Az angol nyelvû irodalom legkiemelkedõbb alakjai

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900): An Irish writer of plays, poetry and one novel, The picture of Dorian Gray(1891.) His most successful comedy play was Lady Windermere's fan. In 1895 he was sent to prison because of his homosexuality, which was illegal that time. He described his prison experience in the poem The ballad of reading Gaol. His most memoreable saying: 'I have nothing to declare but my genious.'

Bronte sisters: Charlotte (1816-1855), Emily (1818-1848), Anne (1820-1849). They spent most of their lives in Haworth, England. They began to write poetry and novels when they were young, creating imaginary world. They died before they best-known books, including Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Emily's Wuthering heights and Anne's Tenant of Wildfell Hall became famous.

Robert Browning (1812-1889): English poet. His early work was written to be performed in the theatre. In 1846 he secretly married Elizabeth Barrett and they went to live in Italy. Poems: Pied piper of Hamelin.

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): An English writer, best known for his children's books Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass. His real name was Charles Dodgson.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870): An English writer of novels who combined great writing with the ability to write popular stories full of interesting characters, such as Scrooge, Fagin and the Artful Dodger. Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A tale of two cities, Great expectations.

George Eliot (1819-1880) is the male name that the female English author Mary Ann Evans used on her books. Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928): An English writer of novels and poems. He was born in Dorset and set most of his stories here, calling it Wessex and its main town Casterbridge. The region is often called Hardy country. Many of his novels show how human life is often controlled by chanche, which can be very cruel. His books often have an unhappy ending. Far from the madding crowd, Jude the Obscure.

Algernon Swinburne (1837-1909): An English poet and critic. He was a very skilful writer, but his lack of respect for the Christian religion and the sexual themes in his poetry shocked many people. Tristram of Lyonese.

Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850-1894): A Scottish writer of novels. He is best known for his famous children's adventure stories Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and for the well-known adult psychologial novel The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide.

Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): An English poet known especcially for his long narrative poems (= ones that tell a story). In Memoriam was written after the sudden death of his close friend Arthur Hallam. Idillys of the King, The charge of the Light Brigade.

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863): An English writer best known for his long historical novel Vanity Fair. He was also a journalist, writing regularly for Punch magazine under many different names.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882): An English author of many novels mainly about middle-class society in Victorian England. His series of six novels set in the imaginary county of Baretshire are mainly about priests and other church officials connected with a cathedral, and include the novel Barchester Towers.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): One of the most popular of all English poets who started the romantic movement in English poetry. His poems are mainly about the beauty of nature and its relationship with all human beings. Many of them describe the countryside of the Lake district in north-west England, where he was born. Daffodils, Intimations of mortality, The prelude.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936): An English writer. He was born in India, where many of his books are set (e.g. The Jungle Book, Kim). Many of his poems are still very popular (If, Gunga, Din and Mandalay). The characters in his works are often soldiers in parts of the British Empire.

Mary Shelley (1797-1851): An English writer, best known as the author of Frankenstein.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): A Scottish author and poet. Most of his poetry and his historical novels are based in the traditions and history of Scotland, especially the border region. Poems: The lay of the last Minstrel, The lady of the lake. Novels: Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924): A British novelist who was born Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski in a part of Poland under Russian rule. Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo.

 

by Varró Zoltán