The Dawn of Modernism
The Modern Age in English Literature began in the early 20th century, following the Victorian Age.
A key characteristic of Modern Literature is its opposition to the Victorian attitudes towards life and its problems.
Early 20th-century youth viewed Victorian ideals as hypocritical, superficial, and outdated.
Rebellion and Change
Modern literature was shaped by mental attitudes, moral ideals, and spiritual values that opposed those of the Victorians.
Everything was questioned; nothing was considered certain.
Significant changes occurred in literary techniques, artistic standards, and aesthetic appreciation.
Victorian values were seen as outdated and ugly by the new generation.
Questioning Authority
Victorians accepted the authority of experts in religion, politics, literature, and family life without question.
20th-century minds challenged and questioned everything.
Bernard Shaw, a leading rebel, attacked both old religious superstitions and new scientific ones.
Shaw's creed was to question, examine, and test everything, challenging authority and expertise.
The Impermanence of Institutions
Victorians believed in the permanence of institutions like family life, the Constitution, the British Empire, and Christianity.
20th-century writers felt that nothing is fixed or final.
H.G. Wells spoke of the transient nature of the world.
Bernard Shaw and others promoted questioning the basic conceptions of religion and morality.
Reaction Against Self-Complacency
The modern mind was outraged by Victorian self-complacency.
Social and religious reformers initially raised this complaint, followed by writers.
The idiom, presentation, imagination, and rhythm of Victorian literature were seen as stale and lacking magic.
Literature needed renewal to revitalize itself and regain its freshness.
Disintegration of Values
Young people realized that material prosperity was essential for social standing.
Money became crucial for scholarship and gentility.
Industrial problems and social consciousness grew in importance.
20th-century writers studied Marx, Engels, Ruskin, and Morris, discussing societal reconstruction.
Decline of Home Life Sentiments
Sentiments for family life declined as financial independence grew.
Young people refused to submit to parental authority and found domestic life narrow.
Sex became more of an experience than a mystery, changing the dynamics of love.
Changing Literary Techniques
Modern writers could no longer write in the old manner.
They had to cultivate a fresh point of view and technique.
Scientific thought and mass education influenced the disintegration of old values.
Nature was seen as a blind, pitiless force, filling people with pity, despair, or stoicism.
The Machine Age
Machinery dominated every aspect of modern life, producing mixed responses.
Some found rhythm and beauty in mechanical power, while others lamented the materialism it brought.
Scientific advancements brought freedom and enslavement, efficiency and embarrassment.
The modern man lived by the clock, reflecting this in literature.
New Reading Public
The State educated a large number of poor-class people, creating a new reading public.
Publishers met their demand with cheaply reprinted classics and anthologies.
New readers, detached from old ideals, demanded literature that suited the new atmosphere.
Modern writers found power and income in appealing to these readers, sometimes exploiting their susceptibilities.
Lack of Common Ground
Modern writers and readers lacked a common outlook, unlike during the Victorian period.
Authors showed different approaches: lamenting old values, despairing of the future, or suggesting primitivism.
Some focused on sentiment, style, or diction to recover lost values.
Unique Nature of Modern Literature
Modern literature is unique, fascinating, and difficult to evaluate due to its uncoordinated efforts.
It is full of adventures and experiments peculiar to the modern age.
Although it started as a reaction against Victorianism, it is closely tied to the new ideas agitating the modern mind.
