The Transition of English Literature from the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth Century: A Case Study of Bernard Shaw & H. G. Wells

Abstract

The sincerity of literature as an expression of life is normal, as long as it expresses the human soul which is affected by external life. This is something that humans cannot escape from or stand in isolation of, but the responses differ according to different human natures, and the way each person receives and interacts with influences, but they all in the end echo the external life. European life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the scene of violent intellectual movements, all of which tended to solve the social problems that had worsened at that time in human history, owing to the reaction of industrial progress in economy and society. It was natural for literature to enter the battle and be one of its effective weapons because writers could not be isolated in their ivory towers, far from the conflicting classes and the rapidly transforming situations, as if they did so, their readers would abandon them, in search of those who would talk about their pain and share their problems. Therefore, most of the literary productions of this time — all types of plays, novels, poetry, and essays — take social problems as their theme, and try in their own way to point out the means of treatment. Perhaps the most distinguished examples of this trend were Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells, whose production mainly depends on such topics. And if there are other writers and critics, we are just content with these two as they are sufficiently indicative in terms of providing an understanding of prospects and mechanism of the literature of that era.