main Literary Features of the Age:

  1. The changes in the economy brought new-found wealth and new demands. Literature of the time reflects indulgence in cuisine, fashion, entertainment, and travels.
  2. Advances in science had a profound effect on life and literature. Automobiles, electricity, radio, film, etc. opened new possibilities for art and artists.
  3. The writers’ attitude to the voice of the authority is critical unlike the submissive attitude of the Victorian writers.
  4. The Victorian-style still continues,
  5. Women’s issues come to light in literary works,
  6. The poor find a Stronger voice in literature.
  7. Emphasis on moral conduct and Prudery declines,
  8. Greater awareness of human rights influences writings.
  9. The late Victorian decadents’ belief in “art for art’s sake” Continues. A sense of detachment alienates the serious artists from the general readers because of this belief. This resulted in a wide gap between serious works and Popular works.
  10. A mass reading public emerges as a consequence of the Education Act in 1870 for compulsory primary education, Consequently, Popular fiction was in great demand.
  11. Many authors turn away from their self-imposed duty of civilizing the world (the white man’s burden). These authors satirize Victorian values.
  12. The advance in psychoanalysis has a deep impact on the creative works of this period.
  13. The progress in comparative mythology has introduced the intelligentsia to the study of different belief ‘systems. It has affected writers’ faith in Christianity as the only correct faith.