The Salient Feature of the Modern age.

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Name: Gohel Ankita Kishorbhai

Roll no: 12

Course: M.a Sem-3

Year:- 1216-17

Paper name: The Modernist literature

Professor’s name: Dr.Dilip Barad

Topic:  The Salient Feature of the modern age.

Submitted by: Department of English, M .K. Bhavnagar University.

                                                    

Introduction:- 

                     The litetature of modern   age is endless in subjects, infinite in forms, countless in thems, vast in topic, limitless in structure, and endless in types. To talk about  the  literary tendencies and characteristics  of the 20^th century is like the counting of the twinking stars, a never ending process. In the modern age, there “has been no dearth of poets and novelists, and dramatists who will stand the test of time and become a part of the immortal litetrary heritage of England.”

Mixture of Themes:

          Modern literature and in particularly modern poetry was written on almost all the subjects of the universes. The Modern Poet finds intspiration from railway trains, tramcars , telephone , and things of commonplance interest. We find literature on the themes of real life the world of religion mysticism and fairyland. The moods of the modern Poets are also diverse. The Modern poets do not belong to a single familiar album.

Variety in the field of poetry:

          We find  Arther  Symons  and  Oscar Wilde the realist poets, Rudyard Kipling and Wilfred Blunt the pessimist poets, Robert Bridges and W. B. Yeats, the transitional poets, John Masefield and John Drink Water the Georgian poets. Rupert Brook and kipling the soldier pets (Poetry of War 1914-1918), W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden the symbolist poets  and several other groups and the prominent poets in modern Age.

Diversity in the field of Prose:

          We find the eminent novelist like Dorothy Richardsin, Virginia Woolf James Joyce Graham Green, C. P. snow, George Orwell, Kingsley amis, George Moore, Samuel Butler, H. G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, J. B. Priestly, Somerset Maugham, Aldous Huxley, E. M. Foster, and the psychological novelist like D. h. Lawrence and several groups and the prominent novelist in Modern Age. The modern age is the age of novel. We also find the flow of Essay (E. V. Lucas), Biography, Autobiogtaphy, Literature of Travel (T. E. Lawrence), Historical Prose (H. A. Fisher), Scienitific Literature (H. G. Wells), and Pholosophical Literature (Bertrand Russell).

Variety in the field of Drama:

          We find the same zest and zeal in the in the field of drama in 20^th century as we find in the Elizabethan Age.  The prominent Writer who revived the comedy of manners in the 20^th century were G. B. Shaw and Oscar Wilde.

          We also find The dramatist of the Abbey Theatre like W. B. Yeats, J. M. synge and Sean O’cosey. There are  the dramatists of Historical drama  like John drink water and Edward Thomason  and the dramatist of Poetic Drama like Oscar Wilde, John Mansfield, W. B Yeats, T. S. Eliot Christopher Fry. We do have the dramatist of Expressionisic School and several other groups in Modern Age.

Ø THE SALIENT FEATURES OF THE  MODERN LITERATURE:

Humanitarian and Democratic Feeling:

          Modern Liteature is marked with a note of humanitarianism and democratic feeling. The modern dramatis, novelist, and the poets are interested in the life and the daily struggles of the people.

          Masfield, Gibson, Galsworthy are mainly interested in the common man and his sufferings. In their poetry there Is a note of sympathy. The modem poet is also interested in to treat everything sympathetically.

Realism:

          The realism is one of the most noteworthy characteristics of the 20^th century literature and in particular the poetry.

          The poetry of the 20^th century is marked with a note of realism. Realism in modern poetry was a reaction against the pseudo-romanticsm of the last century. Realism was there under the influence of science. The modern poet paints life with all its growth and ugliness. Robert Frost, W.W. Gibson, and John Masefieid are the poets of realism in modern poetry. The best expression of realism in modem poetry is found among the war poets.

Romantic Element in Modern Poetry:

          Inspite of the dominance of realism in modern poetry, the spirit of romance continues to wave the minds of ceatain poets like W.B. Yeats, john Masefleld, and Edward Thomas. Thround their work, we can feel that the spirit of romance is as old life itself.

Pessimistic Note in Modern Literature:

          Thre is a note of pessimism, disillusionment, distrust, disappointment, cynicism and disillusionment in modern literature and in particularly in the modern poetry.

          In modern literature, We find the pettiness of human life and the tragedy and suffering of the oppressed people. T.S.Eliot’s lines in THE HOLLOW Men are marked with a note of pessimism. “We are hollow men”

          The modern literature is bubbling with gloominess, despair, misery, desolation, hopelessness, anguish, depression, dejection, and hopelessness of the modern world.

Religion and Mysticism:

          The modern age is the age of science but even in his this scientific age we have poems written on the subject of religion and mysticism. Francis Thompson, Robert Graves, G.K. Chesterton, W.B.Yeats, and George Russell are the great poets whose poetry is burning with the flame of religion and mysticsm.

          Thompson’s   ‘Hounds of Heaven’ and ‘In strange Land’ are great poems of religion in modern poetry. In modern literature, we also find the supremacy of god and the feelings of religion.

The Treatment of love and Nature:

          Love is the subject of many modern lyrics and novels. Robert Bridges has produced fine sonnets of love in  The Growth of love. W.B.Yeats’s when you are old is a one of the most noteworthy love poems.

          In the poetry of John Masefied, We find a feeling of dejection in love.  The beauty of the beloved reminds John Masefield the decay of physical charms. His mind never seems to forget that.

                  

                   Death has a lodge in lips as cherry

                   Death has mansion in the yew  tree  berries.

Nature fascinates the modern port like the poets of the romatic age,

          The modern poetry is full of beautiful picture of birds, clouds, landscapes, sea and the countryside. Masefield and Robert Bridges are the great poets of Nature in modern poetry.

Psychological treatment in literature:

         

Some modern poets and novelists are interested in examining the inner working of the subconscious mind.

          Some of the poems of T.S.Eliot and Ezra pound are difficult to follow because of their psychological complexity and difficult imagery.

          In the same manner, The stream of consciousness novels  and the psychological novels of D. H. Lawrence are very difficult to understand because of their psychological treatment.

Longingness in Modern Literature:

          Longingness is at the root of modern literature. Modem poets express longingness of all kind in their poetry. Rupert Brooke’s Old vicarage is a cry of homesickness. John Masefield’s Seekers is the best example of the longing of man for God and the eternal city of light. The longingness is also evident in The Hollow men and The Waste Land of T. S. Eliot. The modern literature is an echo of the following lines of seekers.

Friend and lovers we have none, nor wealth nor                 blessed abode.

But the hope of the city of God at the other end of the road.

Not for us are content and quiet, and peace of mind

For we go seeking a city that we shall never find.

Conclusion:-

                  The literature of the modern age is shapeless but at the same very clear. It is true “criticism of modern life.”  As it is born out of the modern life the literature of the modern age is the reflection of modern life. It is realistic in tone.

         

         

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