Exploring England’sLiterary Heritage

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England has a longstanding literarytradition, beginning in the earlyMiddle Ages (with works such asBeowulf and Caedmon’s Hymn) andspanning the subsequent centuries. As a comparatively smallisland nation, England has given theworld countless authors, poets,and well-loved literary works thatare revered as classics and continueto inspire people the world over.Most notably, English writers left their mark on such artistic movementsas romanticism and social realismduring the Victorian era (named afterthe reigning English monarch, QueenVictoria). The literary movement hasnot stagnated since, but has moved fluidly into the modernism that grew out of Victorian romanticism and beyond, surviving two world wars andcontinuing to the present, as strongas ever.

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While English literature technicallyincludes all literary works written inthe English language, regardless of theauthor’s nationality or native language,this study will focus only on authors who were born in England and who helped foster and encourage the glorious literaryheritage of their homeland.

Though it is nearly an impossible task tohighlight a mere handful out of the manytalented and noteworthy writers, specialemphasis will be given to the Elizabethanera, the Regency era, and the Victorian era.Authors whose lives and works embody theideals and notions of their respective eraswill be examined, and locations of literaryimportance that can still be visited today willbe included.

To continue exploring England’s literary heritage, please read on.

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William Shakespeare

Jane Austen

The Brontës

Geoffrey Chaucer

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Jane Austen

The youngest of eight children, Jane Austenwas born on December 16, 1775, at SteventonRectory, in Hampshire, England. After a bout oftyphus, which nearly killed young Jane, she was educated at home. She expanded her horizons withbooks from the library of her father, a rector whoserved Anglican parishes. As a child, she wrotechiefly to amuse her family; but in 1811, she becamea published author when Sense and Sensibility wasreleased in October. It was a success, and she wenton to publish Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park,Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey.

Jane is a highly skilled satirist whose novels paintvivid portraits of the lives of the landed gentry of hertime. By using subtlety and wit, she examines themotives that urge people to act, making each of hernovels highly clever social commentaries. Though herdelightful, wicked sense of humor shines through, hernovels remain optimistic in tone, and each one boastsa well-deserved happy ending.

Though she penned six of the most beloved romancesin English literature, Jane herself never married.

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Chawton House was offered to Jane,her sister Cassandra, and their motherby Jane’s older brother, Edward, whoowned the surrounding property.It was a welcome turn of events for theAusten women, who were then able tolive quietly and within their means.Jane was able to devote the bulk of hertime to writing, and her mature writing was completed here.

Today it is a museum, and visitors areencouraged to stop by during normalhours of operation (which varyaccording to season and are listed ontheir website). The museum containsmany items of interest, such as theAusten family’s furniture, Jane’swriting table and jewelry, hermanuscript letters, and many of hermusic books (Jane was an avid pianist,and many of the books contain herhandwriting).

Chawton House

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Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House is an estate inDerbyshire, England, long thoughtto be the inspiration for Mr. Darcy’sancestral seat in Pride andPrejudice, Pemberley. In the novel,the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet,says she believes her feelings towardMr. Darcy began to change whenshe visited his home, and it’s nothard to understand why. The estateis beautifully preserved.

In actuality, Chatsworth House is theseat of the Duke of Devonshire, andhas belonged to his family (theCavendish family), since 1549. Visitorsare welcome during normal operationalhours, which are listed on the website.

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The Brontës

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Of the six children born to Rev. PatrickBrontë and his wife, only four survived toadulthood. Of the four (who were all artists),two are best known in the literary world –Charlotte, who wrote Jane Eyre, and Emily,who wrote Wuthering Heights. Both novelswere published in 1847, and although they each shocked Victorian society for differentreasons, they were largely successful and haveearned a well-deserved place among England’s finest literary works. Both sisters weaved social realism and gorgeous elements of poetry into their prose, creating a writing style uniquely their own.

The sisters lived a quiet life on the Yorkshire moors, a wild, tempestuous place in northernEngland. They were highly educated and had each served as governesses in addition to publishing poetry and their novels. Emily, whose health had always been delicate, never married and died at the age of thirty. Charlotte outlived all her siblings, and entered a happy marriage in 1854, but died one year later, at age thirty-nine.

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Haworth Parsonage

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Haworth Parsonage in West Yorkshire is where the Brontëfamily lived. No English literaryjourney would be completewithout visiting this house, where the sisters lived and worked on their legendary classics.

The parsonage is surrounded by rich, lush, expansive moorland. This atmosphere is essential tounderstanding the Brontë siblings’ wild, vivid imaginations,and the strong sense of nature that always found its way into their novels. How beautiful the moors are…and how vast. How exquisite it is…and how lonely. This sense of beauty and solitude had a profound impact on the Brontës’ art.

The parsonage is open to the public and contains many artifacts, including the family’s original furniture.

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Top Withens

Top Withens is a ruinedfarmhouse near the BrontëParsonage, within walkingdistance. It is said to be theinspiration for WutheringHeights, the home of theEarnshaw family in Emily’snovel of the same name.

The Brontë Society hasplaced a plaque outsidethe farmhouse walls, and thepath to Top Withens contains footpath signs, some of which are inJapanese as well asEnglish.

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William Shakespeare

Although his birthdate is unknown, WilliamShakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564.He was the third child of eight and the eldestsurviving son. He was educated in the classicsand Latin grammar. It is not known when exactlyhe began to write, but by 1592, his plays were onthe London stage, and he had received acclaim asa playwright.

The very name of Shakespeare is synonymous withliterary genius. It is hard to think of the man withoutimmediately thinking of his plays – the comedies, suchas A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado AboutNothing, and Twelfth Night; and the tragedies, such asHamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. In addition to being aplaywright, Shakespeare was a highly talented poet, andhis Sonnets (published in 1609) – all 154 of them – set thebar for all subsequent sonnets. It was in his sonnets, whichwere the last of his published works, that Wordsworthbelieved “Shakespeare unlocked his heart.”

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and was survived by his wife and their two daughters.

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Globe Theatre

Built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s theatre company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the Globe Theatre in London has always been associated with Shakespeare’s work. Although a fire destroyed it on June 29, 1613, it was restored. In 1997, a modern reconstruction of the theatre was built very near the original theatre, and it is still functional to this day. Audiences may gather for a historic literary experience like no other – watching the plays as Shakespeare himself would have seen them!

Special events – including educational and cultural events – are hosted by the Globe Theatre, in addition to their productions of Shakespeare’s plays. Details can be found at their website.

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Shakespeare’s BirthplaceOn Henley Street, in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, England, one can visit the sixteenth century half-timbered house in which William Shakespeare was born. Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker and wool dealer, and the house would have been considered substantial by sixteenth century standards, as it was designed to allow the elder Shakespeare to both live and work in the same dwelling.

Today is it a museum available to visitors and literature lovers around the world who wish to see out the home of one who was not only a brilliant playwright but an inspired poet.

To learn more about some of England’s other poets, please click on the names below.

Lord Byron John Keats

William Wordsworth

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John Keats

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Born on October 31, 1795, John Keats is one of England’s best-loved and most tragic poets. He was just twenty-five when he died of tuberculosis, leaving behind his fiancee, Fanny Brawne, and friends who mourned him deeply.

Despite the fact that he became a published author only four years before his death, Keats was an influential figure in England’s second movement of Romanticism. His poetry is exceptionally beautiful, as Keats painted vivid images with his words.

He is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome – at his request, in an unnamed grave which bears the inscription, “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”

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Keats House

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Located in Keats Grove, Hampstead, north London, the Keats House underwent restoration and re-opened on July 24, 2009. Keats’ immortal poem, “Ode to a Nightingale,” was written underneath a plum tree in this garden.

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Brompton Cemetery

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Many noteworthy Keats locations are not, in fact, in England. Keats himself is buried in Italy; the house where he spent his last days is in Rome; the Keats-Shelley Museum is likewise in Rome. The largest collections of his letters, manuscripts, and papers is at Harvard University.

But his beloved Fanny is buried at Brompton Cemetery, near Earl’s Court, in southwest London, and one feels certain that this is an important place for any Keats scholar. If Keats is buried in Italy, surely his heart is buried here.

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William WordsworthThe second of five children,

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770. He served as England’s Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850. He helped initiate Romanticism in England with the 1798 publication of Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth was hugely influenced by nature (as is evident in one of his most famous poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”) and spent many years living in England’s beautiful Lake District.

Wordsworth married his childhood friend Mary Hutchinson, and the two had five children. He also had a daughter, Caroline, from an earlier liaison with Annette Vallon, a woman he met whilst visiting France during the Revolution.

A case of pleurisy claimed his life on April 23, 1850, and Wordsworth is buried at St. Oswald’s church in Grasmere.

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Wordsworth House

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Wordsworth House is a Georgian townhome located in Cockermouth, Cumbria, England. It is the home wherein Wordsworth was born.

Cumbria was affected by flooding in November 2009, and Wordsworth House was one of the many historic houses in the area that were hit. Fortunately, many of the historical artifacts were moved to dry areas.

The house is open to the public from March to October.

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Dove Cottage

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Nestled in the heart of England’s picturesque Lake District is Dove Cottage, the house where Wordsworth lived with his sister, Dorothy, and his wife, Mary. The extensive, beautiful gardens surrounding the house were designed by Wordsworth himself.

The house is still owned by Wordsworth’s family, but certain rooms are open to the public, and all visitors are offered a guided tour.

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Resources

Wordsworth Trust

Keats House

Shakespeare Birthplace TrustBrontë Society

Globe Theatre

Chawton House

Chatsworth House

Jane Austen SocietyWordsworth House

London Library

British Museum

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Exploring England’s Literary Heritage

Intro Page One

Intro Page Two

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Jane Austen

Biography

Chawton House

Chatsworth House

The Brontës

Biography

BrontëParsonage

Top Withens

William Shakespeare

Biography

Globe Theatre

Shakespeare

Birthplace

Poetry

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John Keat

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Biography

Keats House

Brompton

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William

Wordswort

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Biography

Wordsworth House

Dove Cottage

Lord Byro

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Geoffrey Chaucer Resources

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