The title of the book, Eminent Victorians, is itself ironic, and much of Strachey’s satire employs irony. Is Eminent Victorians a fictional work? Strachey demonstrated how easy it was, in the developing climate of cynicism at the end of the war, to replace … When he seized the moment, he was able to change the course of the Christian church—no small feat. In 1889, for example, 75,000 dock laborers went on strike in London, and won an improvement in their working conditions. Two notable examples of irony occur in the biography of George Gordon. An excellent summary of the pivotal role of Eminent Victorians in the development of biography as a genre. Eminent Victorians Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Arnold, General Gordon This edition was published in 1918 by Chatto & Windus in London. Authors such as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and G. K. Chesterton had already been critical of Victorian thought. Satire Late in her life she decided to correct the errors of contemporary Christianity, but Strachey makes it clear that Nightingale’s estimate of her own intelligence is seriously at odds with his own assessment of her. Throughout his account, Strachey contrasts the practical, scheming Manning with the more romantic, idealistic figure of Newman. Word Count: 243. Altick, Richard D., ‘‘Eminent Victorianism: What Lytton Strachey Hath Wrought,’’ in American Scholar, Vol. On May 9 1918, the book was published. Appearing in May, 1918, Strachey’s Eminent Victorians was received by a people tired of war, shocked at the appalling carnage, and, at least in the intellectual classes, cynical about the policies that had dragged Britain into a ruinous, four-year continental war. Manners are formal, and in social relations, outward appearances are considered vitally important. . Over three months later, total British casualties stood at 460,000, and the British had managed to advance just seven miles along a thirty-mile front. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. An analysis of Strachey’s introductory indictment of so-called official lives. The last decade of the nineteenth century has been called an era of imperialism. 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. Argues that Woolf erred in choosing Sidney Lee and Harold Nicolson as representative of the old and new styles, respectively; maintains that the “new style” was best exemplified by Strachey. By the close of it, Gordon's position had undergone a rapid and terrible change. For a thesis titled "A study of the viewpoints of the eminent principals & teachers about powerful schools with the purpose of presenting a... What is Laytton Strachey's estimate of Dr. Arnold personality in Emminent Victorians. Eminent Victorians begins with one of the best Prefaces ever written. Argues that a preoccupation with aesthetic form obscured Strachey’s concern for accurate biographical representation. Discusses the various influences on Strachey’s writing. _______. He belonged to that class of eminent ecclesiastics—and it is by no means a small class—who have been distinguished less for saintliness and learning than for practical ability. As Altick points out, he was not the first to do so. Provides a full description of Strachey’s four exercise books of notes and drafts, which are now in the British Library. And yet, his ability to make change does not stem from his Christ-like aspects, but from his tenacity, his incisive use of authority, and his aggressive demeanor. Chronicles Strachey’s struggles as a gay and neurasthenic writer to defy Victorian ideology and create new forms of art and identity. Coinciding with the labor troubles, Britain was rapidly losing ground to its industrial competitors, primarily Germany and the United States. Two notable examples of irony occur in the biography of George Gordon. 1920s: The years after World War I produce a reaction against Victorian prudery. World War I and Its Aftermath 164–211. Strachey uses satire to present his view of Manning as a man of worldly ambition. For example, according to Strachey, Manning was attracted to the Oxford Movement not because of the truth of its religious ideas but because it elevated the clergyman to a higher status: The cleric was not as his lay brethren; he was a creature apart, chosen by Divine will and sanctified by Divine mysteries. This is a survey of Strachey’s development as a writer in relation to his life. Lytton Strachey: The New Biography. If not, which essay in the book is least accurate? Another reason for the decrease in churchgoing is that the churches adopt unpopular positions on social issues such as divorce and the desirability of allowing public entertainment on Sundays. In fact, he seems at times to resemble Christ not at all. Sanders, Charles Richard, Lytton Strachey: His Mind and Art, Yale University Press, 1957, pp. Do not waste your money on this disrespectful edition. GradeSaver, 5 December 2019 Web. Eminent Victorians essays are academic essays for citation. “Eminent Victorians.” British Museum Quarterly (Spring, 1968): 93-96. For Britain, this was a time of both progress and unrest at home, and imperial expansion abroad. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating ... at the critical moment, with a … These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. Word Count: 1192. Already a member? Powell, John. A poll conducted in 2000 shows that under a million people (less than two percent of the population) attend regular Sunday services. Attitudes on sex and the human body are prudish. EMINENT VICTORIANS by Lytton Strachey Preface THE history of the Victorian Age will never be written; ... at the critical moment, with a spirit more excitable and daring than his own. Eminent Victorians/The End of General Gordon. More than a quarter of the world’s landmass is under British rule, including India, Canada, Australia, South Africa, portions of east and west Africa, Ceylon, Malaya, Hong Kong, Singapore, and (at the end of the Victorian age) Egypt and the Sudan. 1800s: Britain’s Industrial Revolution leads the world, and the British Empire continues to expand. But Strachey undermines this by suggesting that something may have been discussed at a meeting between Manning and the pope three years earlier. Read the Study Guide for Eminent Victorians…, Florence Nightingale in 'Eminent Victorians': A Study of Characteristics and Meaning, View Wikipedia Entries for Eminent Victorians…. He describes her thoughts: She would rectify these errors. Eminent Victorians Criticism Lytton Strachey This Study Guide consists of approximately 62 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Eminent Victorians. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. Instead, it is a member of the European Union, and its nineteenth century role as the world’s superpower has passed to the United States. Monk, Ray. Dress becomes less formal. Dress is formal and elaborate; the body is completely covered. Eminent Victorians/Cardinal Manning. 1800s: In England, churchgoing amongst the middle and upper classes is high, and functions as a sign of status. There was a depression in agriculture, trade was fluctuating, unemployment was high, and there were many industrial disputes. “Official Lives: Lytton Strachey, the Queen’s Cabinet, and the Eminence of Aesthetics.” Nineteenth Century Prose 22, no. ———, Lytton Strachey: The New Biography, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995. 382–96. After his conversion, Manning was at the bottom of the ecclesiastical ladder, which might imply that he was motivated to convert by genuine religious beliefs, not worldly ambition. In contrast to Victorian prudery, sex is openly discussed, and in a consumer society sex is used in advertising messages to sell everything from cars to cigarettes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1966. As a result, Britain drew closer to France, its old enemy, and the battle lines of World War I began to take shape. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 read together with the various land laws has entrenched the right to ownership of property. 172, January 7, 1944, pp. Gender roles are more flexible, and women pursue careers in professions formerly the exclusive preserve of men. When the war finally ended in November, 1918, the British casualties numbered 750,000 dead and nearly 1,750,000 wounded. 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. within limits; that is to say, in the toleration of those with whom he agreed.’’. 1920s and 1930s: Churchgoing declines overall, with the exception of Roman Catholics. Florence Nightingale in 'Eminent Victorians': A Study of Characteristics and Meaning; The Conflict in Wuthering Heights He had made his first real impact on the literary world with Eminent Victorians (1918), in which he presented Unlike the large families favored by their Victorian ancestors, the British family is typically small, and power is often divided more equally between husband and wife. Eminent Victorians was meant to reverse the polarity of life-writing. 1 (April, 2007): 1-40. Eminent Victorians is a book by Lytton Strachey, first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the Victorian era. A Critical Analysis of Florence Nightingale: The present text is a part of the famous book Eminent Victorians (1918) written by Lytton Strachey. Start your 48-hour free trial and unlock all the summaries, Q&A, and analyses you need to get better grades now. Simpson, F. A., ‘‘Methods of Biography,’’ in Spectator, Vol. Strachey takes a similar dig at the cultural intolerance and cruelty of the West when he concludes his biography with a reference to the battle of Omdurman in the Sudan, thirteen years after the fall of Khartoum and the death of Gordon: ‘‘At any rate it had all ended very happily—in a glorious slaughter of twenty thousand Arabs, a vast addition to the British Empire, and a step in the Peerage for Sir Evelyn Baring.’’ It hardly needs to be pointed out that for Strachey there was clearly nothing happy or glorious about this event. Whittemore, Reed, ‘‘Biography and Literature,’’ in the Sewanee Review, Vol. ©2021 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Almost everything about Manning is satirized: his active early life as a country clergyman (‘‘he was an excellent judge of horseflesh’’) his diary entries recording his struggles with the terrible temptations of ambition; his earnest reading of the Church Fathers to assuage his religious doubts; and the obsessive care with which, in old age, he pored over his papers that recorded the ‘‘vanished incidents of a remote past’’: ‘‘He would snip with scissors the pages of ancient journals, and with delicate ecclesiastical fingers drop unknown mysteries into the flames.’’. Women’s rights are severely limited. Provides a rich historical context for understanding the development of Eminent Victorians, including information regarding negotiations with Strachey’s publisher. The implication is that this puzzled look gives the lie to Arnold’s bold self-confidence about all matters. Women, like men, can go hiking in shorts, for example, and bathing suits for both sexes are briefer. 64, No. Gordon arrived in China in time to ‘‘witness the destruction of the Summer Palace at Peking—the act by which Lord Elgin, in the name of European civilisation, took vengeance upon the barbarism of the East.’’ It is clear that in this context, ‘‘civilisation’’ and ‘‘barbarism’’ are reversed in their meanings. Kaplan, Justin, ‘‘A Culture of Biography,’’ in The Literary Biography: Problems and Solutions, edited by Dale Salwak, University of Iowa Press, 1996, p. 7. Eminent Victorians essays are academic essays for citation. Essays for Eminent Victorians. The first and fuller version of this biography, published in 1968, contains more literary criticism. The decline is partly due to the increasing availability of social diversions, such as the cinema, opportunities for participating in and watching sports, and the increase in the number of popular newspapers, magazines, and books. Florence Nightingale in 'Eminent Victorians': A Study of Characteristics and Meaning; The Conflict in Wuthering Heights Not affiliated with Harvard College. Florence Nightingale in 'Eminent Victorians': A Study of Characteristics and Meaning; The Conflict in Wuthering Heights An editor Innuendo this section. Rather, he felt a strong opinion and acted decisively, and in the end was proven correct. Why is Lytton Strachey, author of Eminent Victorians, called a partial biographer? Britain remained the foremost power in shipbuilding, but Germany led in chemicals, and the United States in the electrical industry. The book shows its other … In 1917, British losses at Passchendaele reached 300,000 in a three-month battle. Irony “This Fictitious Life: Virginia Woolf on Biography and Reality.” Philosophy and Literature 31, no. The critical fortnight during which these events took place was the first fortnight of March. Before answering what this book "does," so to speak, perhaps it would be more advantageous to observe directly what the book "is." 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. Over the following six years, there were strikes involving gas workers, railway porters, brick-makers, boot and shoe makers, colliers and iron workers, and others. These reforms were passed during the second administration of prime minister William Ewart Gladstone, one of the greatest statesmen of the age, whose elusive character Strachey tracks in Eminent Victorians. By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, Britain was increasingly concerned about the rapid rise of German power, particularly the German Navy, which threatened Britain’s long-held maritime supremacy. Taddeo, Julie Anne. In London, prostitution flourishes. It was a relief to find, when one had supposed that one was nothing but a clergyman, that one might, after all, be something else—one might be a priest. From 1884 to 1885, the structure of Britain’s modern parliamentary democracy took shape. Holroyd, Michael, Lytton Strachey and the Bloomsbury Group, Penguin, 1971, pp. The readers of Eminent Victorians (1918), emerging wearily from a war brought about largely, so they thought, by the bungling and blundering of their fathers and grandfathers, were perfectly content, as Edel says, “to overlook [Strachey’s] mannerisms, his inaccuracies, his wantonly imagined details. As one Guardian review puts it, “ Eminent Victorians would transform the art of biography, but it did not do so by force of content or integrity of method …. Satire is the use of wit and humor to ridicule or show scorn of a subject. Eminent Victorians essays are academic essays for citation. Stratford, Jenny. Working class families, for the most part, do not go to church. 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. Whittemore compares biographical or other works by Virginia Woolf, Sigmund Freud, Strachey, Patricia O’Toole, and Joanna L. Stratton, and shows the structural trends in the genre of biography. . Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. This right is however not absolute following the encapsulation of the doctrine of eminent domain under the Constitution of The result is a foregone conclusion: ‘‘there was a hovering, a swoop, and then the quick beak and the relentless talons did their work.’’, In ‘‘Florence Nightingale,’’ Strachey uses animal imagery. Iyengar, K. R. Srinivasa, Lytton Strachey: A Critical Study, Kennikat Press, 1967, pp. Britain in the Late Victorian Era Innuendo is an indirect suggestion, often used to imply something harmful or unpleasant. Britain focused on acquiring territory in Africa, in which it competed with the other imperial European powers, primarily Germany and France. Fascism and Nazism will soon rise in Italy and Germany, respectively. Iyengar surveys Strachey’s work, praises his clarity of discernment and artistic sense, and regards him as an example for modern biographers to follow. Communism reigns in Russia. In 1920, women in Britain gain the right to vote. Hurrell Froude, ... analysis of his reflections, and to describe, under the mystic 1920s: The First World War ends in 1918. . “Eminent Victorianism: What Lytton Strachey Hath Wrought.” American Scholar 64, no. Strachey also uses subtle innuendo in his hints that Gordon may have been a drunkard and a homosexual. Florence Nightingale in 'Eminent Victorians': A Study of Characteristics and Meaning; The Conflict in Wuthering Heights A crisis in the Balkans in the summer of 1914 precipitated the sudden and rapid descent into a general European war. The Ever Victorious Army, recruited from the riff-raff of Shanghai, was an ill-disciplined, ill-organised body of about three thousand men, constantly on the verge of mutiny, supporting itself on plunder, and, at the slightest provocation, melting into thin air. Inexplicably, this (ironically named) Good Press edition omits the entire Preface. The reviews were almost uniformly enthusiastic. 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