Chaucer: Father of Eglish Literature

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – October 25, 1400)

Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat courtier, and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales.

Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars with being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin.

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Some like to criticize others

I just got a comment on my blog from someone who said that I do not write very well. And he said, for a student of art and literature, my writing seemed bad. Well, it was disheartening, as I am not a native English speaker and I am just taking writing classes....I never started this blog to prove any of my writing skills or English skills. I just wanted to post and save some good information about the Masters of the language and the art. Sometimes, when I might have to refer to something quickly but would not have time to search the whole web....so I thought when I have some free time, I can save information related to literature on my blog which might be helpful for me later...Anyhow, I just deleted the mean spirited comments and I request readers not to leave any mean spirited comments. This is not a blog where I am trying to prove anything. I am just learner and I welcome healthy criticism and not anything which will hurt my enthusiasm...People are not born as experts in any field. Only through effort, experience, passion, one can achieve their goal

George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish writer. He is more well known for his plays , he wrote more than sixty plays. Initially, he was considered a failure as his works were rejected. Due to a series of rejected works (1879- 1883), his literary earnings remained negligible[All of the five unsuccessful novels written between 1879 and 1883, at the start of his career eventually were published] . But he never gave up hope. He continued to strive and ultimately his situation improved in the year 1885, when he became able to support himself as an art and literary critic. His will power and his passion for literature did not forsake him and in fact he was honoured in the year 1925 when he won a Nobel Prize for his contribution to literature and an Oscar (1938) for Pygmalion. He was a strong advocate for socialism and women's rights and a harsh critic of formal education.

"Schools and schoolmasters, as we have them today, are not popular as places of education and teachers, but rather prisons and turnkeys in which children are kept to prevent them disturbing and chaperoning their parents."[ Taken from: Letter, August 7, 1919, to Thomas Demetrius O'Bolger. "Biographers' Blunders Corrected," Sixteen Self Sketches, Constable (1949)]

He was a vegetarian and teetotaller, Shaw died in 1950 at the age of 94.

What is English Literature?

The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, R. K. Narayan was India, V.S. Naipaul is Trinidadian. In other words, English literature is as diverse as the varieties and dialects of English spoken around the world. In academia, the term often labels departments and programmes practising English studies in secondary and tertiary educational systems.

Introduction to this blog

Being a major in English literature, I thought a blog containing information related art, literature, writers, etc would not only help me to save many important information pertaining to literature, but it would also help other students, people who have a passion for literature and people who are interested in art and literature.