Galsworthy, John

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Galsworthy, John (1867–1933). One of the most prolific of Edwardian men of letters, Galsworthy went to Harrow and New College, Oxford. He began as a lawyer but took up writing after meeting Joseph Conrad. In his plays The Silver Box (1906), Strife (1909), and Justice (1910) he showed how heavily the law could bear upon the poor and defenceless. The first novel of the Forsyte family appeared in 1906 as The Man of Property, followed by In Chancery (1920) and To Let (1921), brought together in 1922 as The Forsyte Saga. After that the Forsytes took over and appeared in a string of novels. Galsworthy declined a knighthood in 1918, was awarded the OM in 1929, and the Nobel prize for literature in 1932. His plays lost their topicality, but the novels remained popular and the Forsyte Saga had a resounding success when transferred to television in the 1970s. In part this was nostalgia for a bygone age of clubs, cabs, grand hotels, and visits to spas, but it also reflected Galsworthy's gift for creating interesting and living characters.

J. A. Cannon

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