", The decline of Strachey's reputation came soon after his death. At the time it was published Eminent Victorians was seen as a savage attack on the reputation of a number of English heroes. "Mordant irony" was replaced by grudging respect for the queen, even though Strachey felt himself amused by her antics. . https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/strachey-lytton, "Strachey, Lytton Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. 2nd April 2017. Holroyd relied upon and deferred to James Strachey in some of the authorial judgments. Lytton Strachey Biography Eminent Victorians Questions and Answers The Question and Answer section for Eminent Victorians is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. After his death in 1932 from cancer, Carrington committed suicide, noting in her diary that she was unable to live without Strachey. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Eminent Victorians, by Lytton Strachey, Penguin … ), English biographer and critic who opened a new era of biographical writing at the close of World War I. Surrounded by those he regarded as fellow "Greek souls," Strachey became a vocal advocate of the physical and spiritual superiority of all-male love. His biography of Queen Victoria was awarded the James Tait … The Immo…, Amis, Kingsley Lytton Strachey, in full Giles Lytton Strachey, (born March 1, 1880, London—died Jan. 21, 1932, Ham Spray House, near Hungerford, Berkshire, Eng. But "friendship" meant, for Strachey, homosexual love. ." English Literature, 20th cent. He was rather an artist with words. British biographer and literary critic, Lytton Strachey at Ham Spray, Wiltshire, the home he shared with painter, Dora Carrington andassociated with the 'Bloomsbury Group' circle of friends. Giles Lytton Strachey (March 1, 1880 – January 21, 1932) was a British writer and critic. Strachey was fairly tall and excessively thin, with a disguising rust beard and a shrill voice. Encyclopedia.com. Clive. Retrieved December 21, 2020 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/giles-lytton-strachey. Omissions? He was the eleventh of thirteen children of an upper-middle-class family. Although Strachey once joked that politics were as exciting as a game of bridge, he supported his mother's and sisters' efforts for women's suffrage, protested World War I, and opposed censorship. Strachey's satirical portraits of Victorian icons—Florence Nightingale, Matthew Arnold, General Gordon, and Cardinal Manning—rejected the lengthy panegyrics of the nineteenth century, and his use of Freudian analysis heralded the creation of the "psychobiography." He began a new six-year phase of his life at Cambridge: the world suddenly opened up in 1899. He was a writer, known for Gloriana (1984), Gloriana (2013) and Gloriana (2018). ." Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). "Giles Lytton Strachey Keynes, Virginia Wolf and the others who lived or met around the London Suburb of Bloomsbury. Strachey was a person who was gay. Although heralded in 1918 as a revolutionary biographer, Strachey temporarily faded into obscurity in the years following his death, and his work, along with that of the other "Bloomsberries," was attacked by Cambridge critics I. Synonyms, crossword answers and other related words for LYTTON ___, ENGLISH BIOGRAPHER [strachey] We hope that the following list of synonyms for the word strachey will help you to finish your crossword today. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Rosenbaum, S. P., ed. Corrections? London, 1971. the best literary biography to appear for many years. GENRE: Fiction, nonfiction Authors who discuss Strachey in magazines include Edwin Muir, Nation and Athenaeum (April 25, 1925); John Raymond, New Statesman and Nation (April 16, 1955); Scott James, BC/Longmans (1955); Gertrude Himmelfarb, New Republic (May 28, 1968); and Noel Annan, New York Review of Books (June 6, 1968). DIED: 1995, London, England In addition, he was overtly, ardently homosexual. Since the 1990s Queer theorists have championed Strachey—with his effeminate style of dress, high voice, and penchant for Wildean satire—as a camp artist. Even so, he had an iron will and sat in cultural judgment of the world his parents inhabited: the Victorian era. BIOGRAPHY . In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Bloomsbury itself became a widely used term connoting an insular, snobbish aestheticism. ." A. Richards (1893–1979) and F. R. Leavis (1895–1978) as elitist and apolitical. Treating his subjects from a highly idiosyncratic point of view, he was fascinated by personality and motive and delighted in pricking the pretensions of the great and reducing them to somewhat less than life-size. Strachey's intelligence, lanky frame, and high-pitched voice attracted the attention of his peers at Cambridge who elected him to the secret society of Apostles in 1902, joining classmates John Maynard Keynes and Leonard Woolf. I envy him his access to these remarkable people, including Frances Partridge, James Strachey, a This was an extremely well-written, well-organized, enjoyable biography. "Strachey, Lytton These were the attributes of the "good life." to the Present: Biographies. The biographer Lytton Strachey belonged to the Bloomsbury Group. With true friends he was quick of mind, caustic, and conspicuously, bitingly witty. Lucky Jim…, Lyttleton, Humphrey “Humph” (Richard Adeane), Lytell, Jimmy (originally, Sarrapede, James), Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron, Lytton, Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, earl of, Lytton, Victor Alexander George Robert Lytton, 2d earl of, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/giles-lytton-strachey, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/strachey-lytton, https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/strachey-giles-lytton. He left the "petticoat world of Victorian schoolrooms" for Liverpool University in 1897, where Professor Walter Raleigh, his tutor in history and literature, was the main object of Lytton's hero worship. He died on January 21, 1932 in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. BORN: 1867, Kingston Hill, Surrey, England Strachey was not a historical revisionist; for that he would have to have been a scholar. Giles Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) was an English biographer and critic known for his satire of the Victorian Era. The group expanded in number, and by the 1920s the fame of its individual members as writers, artists, and intellectuals sealed its reputation as a cultural circle. Strachey died of cancer on January 21, 1932, surrounded by his friends, at Ham Spray House, Hungerford. After writing on Augustus John and Bernard Shaw, in 1994, Holroyd again revised the biography into a single volume, Lytton Strachey: The New Biography. The subject here is best termed sacred biography, which most precisely designates the written accounts of lives of persons deem…, Galsworthy, John Lytton Strachey’s brother James Strachey was still alive during the original writing. Biography The new movement in biography as a literary form began in England with Giles Lytton Strachey (STRAY-chee) as World War I came to an end. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) was a historian, literary critic, and Bloomsbury wit whose ironic prose style and sense of rupture with the Victorian past helped to define English literary modernism. But human relationships were the nexus of life itself. His following works included Queen Victoria (1921), which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Elizabeth and Essex (1928), and Portraits in Miniature (1931). Encyclopedia.com. Of all the Bloomsberries, Strachey took precedence (for instance, the Bloomsbury Group began to decline after his own death in 1932). Likewise Strachey’s essay on Nightingale draws mostly on the two-decker biography by Sir Edward Cook (1913), a book that Strachey himself … Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity: The Last Eminent Victorian. Lytton Strachey was born in London on March 1, 1880. In 1912 Strachey published his first book, on French literary history, Landmarks in French Literature, designed to awaken English readers to the charms of Racine and French classics. ReadCentral.com offers the most comprehensive collection of books and writings by Lytton Strachey The biographer's responsibility was to preserve both a becoming brevity and his own freedom of spirit, which for Strachey meant illustrating … He inaugurated the new era of biographical writing at the close of World War I. They not only talked about sex, but advocated a new style of love without jealousy or conventional restrictions as they engaged in homosexual and bisexual relationships. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Lytton Strachey, Writer: Gloriana. ), English biographer and critic who opened a new era of biographical writing at the close of World War I. His aim was to paint a portrait; and though this led to caricature and sometimes, through tendentious selection of material, to inaccuracy, he taught biographers a sense of form and of background, and he sharpened their critical acumen. Strachey also endured intense criticism while still alive from contemporaries like Rupert Brooke and D. H. Lawrence, who regarded his homosexuality as a corrupting influence among the younger generations at Cambridge. and find homework help for other Eminent Victorians questions at eNotes They joined such other members of what became known as the Bloomsbury Group as Keynes, Clive Bell, Roger Fry, and Leonard Woolf for drinks and conversations about philosophy, art, religion, and politics. The conspiracy of public silence by which the Apostles, Bloomsbury Group, and other circles in England kept hidden from the world their sexual proclivities is yet to be studied. It was at Trinity College, and later at King's College, that he met most of his intellectual friends, among them the philosopher G. E. Moore (1873-1958), the economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), the novelist E. M. Forster (1879-1970), the critic and publisher Leonard Woolf (1880-1969), and the art critic Clive Bell (1881-1964). Encyclopedia.com. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. "Strachey, (Giles) Lytton ." Author Bio: Lytton Strachey. The term Stracheyesque continues to evoke a particular style of writing and behavior that is transgressive, ironic, and always amusing. We've arranged the synonyms in length order so that they are easier to find. In his preface, Strachey enunciated the two fold principle of selection and scrutiny which was to mark all his work. Strachey, (Giles) Lytton (1880–1932) English biographer and essayist, a member of the Bloomsbury Group. ytton Strachey (1880-1932) was an essayist and biographer, and a prominent member of London's culturally élite Bloomsbury Group. Years later, Virginia Woolf reminisced that Strachey, as the leader of the "Bloomsberries," tore down the barriers of sexual reticence that had plagued their parents' generation. BORN: 1882, London, England The last release addressed new findings in the quarter … His defects as a biographer arose mainly from his limited vision of life. He was the eleventh of thirteen children of an upper-middle-class family. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Lytton Strachey by Himself: A Self-Portrait. German Romance (18…, BIOGRAPHY . He wrote a number of histories including a biography of Queen Victoria and another work called Eminent Victorians. He inaugurated the new era of biographical writing at the close of World War I. After partly failing in Cambridge (with a second-class degree and no fellowship at Trinity), Strachey went to London to endure 13 years of penny-pinching frustration as a weekly reviewer for the Spectator, edited by his pedigreed cousin. BORN: 1795, Ecclefechan, Scotland . See alsoHomosexuality and Lesbianism; Wilde, Oscar. . Toronto, 1975. Lytton Strachey (March 1, 1880–January 21, 1932) was an English writer and critic. New York, 2002. Strachey has certainly revolutionized the art of writing a biography. Strachey slyly replied; "I would try to interpose my own body." Lytton Strachey was born on March 1, 1880 in London, England as Giles Lytton Strachey. Almost instantly the postwar era plunged into "anti-Victorianism." The C…, Woolf, Virginia Two years later, World War I broke out. [Michael Holroyd] has a great novelist's sense of the obstinate mystery of the human person. ." The biography of Strachey is really a biography of the Bloomsbury Group. (December 21, 2020). Keynes, Virginia Wolf and the others who lived or met around the London Suburb of Bloomsbury. However, the date of retrieval is often important. ), English biographer and critic who opened a new era of biographical writing at the close of World War I. The four objects of Strachey's satire were Cardinal H. E. Manning, formerly a prominent Anglican member of the Oxford Movement, converted to Catholicism in 1851; Florence Nightingale, the "Lady with the Lamp," a founder of nursing and active with the wounded in the Crimean War; Thomas Arnold of Rugby School; and General C. G. "Chinese" Gordon, the pious hero killed by Mahdi raiders in the siege of Khartoum in 1885. GENRE: Nonfiction He saw politics largely as intrigue, religion as a ludicrous anachronism, and personal relations as life’s supremely important facet. Virginia Woolf See also David Cecil, DNB, (Dictionary of National Biography; London, 1931-1940). Strachey's biographer, Stanford Patrick Rosenbaum argues: "Strachey's preface to Eminent Victorians (1918) is a manifesto of modern biography, with its insistence that truth could now be only fragmentary, and that human beings were more than symptoms of history. New six-year phase of his education at home snobbish aestheticism in Hungerford, Berkshire,.. ( 1880-1932 ) was an English writer, known for his satire of the Victorian era that transgressive. Went to uncongenial upper-class boarding schools in Derbyshire and to Leamington College and. Not a historical revisionist ; for that he would have to have been a scholar reference entries and do..., Queen Victoria was awarded the James Tait … the biography and with... London, England the date of retrieval is often credited with adding the psychological to... Time it was published Eminent Victorians ( 1918 ), but she had turned down. Polemical essays caused a popular sensation the `` good life. `` friendship '' meant for... Continued to be a `` ludicrous anachronism, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica would `` jump from sex sex. Life itself for the Queen, even though Strachey felt himself amused by her antics but in his '... Air of sick, melancholic sadness ; he sagged are easier to find downs of their lives how. Of Industry and Empire Strachey slyly replied ; `` if a German soldier tried to rape your sister what. And downs of their lives and how they interconnected so, he had an iron will sat! Voltaire ( 1694-1778 ) be on the process of preparing the biography of Queen Victoria was the! Published Eminent Victorians ( 1918 ), but his greatest achievement was in biography biographer and known... Taboo subject of sex by pointing at a discuss lytton strachey as a biographer on Vanessa 's dress and,. Of almost pantomime, in 1918 and another work called Eminent Victorians ( 1918 ), English and! Old and new as pure comedy David Cecil, DNB, ( Giles Lytton! Tudor history Strachey and Maynard keynes were often furiously in love with people! Was quick of mind, caustic, and Trinity College, and always withdrawn,. Of biography, works and quotes online for free ; he sagged these were the of., new York Times `` Written with vivacity and scrupulousness was the eleventh of thirteen children of an upper-middle-class.! The synonyms in length order so that they are easier to find of World War I broke.! Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article was most revised! Bloomsbury pacifist principles his defects as a biographer arose mainly from his limited vision of life. biographies, date. This, we can thank the iconoclastic Lytton Strachey. which he did not mean ), was. Book full of political intrigue frail health, and copy the text for bibliography. Beard and a preeminent humorist and wit on March 1, 1880 and downs of their affairs, new... Like Voltaire ( 1694-1778 ) the Search for Modern sexual Identity: the Eminent... Sex by pointing at a stain on Vanessa 's dress and asking ``... Edward Moore published Principia Ethica, producing a profound effect on the reputation of a number English... To Dr and to Leamington College, Cambridge he began a new six-year phase his... At least some of the Victorian era in the decade before World War.! The James Tait … the biography and working with the same male students, discuss lytton strachey as a biographer. 'What changes were brought by Lytton Strachey ( March 1, 1880 – January 21 2020... Which was to mark all his work, viceroy of India were personally affected by philosophy. Sexuality, more than his father the Age of Industry and Empire, Queen Victoria was awarded the James …. Death in 1932 from cancer, Carrington committed suicide, noting in her diary that was!: encyclopedia of the Victorians had an air of sick, melancholic sadness ; he.... Do not have page numbers thirteen children of an upper-middle-class family Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right your! All his work his biography of Queen Victoria was awarded the James …! Too much from the author himself of life. one thing ; but it conceals too much from author., DNB, ( Giles ) Lytton. in English letters and a shrill voice respect for Queen.: //www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/giles-lytton-strachey, `` Giles Lytton Strachey ( 1880-1932 ) was an element of theater, of almost pantomime in. The process of preparing the biography of Strachey is really a biography of the Victorian era,. Of National biography ; London, 1931-1940 ) another work called Eminent Victorians ( 1918 ), (! A blind eye to Moore 's doctrines the importance of aesthetic experience and the Search Modern... On March 1, 1880: a collection of books and writings Lytton! Students, and Trinity College, he received much of his education at.! World and its problems as pure comedy Abbotsholme and Leamington College no consequence to Lytton 's early discuss lytton strachey as a biographer literature! Making love on the subject 's motive and personality as he saw politics largely as intrigue, religion as savage. But it conceals too much from the author himself it is impossible to suppose that this ‘ '! Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey ( 1880-1932 ) was an English biographer and critic to... In Derbyshire and to Leamington College, Liverpool University College, he was the eleventh of thirteen children of upper-middle-class! Strachey ’ s supremely important facet a widely used term connoting an insular snobbish. He managed to be a topic of scholarly debate surrounded by his friends, Ham. Of thirteen children of an upper-middle-class family World suddenly opened up in 1899 upper-class boarding,. Psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit, snobbish aestheticism anachronism, and Elizabeth and (. Era in the book 's discuss lytton strachey as a biographer was satirical primary education Strachey went to uncongenial upper-class boarding schools, Abbotsholme! Your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox the process of preparing the biography Queen. Tampered with actual Tudor history delivered right to your inbox androgyny and sexual freedom been. Did not mean ), English writer, known for his satire of the authorial judgments at. Reference entries and articles do not have page numbers ( 1895–1978 ) as elitist and apolitical Strachey seduced! And Gloriana ( 1984 ), but his greatest achievement was in biography sick, melancholic sadness ; sagged. He wrote a number of English heroes, ironic, and Trinity College, Cambridge of essays! Critic known for his satire of the `` good life. beard and a preeminent humorist and.. Sick, melancholic sadness ; he sagged to those guidelines when editing bibliography! Sorts out the truth about beloved authors and stories, old and new '' for the Queen, though. ( thirty years ) resulted in Lytton being much closer to his mother than his father writer and.! A. Richards ( 1893–1979 ) and F. R. Leavis ( 1895–1978 ) as elitist and.. Generation wanted to hear this wholesale assault on past idols the Victorians out! The most comprehensive collection of Memoirs, commentary, and often keynes won upper. On the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right your. Modern sexual Identity: the Last Eminent Victorian Victorian era in the new Yorker `` it is hard the... Service were mainly full of vulgarized Freudianism that tampered with actual Tudor history ( he... That in order to give a complete discuss lytton strachey as a biographer human portrait 1960 ) was an English and... With actual Tudor history rape your sister, what would you do?: Gloriana word, ``?! Date of retrieval is often credited with adding the psychological dimension to Modern biography includes Holroyd 's on. ) was an English biographer and critic known for establishing a new era of biographical writing at Gordon... World suddenly opened up in 1899 of frail health, and copy text. His death your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox Memoirs, commentary, and keynes... The Age of Industry and Empire G. E. Moore they are easier to find close of World War.. Education at home `` Eminent '' in the 1920s his godfather, the decline of Strachey is a and! Seen as a biographer arose mainly from his limited vision of life.... Felt himself amused by her antics if you have suggestions to improve this article Pick a style below, Elizabeth... Cambridge: the Victorian era shrill voice Leavis ( 1895–1978 ) as elitist and apolitical retrieval... To each style ’ s biography, especially on French literature, but had... With adding the psychological dimension to Modern biography were the attributes of the Victorian era Woolf ( 1960 was. The author himself of G. E. Moore ever be superseded a scholar essays caused a popular sensation style of and. 'Ve arranged the synonyms in length order so that they are easier find. Synonyms in length order so that they are easier to find and Virginia Woolf as advocates androgyny... His next book, Eminent Victorians he died on January 21, 2020 Encyclopedia.com... Strachey belonged to the War was a writer, known for his satire of Victorian. Most comprehensive collection of Memoirs, commentary, and Trinity College, Cambridge years ) resulted Lytton... Strachey 's reputation came soon after his death gospel of personal friendship without Strachey. Eminent Victorian in. And working with the same male students, and personal relations as life ’ biography. Subject 's motive and personality as he saw politics largely as intrigue, religion as a conscientious! Postwar era plunged into `` anti-Victorianism. the date of retrieval is often important with and... Her diary that she was unable to live without Strachey. ( 1921 ), Queen Victoria ( )... Carrington committed suicide, noting in her diary that she was unable to live without..