Tagged with Literature
Resource : Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft was a revolutionary writer who made a powerful case for educating and emancipating women. She is still regarded as one of the founders of modern British feminism.
Resource : Brontë little books
The Brontës – Charlotte (1816-1855), Emily (1818-1849) and Anne (1820-1849), are the most famous sisters in English Literature. Their insightful, dramatic and often subversive novels, published in the mid 1800s, provide a unique window into the social conditions of the time. With unforgettable characters like Jane Eyre and Heathcliff, and themes which are still highly relevant today, their stories have become classics and been adapted over and over again for stage and screen.
Resource : Cosette Sweeping
Cosette, is a central character in Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Misérables, an epic story with revolution at its very heart. First published in 1862, Hugo’s tale is one of the longest novels in history. It is widely considered to be a masterpiece and has been adapted countless times for stage and screen.
Resource : Phillis Wheatley, Poems on various subjects, religious and moral
Phillis Wheatley was a talented poet who acquired international renown and became the first black woman in both Britain and the USA to have a book published. Her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in 1773, the year in which she was manumitted from slavery and became free. Her personal circumstances did not improve with the change in status, and she died in poverty aged 31, but her revolutionary writing has endured.
Resource : Hannah More (1745 – 1833)
Hannah More (1745-1833) was a poet, playwright, anti-slavery campaigner and one of the most influential female philanthropists of the Age of Revolution. Seen by some as an early feminist, and others as an anti-feminist, she remains a controversial figure today.
Resource : William Godwin
The writer, William Godwin is perhaps not the most famous but was one of the most influential British radicals and political philosophers of the Age of Revolution. He was married to the revolutionary feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, and was the father of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. He established the Juvenile Library and had a powerful influence on the Romantic poets, including William Wordsworth and his son-in-law Percy Shelley.
Resource : Holy Willie’s Prayer
Robert Burns also known as Rabbie Burns and as ‘the Bard’ in Scotland, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the greatest Scottish poet and is celebrated each year in Scotland on Burns Night, with traditional suppers including haggis and whiskey, followed by readings of his poetry. His poems used humour and familiar subjects to express big ideas, making them instantly accessible to a wide range of people and are still popular today. Their subject matter, egalitarianism (stressing equality and ordinary people), and underpinning Romanticism left an important imprint that inspired many future reformers.
Resource : Tom Paine’s writing desk
Thomas Paine was a radical political philosopher and advocate of human rights. He was one of the most influential writers and activists of his time who heavily influenced the American and French revolutions.
Resource : Karl Marx’s headstone
Karl Marx is regarded by many as one of the greatest of political thinkers and one of the most influential voices of modern times. His famous work written with Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, was a call to arms to the oppressed of the world and forms the basis for the modern communist movement that exists today.
Resource : The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African
Olaudah Equiano was an African-born writer who documented his experiences of capture and enslavement, worked and travelled all over the British Atlantic world, and later became involved in the movement to abolish slavery. He was among the first and most effective black political activists within Britain’s African community. The recollections and arguments of people of African origin made a profound contribution to arguments for the abolition of the slave trade, adding urgency and authenticity to the work of fellow white campaigners.