20M - Culture in the Twentieth Century Lesson

Culture in the Twentieth Century Image showing the British monarchs in the 20th Century Edward VII Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II

The Beginnings of the Twentieth Century

Queen Victoria died in 1901, and her son Edward VII became King. Upon King Edward VII's coronation, the Edwardian Era began. Optimism reigned during the early 20th century with continued wealth, social reforms, and technological advances. King Edward VII died in 1910, and George V took over the throne.

During his reign, social and political instability rose in Great Britain with the crisis in Ireland, the labor unrest, and the women's suffrage movement. Domestic issues were rampant in England, but the issues were put on hold with the start of World War I in 1914. The severity of foreign issues brewing that led Great Britain into the first major war fought with new technologies led to never before seen amounts of carnage and death. Nonetheless, society focused fully on supporting Great Britain's role in the war as an Allied Power.

Edward VIII, the oldest son of King George V and Queen Mary, became King when his father passed away in 1936. However, King Edward VIII's proposal of marriage to an American woman with two divorced husbands was neither politically nor socially acceptable, so Edward VIII abdicated the throne the same year he took the throne and ended his reign in 1936.

Edward VIII's younger brother George VI, the second son of King George V, took the throne upon his brother's abdication in 1936. During the 1930's, militaristic governments developed in Germany, Italy, and Japan which created World War II.

After helping to defeat the Axis powers in World War II, Great Britain came to a realization—the entire Empire could no longer continue and allow the British mainland to thrive economically. During the reign of King George VI, the British Empire dissolved and became a Commonwealth of several independent states. Member states of the British Commonwealth have no legal obligation to one another—they simply share a common language, history, culture, and government.

Queen Elizabeth II took the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI, in 1952. The British Empire continued transitioning towards the Commonwealth of Nations during the mid-20th century.

Culture, Literature, and Art in the Twentieth Century

The Modernist period in literature started at the beginning of the 1900's and ended after the end of World War II in the mid 1900's. As in the past, cultural and societal changes heavily impacted literature and literature of the Modernist period brought in new themes and structures influenced by the events occurring in the 20th century. With the horrors and loss during World War I and World War II, society no longer held the stability seen in the Victorian period. Instead, disillusionment and ideological upheaval crept in, and people further questioned their beliefs. Modernist literature focuses heavily on the self and inner consciousness and no longer glorifies nature while combining several different forms and structures. View the presentation below for an overview about the economic and social issues occurring in Britain during the 20th century Modernist period.
Literature in the Twentieth Century

Main Types of Literature

  • Novels
  • War Poetry

Themes of Literature

  • Alienation of the individual
  • Loneliness
  • Death and Loss
  • Social Evils

Literary Structures and Elements

  • Incorporation of irony and satire
  • Use of stream of consciousness
  • Inclusion of illusions
  • Nonlinear plots in prose and poetry (fragmented storylines or multiple viewpoints)
  • Set rhyme scheme or structure in poetry

Freud's Modern Influence in Literature

  • Freud developed the idea of the subconscious and how the subconscious houses
    personal inner most desires
  • His theories revolve around psychoanalysis and figuring out Our "true" selves that may
    have been changed by society and environment
  • Freud's theories fueled the themes of modernist literature by emphasizing a focus on
    the individual
Key Terms Review
The key terms you have studied from page one of this module will inform your study in the next few lessons. Take a moment to review them with the activity below.

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