John Galsworthy essay

John Galsworthy (1867-1933), an English novelist and playwright, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1932. He has an important place in English realistic literature because of his objective descriptions of the society of his time. He was also deeply concerned with the social problems of his day.

Galsworthy’s best-known work is «The Forsyte Saga». It is a trilogy consisting of «The Man of Property» (1906), «rn Chancery» (1920), and «To Let» (1921). Around the main character of Soames Forsyte, Galsworthy pictured a declining upper middle-class society from the 1880’s to the years after World War I. He continued the story of the Forsyte family in a later trilogy, «A Modern Comedy», consisting of «The White Monkey» (1924), «The Silver Spoon» (1926), and «Swan Song» (1928).

In his records of the Forsytes, Galsworthy dealt with the conflict between idealism and love of worldly things. He also captured a sense of time’s pitiless passing and of an era’s inevitable decay.

Galsworthy’s plays brought a new sense of social responsibility to English drama. «The Silver Box» (1906) contrasts the law’s treatment of rich and poor people. His severe picture of solitary confinement in «Justice» (1910) led to prison reforms. The play «Loyalties» (1922) deals with social conduct and racial prejudice.

Galsworthy’s plays contain many effective scenes and simple, direct dialogue. They lack the poetic insights that are found in his novels, but they are meaningful and moving.

Galsworthy was born in Kingston Hill, Surrey. Galsworthy published his first novel in 1897.