English Literature - Read Mode
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‘Andrea del Sarto’ is a famous dramatic monologue by Robert Browning. It features the Renaissance painter Andrea del Sarto discussing his art and his troubled relationship with his wife, Lucrezia.
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Although Shakespeare wrote poetry (sonnets), he is most globally celebrated as a playwright. His tragedies, comedies, and histories are considered the pinnacle of English drama.
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The Victorian period spans the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1837 to 1901. This period falls almost entirely within the 19th century and is marked by industrial expansion and social change.
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The Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom. The holder is traditionally expected to compose poems for significant royal and national occasions.
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The ‘Comedy of Humours’, popularized by Ben Jonson, is based on the ancient medical theory that four bodily fluids (humours)—blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy—determine human personality.
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William Blake was a visionary Romantic poet and a professional engraver/painter. He created ‘Illuminated Books’ where his poems were etched alongside his own intricate illustrations.
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This famous aphorism concludes John Keats's ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” It summarizes his aesthetic philosophy.
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The Georgian Age (approx. 1910–1936) is the most recent among the options. Restoration was 1660, Augustan was early 18th century, and Victorian was 19th century.
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Samuel Johnson completed ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’ in 1755. It was a monumental achievement in scholarship and remained the standard English dictionary for over a century.
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O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter. He was an American short story writer famous for his wit, wordplay, and twist endings, such as in ‘The Gift of the Magi’.