2. English Literature
Great Britain gave the world a lot of talented people. Many
famous writers and poets were born and lived in Great
Britain.
3. William
Shakespeare
One of the best known
English playwrights was
William Shakespeare. He
draws ideas for his
tragedies and comedies
from the history of England
and ancient Rome.
4. William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare wrote 37
plays which may be divided into:
comedies (Midsummer Night’s
Dream), tragedies ( Hamlet,
Othello, King Lear, Macbeth) and
historical plays (Richard II, Henry
V, Julius Caesar, Antony and
Cleopatra). Besides he wrote a
lot of poetry, which is translated
into many languages.
5. Robert Burns
Robert Burns represents
the generation of
Romantic writers. In his
poems he described with
love and understanding
the simple life he knew.
He wrote many poems
about his native Scotland.
6. Robert Burns
Burns is dear to all people
because he loved
freedom and wanted all
people to live in peace
and friendship. Among
his well-known poems
are Halloween, The Jolly
Beggars, To a Mouse.
7. George Gordon Lord
Byron.
His free-spirited life style
combined with his rare poetic gift
makes him one of the most
famous figures of the Romantic
Era. His famous works such as The
Prisoner of Chillon, Childe Harold’s
Pilgrimage drew readers into the
passion, humors and conviction of
a poet whose life and work truly
embodied the Romantic spirit.
Byron wrote many poems, one of
which was devoted to Ukrainian
hetman Mazepa. His last work was
a novel “Don Yuan”.
8. Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling is
famous for his wonderful
poems and tales,
children’s stories about
animals and some books
on history. In 1907
Kipling was awarded the
Nobel prize for literature.
His famous poem is “Six
Serving Men”.
9. Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens is one of the
greatest novelists in the English
literature. In his books he showed a
real world and people of Victorian
England. Charles Dickens worked at
the blacking factory 10 hours a day,
he hated it and never forgot the
experience. He used it in many
novels “David Copperfield” and
“Oliver Twist”. “The Pickwick
Papers” was his first great work
which made him popular.
10. Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte is a famous English
writer too. She was born in a poor
family. There were 6 children in it.
After the death of Charlotte’s mother
the four eldest girls were sent to
Cowan Bridge school, which Charlotte
described as Lowood in “Jane Eyre”
which made her famous. Its poor
conditions caused the deaths of Maria
and Elizabeth and damaged
Charlotte’s health. Later she set up
her own school at Haworth with Emily.
Her four published novels, which are
in part autobiographical, are still
widely read today.
11. Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott can be rightly called
the creator of historical poems. He
wrote 25 novels. Besides, he was the
author of numerous stories, poems,
articles, essays, biographies. The
historical novels cover a period from
the Middle Ages up to the 18th
century. The central heroes of Scott’s
novels are young men of valour. They
are usually of noble birth. Scott’s
historical characters as king Louis
(“Quentin Durward”), King Richard
(“Ivanhoe”) , Cromwell (“Woodstock”)
are depicted with great vividness and
depth.
12. Daniel Defoe
The image of an enterprising
Englishman of the 18th century
was created by Daniel Defoe in
his famous novel “Robinson
Crusoe”. This book was one of
the forerunners of the English
18th century realistic novel. The
principal problem - influence of
society on man’s nature – stands
in the centre of all these novels.
He glories human labour which is
a source of pride and happiness.
