Biography of Samuel Johnson

-
  • Samuel Johnson was born on 18th September 1709 in  Lichfield, England. 
  • Michael Johnson was his father, who was a bookseller. 
  • He was a biographer, essayist, lexicographer, editor, and poet.
  • He was educated at Grammar School in Lichfield in 1719 and entered Pembroke College, Oxford in 1728. 
  • When his father died in 1713, he was forced to leave the college. 
  • However, poverty did not stop him from securing respect and probity; he was received in the best society of his native place.
  •  He has a strong and virtuous power of thinking. He was advancing slowly but surely into the higher society.
  • Johnson never lost friends and respect, and continues to be admired by each new friend.
  • He married  Elizabeth Porter (a widow) in 1735, older than him. At the time of marriage, he was twenty-six years old and his wife was forty-six years.
  • His first literary attempt was the translation of "Father Lobo's Voyage to Abyssinia".
  • In 1737, Johnson came to London to try his fortune after an unsuccessful attempt to open a school near Lichfield.
  • When he was in London, he wrote a historical tragedy named "Irene", an unsuccessful attempt.
  • His expanded imitation of a juvenal satire "London" was his first work that bring public attention. It was published anonymously.
  • "Vanity of Human Wishes" (1749 ) was an impressive poem, that has morality, the first work published with his name. It treats some melancholy subjects.
  • In 1752, Johnson lost his wife.
  • To pay his debt he published a work named "Rassela". It was written in solitude and sorrow which exhibits the author's temperament.
  • His two political pamphlets are "The False Alarm" and "Falklands Islands".
  • His most important work is "The Lives of the English Poets" in 1777.
  • One of his pamphlets, entitled "Taxation no Tyranny", is written in a strain of high Toryism.

source:-

  • https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Johnson
  • https://biblioteca.org.ar/libros/167764.pdf















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gora by Rabindranath Tagore

-
 Gora and Important Quotes:- The novel, Gora,  was written by Rabindranath Tagore , an eminent Indian author and the first Asian Nobel Prize winner. Through the journey of Gora, from being a dogmatist to being liberal, and other characters, Tagore presented a complex and entangled story of two religious sects, i.e. Hindu religion and the Brahmo Samaj. He tried to showcase how in both religions, several people blindly follow their faith, criticise, spread hate, condemn, and abuse each other, but do not use their conscience and intellect for the sake of their faiths. However, characters like Anandmoyi and Paresh Babu are presented as an emblem of love and intellect despite their different faiths. Besides these, Tagore also tried to present the idea of a nation through the character of Anandamoyi. She has rejected all kinds of prejudiced notions of religion and truly follows his heart and intellect. She hates no one and is very sympathetic toward the downtrodden. Characters:- Ana...
Read more

Look Back in Anger and Important Quotes

-
Image
Source- Wikipedia The play " Look Back in Anger "  was written by British writer  John Osborne  and first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 8th May 1956. It is centred on  Jimmy Porter , who belongs to the lower middle class and continuously rants about suffering and frustration. He has a wife,  Alison . Jimmy is an educated person,  but because of the hierarchical structure of class in society, he does not get his desired job and life. Consequently, he feels frustrated. The play is divided into three acts. Act 1 has no scenes. Act 2 has two scenes. Act 3 has two scenes. Characters- Jimmy Porter ; is a young man of 25 years and the protagonist,   belongs to the lower middle class.. Alison Porter  is the wife of Jimmy. She belongs to the upper class. Clif Lewis  is a friend of Jimmy Porter. Helena Charles  is a Friend of Alison Porter. Colonel Redfren , father of Alison. The play also has minor characters like- Madeline, mi...
Read more

Man and Superman - Quotes and characters

-
Image
Source- Wikipedia The play  Man and Superman was written by a British writer named George Bernard Shaw. It was written in 1903 and published in 1905. The play deals with the ideas of Shaw. The Life Force is one ft the significant ideas in the play that deals with how humans can evolve themselves to superhuman. Furthermore, he also gives scathing remarks on religion, politics and marriage. It has four acts. Characters of the play:- Roebuck Ramsden Mr Octavious Robinson Violet , sister of Mr Octavious Robinson Jack/John Tanner Hector  Mr Malone , an American, and Hector's father Ann Whitefield Miss Rhoda , sister of Ann Mendoza , a brigand Mr Enry Starker , chauffeur to Tanner's car Important Quotes:- " You know that I am not a prejudiced and bigoted man... I have always stood for equality and free conscience while they were truckling to the churches and to the aristocracy. "     (act- 01, by Roubuck Ramsden) " She'll commit every crime a respectable woman c...
Read more