Let's begin with Charles Dickens and his masterpieces of which he wrote many including Hard Times , Great Expectations , A Christmas Carol , A Tale of two Cities , Pickwick Papers , Nicolas Nickleby , Oliver Twist and David Copperfield to name but a few . In order to understand his work one needs to know something about his time . The following videos should help you .
The Changing World of Dickens .
The Art of Dickens as seen in A Tale of Two Cities .
Behind the scenes of Oliver Twist Part 1
Behind the scenes of Oliver Twist Part 2
An extract from David Copperfield , the narrative of its hero's growth from childhood to early maturity which establishes the form and pattern of the bildungsroman in English literature .
Let us now take a look at the first modern man , the central figure in the Decadence movement of aesthetics, Oscar Wilde .
His life spread from 1854-1900 , however his influence and work lives on , is universal . As his nickname suggests he seemed to live before his time so that is why we understand him so well today . Watch the following film about his life and trial to get to know the character himself .
Having watched this film you must realise that Oscar Wilde was rather special , as many artists are . For more information about him and his works go to :
">Link http://www.online-literature.com/wilde/
To finish you should watch the first episode of another of Oscar Wilde's well known plays The Picture of Dorian Gray , you can view the rest of the play on You Tube , if you are interested .
The third character we suggested you find out about is that prolific writer , statesman and amateur painter Sir Winston Chuchill . Of course , you have all heard about his efforts to fight against Hitler and the Nazi take over during World War 2 . To hear more about it and to listen to the man himself try this site , The wireless-set No-19 . People didn't have television in those days but were usually tuned into a radio station . Churchill communicated live to the country this way . You will find broadcasts from 1934 to 1945 as well as extracts from his Memoirs .
http://www.royalsignals.org.uk/winston.htm
Surprising as it may seem this remarkable man also received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953 . He was , what we would call in English , a good all rounder . Log into this site for more details :
">Link http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1953/Index.html
Finally , if you want to see the man himself and discover what he looked like , watch this video which shows scenes of his working life , 1938 Chuchill speaking in Manchester , 1940 Churchill touring bombshelled London , Churchill in North Africa , in 1944 Churchill in Normandy with Montgomery ......
">Link http://nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/Index.php?id=353
Lord Byron is the last , but by far the least , of the four great men on your list . A second generation Romantic poet along with Shelley and Keats he lived a tumultuous and scandalous life , despising morals and revolting against authority and order . His poetry and other works denote his personal philosopy where revolt is mixed with nostalgia and lassitude . In 1822, a few years before he died , Byron wrote A Vision of Judgement in true satirical style fitting of Alexander Pope that 18th century satirist and parodist.
For more information log in to the following sites :
">Link http://www.online-literature.com/byron/
">Link http://englishhistory.net/byron/contents.html
I hope this is of use to you and that you find what you are looking for . Don't forget your years work will be based around the 100 years from 1850 to 1945 . You should find out about the politics , literary movements , social movements and so on to get a good overall view of the period . Don't forget things were changing , the society was developing ,men and women and their ideas were on the move . Enjoy and appreciate them at their true value !
