U-Z Essential 1700s and 1800s British Literature

Wordsworth, Tennyson, Shelley, and More…

Mar 21, 2009

Continuing the guide to the "musts" of the poetry, prose, and plays of eighteenth and nineteenth century British writers and their works...

Following the literary “dictionaries” of A-G and H-N, and picking-up from O-T Essential 1700s and 1800s British Literature, there are some writers and works which have either been historically influential or become embedded into the common consciousness. Working through the alphabet from U-Z, how many of these writers or works have influenced your thoughts?

U - Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This blank verse poem was written in 1833 and published in 1842. It is often used to demonstrate the form of poetic dramatic monologue, and it exhibits the Victorian interest in the classical world. It was written by Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), who wrote many remembered poems such as The Lady of Shalott (1832,1842) and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854).

V - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Vanity Fair (1847-1848) was an influential novel of the nineteenth century. Titled as “A Novel Without A Hero,” it famously includes the character of Becky SharpIt is the best known work of respected writer William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863).

W - William Wordsworth

Wordsworth (1770-1850) is one of the best known poets of the Romantic Movement, which emphasized nature and emotion over industry and science. His work The Prelude presents the idea of being nourished by and taught by nature rather than manmade constructions such as schools, factories, and cities.

First published in 1883, Treasure Island is an adventure novel about pirates, buried gold, and a treasure map marked with an “X.” The novel is known for its atmospheric action, wry commentary on morality, and the famously villainous character of Long John Silver. It also heavily influenced popular perception of pirates. The novel is the best known work of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).

W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist, who won the Noble Prize for literature. Although he is often considered a prominent figure of twentieth century literature, his verse was first published in 1889. Considered a “symbolist poet,” often alluding to imagery, unlike most modernists, Yeats used both free verse and traditional verse, influenced by many poets of the past.

Z - Zastrozzi by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Zastrozzi: A Romance (1810) is the first published work of Percy Shelley (1792-1822). It was written during his last year at Eton and the gothic novel exhibits some of the ideas which would later fill the works of Shelley.

Shelley is associated to many Romantic and Pre-Raphaelite poets including Lord Byron and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Through his second marriage to Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) he was related to her literary parents, William Godwin (1756-1836) and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792).

The copyright of the article U-Z Essential 1700s and 1800s British Literature in 18th & 19th Century British Fiction is owned by M.L. Costa. Permission to republish U-Z Essential 1700s and 1800s British Literature in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.