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Culture of Georgian period
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The establishment of the constitutional monarchy. The Industrial Revolution. The beginning of the novel: D. Defoe, J. Swift, J. Austen (the first greatest female novelist). Romanticism in literature: R. Burns, G. Byron, P.B. Shelly; the Lakists: W. Blake, W. Wordsworth, S. Coleridge; sentimental novel: S. Richardson, L. Stern, H. Fielding, O. Goldsmith. Neo-Classicism in architecture and painting: J. Nash, W. Hoggarth. The Royal Academy of Arts: J. Reynolds, J. Constable, J. Turner. Music: F. Handel. Drama and opera: G. Lillo, J.Gay, D.Garrick. Free press: the Tatler, the Spectator.
Questions
1. What cultural institution was founded by George III?
2. What was the main aesthetic movement of the period?
3. What formed the ground for the flourishing of arts?
2. What do you know about the King’s residences of that time?
3. What were the forms of romanticism and the romantic spirit?
4. Why are the novels by D. Defoe still popular?
5. Why is J. Swift called a great satirist?
6.What are the chief themes in Burns’ poetry?
7. Are Blake’s poems easy to understand? Why?
8. Why do scholars consider Wordsworth to be the most important English romantic poet?
9. What kind of character is known as “the Byron’s hero”?
10. What was the most successful opera of that time?
11. What do you know about drama of Georgian period?
12. What do you know about the development of the press of that time?
Tartan
Tartan is a traditional woollen cloth from Scotland that has patterns of squares and lines woven in various colours. Patterns depended originally on dyes available from local plats, so each area developed each own tartan. Tartans were not at first associated with a particular clan. From the late XVIII c., Scottish regiments wore different tartans as an identifying feature, and the design of an individual tartan for each clan followed soon afterwards. The most famous tartans include “Black Watch”, the tartan of the Royal Highland Regiment, which is black and dark green, and “Royal Stuart”, the mainly red tartan of the royal family.
Scotsmen may wear a kilt (a man’s skirt with pleats that reaches to the knees) and sometimes a plaid (a cloak), or simply a tie, in their clan’s tartan. Few Scots wear tartan as part of their ordinary clothing. Men wear kilts when taking part in Scottish dancing displays or to formal occasions such as weddings.
Women’s kilts, skirts and dresses, as well as scarves, bags, travelling rugs, and many other articles, are made in tartan patterns. Goods sold to tourists, such as tins of shortbread biscuits, are decorated with tartan patterns to indicate their origin.
Victorian Age
The appearance of the term “Realism”. The leading role of a novel: Ch. Dickens, W. Thackeray, G. Eliot, Bronte sisters. Poetry: R. Browning, E. Browning, A. Tennyson. Drama: B. Show, O. Wilde. Music: E. Elgar, F. Delius, R.V. Williams. The birth of the Cinema. Painting: Pre-Raphaelites – H. Hunt, D.G. Rossetti, J.E. Millais. Architecture: Gothic revival and the revival of crafts.
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Questions
1. Why did Queen Victoria personify the spirit of the 19th c. England?
2. What was the shift in the ideas and values?
3. What did England’s world power grow out of?
4. How did the middle class change?
5. Why was literature at that time important?
6. What was Tennyson’s most characteristic form of poetry?
7. What kind of people did Thackeray ridicule in his novels?
8. Why can’t Dickens be regarded only as an entertainer?
9. What was special about drama of the time?
10. Was music popular?
11. Why were the painters called Pre-Raphaelites?
12. Tell about the architecture of the Victorian period.
Golf
Golf was developed in Scotland in the XV c. but is now played all around the world. The aim of golf is to hit a small ball from a tee (a flat area of grass) into a hole on a green, which may be up to 550 metres away, using as few shots (hits) as possible. Most golf courses consist of 18 holes.
Golf began as a sport of the upper classes and in Britain it continues to attract mainly people in business and the professions. The game is quite expensive to play and membership of the most popular golf clubs may cost a lot of money. The most famous British clubs include the Royal and Ancient at St Andrew’s, where the first official rules of golf were agreed in 1754, Muirfield and Wentworth.
There are four important international competitions for professional golfers, known as the majors, three of them held in the US. The British Open is regarded as the world’s top golf tournament. Amateur events include the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup.
Many people who do not play golf enjoy a game of crazy golf in a local park. The idea is to hit a golf ball round a small grass and concrete course of nine holes, through tunnels, over bridges, round small ponds, etc.
The culture of the first half of XX c.
The contrast between Victorian and modern ages. Aesthetic movement and Symbolism. Poetry – W. Yeats. Literature – J. Conrad. The expansion of genre and style: R. Kipling, H. Wells; modernism: K. Mansfield. Lost generation: J. Joyce, W. Wolf, T. Eliot. Fantasy: D.R. Tolkien. Music: H. Wood and the beginning of the Promenade Concerts; opera of M. Tippett; film music of W. Walton. Architecture: neoclassicism - R. Bloomfield; art nouveau – Ch.R. Mackintosh. Painting: neo-realism, cubism, fauvism, surrealism.
Questions
1. In what cultural sphere can we see the contrast between Victorian era and the XX c.?
2. What can you tell about the expansion of genre and style?
3. What literary movement did Yeats lead?
4. Why is World War I considered a marker in arts?
5. What is typical for British music of that time?
6. What was aestheticism and symbolism?
7. What is fauvism and surrealism?
Newspapers
In Britain the newspaper industry is often called Fleet Street, the name of the Street in central London where many newspapers used to have their offices. Britain has two kinds of national newspaper: the quality papers and the tabloids. The qualities were also called the broadsheets because they were printed on large pages, but are now often in tabloid size which is half the size of a broadsheet. They report national and international news and are serious in tone. They have editorials which comment on important issues and reflect the political views of the paper’s editor. They also contain financial and sports news, features (articles), obituaries (life histories of famous people who have just died), listings of television and radio programmes, theatre and cinema shows, a crossword, comic strips, advertisements and the weather forecast.
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The main quality dailies are The Times and the Daily Telegraph, which support the political right, The Guardian which is on the political left, The Independent and The Financial Times. People choose a paper that reflects their own political opinion. Sunday papers include The Sunday Times, The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. The Sunday and Saturday editions of papers have more pages than the dailies, supplements ( extra sections) or, for example, motoring and the arts, and a colour magazine.
The tabloids report news in less depth. They concentrate on human-interest stories (stories about people), and often discuss the personal lives of famous people. People who disapprove of the tabloids call them the gutter press. The most popular are The Sun, The Mirror The Express and The Daily Mail. The News of the World, a Sunday tabloid, sells more copies than any other newspaper in Britain.
There are also local papers, many of which are weeklies (published once a week). They contain news of local events and sport, carry advertisements for local businesses, and give details of houses, cars and other items for sale. Some are paid for by the advertisements they contain and are delivered free to people’s homes.
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