Anton Chekhov

Literature / Writers Datebook: January 29 

A brief biography of the life and works of Anton Chekhov, Russian short story writer and playwright, one of Russia's great authors, a writer for ordinary people.

 

 

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a 19^th century Russian author, short story writer and playwright. He was one of the most popular and great Russian writers. Known as a 'moral compass', his plays and short stories are known for their realistic examination of the lives of ordinary Russians at the end of the 19^th century. His most famous plays include: Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, the Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. 

 

Early Life

Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, a small port in southern Russia. When he was 15, son of an unsuccessful shopkeeper, his father went bankrupt, and the family left for Moscow to avoid paying debts. Chekhov stayed behind to finish school but was deeply affected by the separation.

 

Career as a Writer

When he was 19, Chekhov joined his family in Moscow. He studied medicine at Moscow University. While studying medicine, he also began writing stories, and by the time he became a doctor, he had published hundreds of them. His first book, Motley Stories, was successful enough to inspire him further to pursue writing as a profession. At 28, he began to be taken seriously as a writer, and he was awarded a literary prize. Four years later he became the physician for a poor area outside Moscow. While there he wrote some of his best short stories. From the proceeds of his writing he was able to purchase a modest home in the area and worked hard to improve conditions fro the people living there.

Later Years

Chekhov suffered from tuberculosis for some time, and by his late 30s he had to move to the warmer climate at Yalta in the Crimea, in southern Russia. There he wrote his most famous plays: Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. He was elected fellow of the Moscow Academy of Science, but resigned when his fellow-member, Maxim Gorky, was dismissed by the tsar's order. 

In all his work Chekhov created dramatic tension through mood and setting rather than action or dramatic events. His works were never openly political, but they have been seen as critical of life under the Russian monarchy, or the tzars. 

Legacy

Chekhov died aged 44. He was a writer for the masses, and his primary concern was for the people and their hopes and dreams.  

 

Works by Anton Chekhov

Melpomene 1884

Motley Stories  1886

The Bear  1888

Ivanov  1888

The Wood Demon  1889

Sakhalin Island  1893-94

The Seagull  1896

Uncle Vanya  1897

The Three Sisters  1901

The Cherry Orchard  1903

 

Photo Credit:

Anton Chekhov.  NNDB.com / Public Domain

 

Resources:

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby (1993)

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring (1994)

Anton Chekhov. en.wikipedia.org 

(c) January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Mozart Family Grand Tour

All journeys of the Mozart family between 1762 and 1773 were organised by Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang's father.  Mozart went on 17 European tours in his lifetime and spent 10 years, 2 months and 2 days travelling. He reached the age of 35 years, 10 months and 9 days. 

The Mozart family grand tour was a journey through western Europe, undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna (Nannerl) and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour Nannerl was 11 and Wolfgang was seven years old. Their extraordinary skills had been demonstrated during a visit to Vienna in 1762, when they had played before the Empress Maria Theresa at the Imperial Court. Sensing the social and pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip in the capitals and main cultural centres of Europe, Leopold obtained an extended leave of absence from his post as deputy Kapellmeister (meaning: leader of music-making in orchestra, choir and chapel) to the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg. Throughout the subsequent tour, the children's Wunderkind status was confirmed as their precocious performances consistently amazed and gratified their audiences.


The Mozart family's tour itinerary.

The tour started via Munich and Frankfurt, to Brussels and then on to Paris where they stayed for five months. They then departed for London, where during a stay of more than a year Wolfgang made the acquaintance of some of the leading musicians of the day, heard much music, and composed his first symphonies. The family then moved on to the Netherlands, where the schedule of performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, although Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. The homeward phase incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland, before the family's return to Salzburg in November 1766.

The material rewards of the tour, though reportedly substantial, did not transform the family's lifestyle, and Leopold continued in the Prince-Archbishop's service. However, the journey enabled the children to experience to the full the cosmopolitan musical world, and gave them an outstanding education. In Wolfgang's case this continued through further journeys in the following six years, prior to his appointment by the Prince-Archbishop as a court musician.


Mozart in Prague. 

Considering that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited Prague only four times, he left a significant impression on the city and the Praguers. On his first trip, in early 1787, he visited Count Thun and his wife, whom he knew from Vienna. They lived in what is now the British Embassy in Malá Strana. Mozart stayed at an inn on Celetná Street. During this trip he conducted his Prague Symphony and a day later, on January 20, a performance of his opera The Marriage of Figaro, which had a more successful run in Prague than in Vienna.

His second trip is the most famous. The maestro came to visit composer F. X. Dusek (František Xaver Dušek, Duschek or Dussek) and his new wife, opera singer Josephine, toward the end of 1787 at their rural villa Bertramka, although he also kept rooms at an inn at Uhelný trída. After several missed deadlines, he conducted the world premiere of Don Giovanni on October 29 at Stavovské divadlo. He tried out a number of church organs in his spare time.

His third visit was just a pass-through, but the fourth and final trip came just months before he died in 1791. He promised to write a new opera to mark the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia. Unfortunately, La Clemenza di Tito, which premiered at the Stavovske divadlo on September 6, was written quickly and was not as well received as Don Giovanni. Once news of his death on December 5 reached Prague, his friends staged a memorial service that ended with church bells ringing all over town.

Interesting reading:

Music review: Tracing Mozart in Prague, Escaping from Viennese Politics. By Bernard Holland. The New York Times. Accessed January 27, 2009.


Overall,  Mozart travelled through the following countries of today : Belgium, Germany, England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia and Czech Republic.


Image Credit:

Map of Mozart Family Grant Tour. Permission to copy under Creative Commons Attribution / DGFL.


Resources:

Mozart Family Grand Tour. en.wikipedia.org.  Accessed Januaray 27, 2009.

Mozart in Prague.  New York Times Archive. Accessed January 27, 2009.




(c) January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.  

Edith Wharton

Literature / Writers Datebook: January 24

 


Brief biography and works of American novelist and short-story writer, Edith Wharton, considered one of America's master novelists. Pulitzer Prize winner for The Age of Innocence (1921).

 

 Edith Wharton was an American novelist and short story writer famous for novels The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, and Ethan Frome. All three novels have been made into films. Wharton was one of the first women to receive an honorary degree from Yale University.  

Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937)  was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray realistically the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her novel The Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996. Among her other well known works are The House of Mirth, the novella Ethan Frome, and several notable ghost stories.

She became a lifelong friend of American novelist Henry James, who she met when she moved to France in 1910. Her best works satirized New York's class structures, in particular the clash of old wealthy families of the 'nouveau riche', who had made their fortunes in more recent years.

 

Early Life

Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones, on January 24, 1862 into New York's aristocratic and rich, upper-class society, the daughter of George Frederic and Lucretia Jones. The little girl received instruction on how to be a proper young lady. Her creativity started early as a child where she began making up stories, writing  poems and a novella in her teens, something not encouraged among the wealthy  in her days. She never attended formal schooling, but received her education from a governess, and the books she borrowed from her father's extensive library. Her education, however, was not deemed as important as finding a suitable husband. Little, if any, did she do more writing during the first years of her marriage, at age 23, to wealthy Edward Wharton, a Boston banker ten years her senior. Edith Jones became Edith Wharton when she married Robbins Wharton, a Boston banker, in 1885. Ten years her senior, Robbins Wharton proved to be stuffy, and possessed of an intellect which could not match Edith's own. The couple divorced in 1913 after 28 years of marriage.

Writing and the Novelist

Following a nervous breakdown when she was 32, Wharton was advised that writing might be therapeutic and help her recover. Although Edith had written a novella as a teenager, she did not publish her first book until she was 35 years old. Three years later she published a non-fiction book (co-authored with her friend Ogden Codman, Jr) for architects and home decorators, The Decoration of Houses, that launched her writing career. Wharton had hired Codman to redecorate her summer home, and found that they shared a passion for simplicity in architecture and home furnishings. Both disliked the heavy, dark style that prevailed during the period, and decided to write a book on their ideas. The book remains a must read for architects and decorators. 

Her first novel, Valley of Decision (1902), was published when she was 40, but The House of Mirth was her first successful novel, that launched her writing career and established her into a serious author. It is the story of a beautiful but poor young woman trying to survive in New York City.  Later, her 1920 novel The Age of Innocence earned her a Pulitzer Prize in 1921, the first fiction to be given to a woman.  By 1907, Edith Wharton had settled in France, where she first met her lifelong friend and mentor, Henry James. She spent her time in Europe writing steadily, entertaining friends, gardening, and visiting with important writers, politicians, and great thinkers.


Involvement in World War I

During World War I, Edith Wharton emerged herself in relief work. She wrote reports for American newspapers, organized and ran war charities, established refugee shelters and convalescent homes, and distributed medical supplies at the front. Using her skills as a writer, she detailed what she saw around her in a series of essays, through which she urged the United States to support France. For her efforts, Edith Wharton was one of the first women to receive the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Final Years and Legacy

In 1923, Edith Wharton made her last voyage to the United States to receive an honorary degree from Yale, the first of such degrees to be given to a woman. Seven years later, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Edith Wharton died on August 11, 1937 after suffering several strokes. Her grave lies in Paris, under a tombstone which reads Ave Crux Spes Unica, meaning "Hail, Cross, the one hope."

At the time of her death, Edith Wharton had published 44 books, including novels, non-fiction works, and her autobiography.

 
Notable Works by Edith Wharton

Valley of Decision, 1902

The House of Mirth, 1905

Tales of Men and Ghosts, 1910

Ethan Frome, 1911

The Custom of the Country, 1913

The Marne, 1918

The Age of Innocence, 1920

Old New York, 1924

The Mother's Recompense, 1925

Twilight Sleep, 1927

The World Over, 1936

 

Photo Credit:

Edith Wharton. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain.  (Photograph of writer Edith Wharton, taken by E. F. Cooper, at Newport, Rhode Island. Cabinet photograph. Courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University.)

 

Resources:

Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers (2002)

Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse (1994)  

Edith Wharton. en.wikipedia.org

 

(c)  January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

John Donne

Literature / Writers Datebook: January 22

 

Brief biography and works of John Donne, England's metaphysical poet, lawyer and priest, famous for the phrase 'No Man Is an island.'  

 

 

 

John Donne was the leading figure of a group of 17^th-century English writers who are known as the Metaphysical Poets. He is best known for his Sermons, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions and Death's Duel.  

 

Early Life of John Donne

John Donne (b. January 22, 1572 - d. March 31, 1631), born and died in London, United Kingdom. He came from a prosperous Roman Catholic family, his father an ironmonger and his mother, the daughter of dramatist John Heywood.   He was educated at Oxford University, even though Roman Catholics were usually banned from attending classes. At 19, he returned to London to study Law. In his 20s Donne took part in military expeditions to Spain and the Azores, that time, England and Spain were in a state of almost constant war in the 16^th century. Donne seemed set to enjoy a successful career as a diplomat until he secretly married Ann Moore, a minor at 17, and the niece of a powerful aristocrat for whom he was employed. The aristocrat had him thrown into jail for a while. This ended his ambitions for a career in politics.

The Poet

Donne wrote poetry all his life. In his 20s and 30s, he wrote some of his famous lyric poems, including the collections Satires and Songs and Sonnets. His first Anniversarie did not appear until he was 39. Very little of Donne's work appeared in print during his lifetime and most of his other poetry was not published until after his death. His poems were widely read and admired among aristocratic and literary circles.  

Donne's famous poem "No Man Is an Island" is about the connection between all of humankind. He essentially argues that people need each other and are better together than they are in isolation, because every individual is one piece of the greater whole that is humanity itself.  

 

No Man Is an Island

 By John Donne

No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent, 
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were.
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

Donne's Style and Themes

Though his style has the same organic development, Donne's verse is divided into the love poetry of his youth and the religious poetry of his older years. The love poetry is energetic, passionate with intellectual rhetorics. Physically urgent and erotic, Donne was the first writer to use 'sex' in its present sense. On the other hand, as a devotional poet, his verse is less arresting in terms of style and less sure of direction. This has been interpreted as a spiritual struggle, that in order to achieve faith, one has to conquer doubt.

Later Life

In 1615 Donne converted to the Anglican faith and became a priest. Later, he became chaplain to the king and, in 1621, head of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He died c. 59 years old, on March 31, 1631.

As a writer of religious prose, Donne is best known for his Sermons, more than 150 of them published after his death. One well-known phrase and image is "No man is an island," which appears in his book Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. His style had influence on younger poets.

Works by John Donne

Progress of the Soul, 1601

Anniversarie (parts 1 and 2), 1611-1612

Holy Sonnets, 1618

Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 1624

Death's Duel, 1631

(Published After His Death):

Biathanatos, 1644

Satires, (date unknown)

Songs and sonnets (date unknown)

Divine Poems (date unknown)  

 

Photo Credit:

John Donne. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain. 

 

Resources:

"No Man Is an Island". All Poetry.  Accessed January 22, 2024.

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby. CUP, Cambridge, 1993

Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una Mcgovern, Chambers Harrap, Edinburgh,  2002

 Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse, 1994

 

(c) January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Lord Byron

 Literature / Writer's Datebook: January 22

 

Brief biography of Lord Byron, English poet, leading figure in Romanticism, famous for his epic Don Juan and short poem "She Walks in Beauty."

 

Lord Byron was a leading poet of the 19^th-century English Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the narrative poems "Don Juan" and "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". "Don Juan" remained incomplete on his death.

His daughter Ada Lovelace, notable in her own right, collaborated with Charles Babbage on the analytical engine, predecessor to modern computers.  

Early Life of Lord Byron

Byron was born George Gordon Noel Byron in London on January 22, 1788. He was the son of Captain John "Mad Jack" Byron and his second wife, the former Catherine Gordon, heiress of Gight in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

When he was three, his father died, after spending his mother's fortune so Byron and his mother experienced difficulties. But at the age 10, he inherited the family title, a great uncle's title and estates. He attended the prestigious Harrow School and Cambridge University.

The Poet and Early Poems

His first published poems, "Hours of Idleness", appeared when he was 19, but it was not well accepted. Two years later, he followed it with English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, a satirical piece that attacked the major literary figures of the time. It was also this time that he began a two-year grand tour of southern Europe to Turkey, that lead to his inspired long poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". 

British Romantic poet and satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe. Although made famous by the autobiographical poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–18)—and his many love affairs—he is perhaps better known today for the satiric realism of Don Juan (1819–24).

There are two classic poems written by Lord Byron. The first is "She Walks in Beauty Like the Night" where the poet tells about a beautiful woman. The second poem, "There is Pleasure in the Pathless Woods" tells of the beauty of exploring different places, as well as the desire for solitude. (Explore the idea!)

About his poem, "There is Pleasure in the Pathless Woods", as humans, we are  are social creatures, yet we desire for solitude and for silence. Perhaps this is why paintings, music, and photographs of the natural world are so common and so popular. Likewise, the Romantic poet Lord Byron in his fourth canto of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, included what has become known as ‘There is Pleasure in the Pathless Woods’, the one hundred-and-seventy-eighth verse of the much larger poem that reflects a strong desire for peace, quiet, and solitude.

 Controversial Life

Lord Byron's fame rests not only in his writings but also in his life, which featured extravagant living, numerous love affairs, and allegations of incest and sodomy. At 26, he married Annabella Milbanke, but soon left him, shocked by the finding out of his affair with his half-sister Augusta. This scandal made Byron leave England for Italy.

He had new love conquests in Italy as well, but this time he wrote his witty poem, Don Juan, about a man's adventures with women. Don Juan is considered his masterpiece.     

Support on Italian and Greek Freedom 

Lord Byron travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

Later in life, Byron began his strong support on Italian and Greek freedom from foreign control. He joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero.

He also served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization the Carbonari in its struggle against Austria. He later traveled to fight against the Turks in the Greek War of Independence, for which the Greeks consider him a national hero. 

He died from fever in Missolonghi on April 19, 1824

Legacy

Byron wrote prolifically. In 1833 his publisher, John Murray, released the complete works in 17 octavo volumes. His magnum opus, Don Juan, a poem spanning 17 cantos, ranks as one of the most important long poems published in England since Milton's Paradise Lost.  

The Byronic hero pervades much of Byron's work. Scholars have traced the literary history of the Byronic hero from Milton, and many authors, composers and artists of the Romantic Movement show Byron's influence during the 19^th century and beyond. Today, many international Byron Societies exist reflecting fascination for his work.

 

Resources:

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993

Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2002

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring. New York: Larousse, 1994

 

(c) January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.  

Edgar Allan Poe

Literature / Writers Datebook: January 19

 

Brief biography of American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, best known for his eerie poems and The Murders in the Rue Morgue story.He's also famous for his short poes "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee".

 

A pioneer of crime and mystery writing, Edgar Allan Poe was an influential 19^th-century American horror writer. He is famous for his spooky stories including his famous tale “The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and poetry, including the best known “The Raven”.  

Early Turbulent Life of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of his  parents died before he was three years old, and he was adopted by a wealthy tobacco merchant from Richmond, Virginia.  Poe never felt settled in his new family, and his bad behavior brought him conflict with his adopted father, who also disapproved of him spending more time writing poetry than studying.

In 1827 Poe left the Univeristy of Virginia, where he had got into gambling debts. Four years later, he was expelled from West Point Military Academy. His adopted father had enough and disowned him. Poe had to live with an aunt in Baltimore.

Poe’s Literary Success

Venturing as a poet, short story writer and as literary critic, at the age of 24, Poe experienced his first literary success when his short story “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” won a cash prize. He began working for magazines, but his unpredictable behavior and heavy drinking often got him into trouble. He was fired from work. The stories and poem he produced, however, began to make him famous and were published in the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque when he was 31 years old.

In the same year, Poe went to work for Graham’s Magazine, which published his famous story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” It became so popular that many scholars called it the world’s first modern detective story. About this time, he also got married to Virginia Clemm, a 13 year old cousin, and wrote prolifically. 

Poe’s Obsession with the Supernatural and Death

Edgar Allan Poe was obsessed with the elements of fear and death, and the supernatural. His works depicted much of these elements, and Poe became the pioneer of the modern genre of horror, crime and mystery writing.  His poem “The Raven” became very popular.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Last Years and Literary Legacy

After his wife died of tuberculosis, Poe’s depression got worse and he drank heavily. He died at the young age of 40, on October 7, 1849.  His poetry and short stories have influenced many future crime and horror writers.Poe was influenced by: Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Thomas De Quincey. Dostoevsky acknowledged his own debt to Poe and Baudelaire produced French translations of Poe’s works. Although he became famous for stories of bleakness, he also wrote of poetry’s purity in such famous poems as “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.”         

Works by Edgar Allan Poe

Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827

Poems, 1831

“Manuscript Found in a Bottle”, 1833

“The Fall of the House of User”, 1839

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, 1840

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, 1841

“The Gold Bug”, 1843

The Raven and Other Poems, 1845

“The Pit and the Pendulum”, 1845

Tales, 1845

Eureka, 1848

Annabel Lee, 1849

 

Photo Credit:

Edgar Allan Poe. en.wikipedia.org / Public Domain. 

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian.  The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997

 

(c) January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.