Edwardian Era Literature and Cultural Shifts (1901-1912)

The Edwardian Period (1901–1912)

• Consolidation and expansion of the Industrial Revolution, growing geographically and technologically. More machines, new types like motorcars, steamships, and telephones.
• Consolidation of the British Empire.
• Emancipation of women/beginning of feminism: slogan "Votes for Women."
• A change of paradigm in science. Einstein proposed limits to speed and knowledge, contrasting with Newton's view of unlimited speed. The new paradigm suggested knowledge has limits.

Poetry in the Edwardian Period

• Traditional: Kipling.
• Innovation: Yeats and Synge.
• Radical innovation was being written in German.

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)

Kipling, born in Bombay, India, was an English short-story writer, novelist, and poet. His most popular works include The Jungle Book (1894) and Just So Stories (1902).

He worked as a journalist, assistant editor, and overseas correspondent from 1887–1889. His short stories and verses gained success in England after his return in 1889, where he was hailed as a literary heir to Dickens. Kipling's marriage was not happy in all respects. Notable works include Plain Tales from the Hills and Captains Courageous.

Drama in the Edwardian Period

Historical Context of English Drama

English drama history notes: 1580–1615 (no actresses); Restoration (1648): 1660–1700 (actresses introduced).

Drama in the Victorian Age (1837–1901)

• Poor performances of Shakespeare's plays.
• Imitations of Shakespeare's plays.
• Pantomimes (low-quality drama).
• Farces (appealed to a lower-class audience).
• Shakespeare was a playwright, a poet (sonnets and verse plays), and an actor.
• Victorian melodrama featured simple plots for low-class audiences, orchestral music, flat songs, and overacting characters.

Yeats's Ideas on Drama Reform

In Samhain (1903), a journal edited by Yeats, ideas about drama were presented. In the 1904 essay, "The Reform of Theatre," Yeats argued:

• Theatre should be a place of intellectual excitement.
• Words are the most important elements; actors are secondary to the text.
• Advocacy for simplification of acting.
• Simplification of the stage: simplification of form, colour, scenery, and costume.

Irish Literary Theatre

Founded in 1897 by Yeats, Lady Gregory, and Edward Martyn. It was renamed The Abbey Theatre in 1904. Directors included Yeats, Lady Gregory, and Synge.

Plays by Yeats

• Cathleen Ni Houlihan (1902)
• The Pot of Broth (1903)
• On Baile's Strand (1903)
• Deirdre
• The Golden Helmet

Plays by Synge

• The Shadow of the Glen (1902)
• Riders to the Sea (1902)
• The Well of the Saints (1905)
• The Tinker's Wedding (1906)
• The Playboy of the Western World (1907)
• Deirdre of the Sorrows (1909)