AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Sir Isaac Newton was the first to discover the laws of gravitation and the laws of motion. He also established a new field in mathematics known as calculus, though the German Gottfried Leibniz had developed the ideas at the same time. His work has greatly contributed in the areas of science and mathematics making him one of the most influential scientists in human history and one of the greatest mathematician of all times.
The great physicist, Albert Einstein, thought that Newton's idea of gravity was not completely accurate. He corrected many of the things that Newton did.
Isaac Newton died on in London, England.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey. He set the stage for many famous physicists to come, such as Albert Einstein, James Chadwick, and Stephen Hawking.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) was a German writer, poet, novelist, and playwright. He also worked as an actor, administrator, scientist, geologist, botanist, and philosopher. He influenced many 19th century writers and thinkers. His contributions to science include his work in botany and his "Theory of Colours". Famous lines from his books are often quoted, and some of his phrases have become part of the German language. His poems were set to music by composers like Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, and Strauss. Most of his scientific work now seems old-fashioned.
Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His father was well-educated and very strict. His mother was only eighteen when he was born. When Goethe was a young boy, he began to write stories and plays for his friends. In his youth, he learned Greek, Latin and French. He studied law in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768. He also wrote some letters that are seen as beautiful, and that showed his promise as a writer. He continued his studies in Strasbourg from 1770 to 1771. He joined other young men who wanted to change the way that Germans were writing. He thought that people like Johann Christoph Gottsched were too strict about writing poetry. Instead of the ideas of the Enlightenment, he wanted poets to be creative and make their own rules.
One man who had many new ideas was a poet named Johann Gottfried von Herder. Herder liked the plays of Shakespeare (which he had learned in German) as well as folk poetry. These ideas were exciting for Goethe, and he helped Herder to collect folk poetry. Both men believed that poetry should always come from the heart, and that it should be based on the poet’s experiences instead of on an old-fashioned idea of what a good poem should be. Some of Goethe's best known poems were written during this time, like "Heidenröslein", "Der König in Thule", and "Erlkönig."
Goethe fell in love with several women during his lifetime. During the early period of his life, he was in love with a girl named Friederike Brion, the daughter of a pastor. Several of his poems are inspired by her. He felt extremely sad when they split up. The feeling of desertion by a lover is found in a lot of Goethe’s works. They are all based on his own experience. His disappointment in love inspired him when writing about Werther in "Die Leiden des jungen Werthers" and Gretchen in his great play "Faust". His poems also show his ideas about science and philosophy.
"Die Leiden des jungen Werthers" ("The Sufferings of Young Werther") is a book written in the form of letters. Werther is a young man who falls passionately in love with a girl called Lotte who is married to someone else. Werther kills himself in the end. The book was very successful all over Europe. People talked about “Werther fever.” Many young men who were disappointed in love copied Werther and killed themselves.
Goethe’s most famous work is a very long play called "Faust". He spent most of his life working at it. He was writing the first version of "Faust" at this time. Based on a legendary character, it tells of a man called Faust who is tired of studying and wants to have the greatest possible happiness. The devil (called Mephistopheles in the play) tells Faust he can help him to do this, but that in the end Faust must give him his soul and go with him to hell. Faust uses magic in the hope that it will tell him everything about life.
Along with writing, Goethe was developing a career in law. In 1772, he spent four months in Wetzlar at the Imperial Law Courts. Here he made new friends, including a young girl who was already engaged to someone else.
Goethe had been well-educated and was good at organizing and getting on with important people. For eleven years he worked at the court of Weimar for a young Duke called Karl August. He became a member and later the president of the Duke’s cabinet. He had to organize road-building projects, and look after parks and buildings. He studied geology, mineralogy, botany and anatomy. He fell in love with a woman called Charlotte von Stein who was married and had several children. He wrote love letters to her, and she inspired him to write many poems. At this time he felt that a man’s task in life was to be useful. The heroes of his books at this time were often ordinary people instead of geniuses.
After a time he realized that all his work on governmental duties were not giving him time for his writing, so he went to Italy for 18 months. He loved the landscape and made lots of sketches, and he read the ancient poets and books on the history of art. He wrote a play in rhyme called "Iphigenie auf Tauris" which combines the beauty of Classicism with great poetry.
When he returned from Italy he settled once more in Weimar. He visited Italy a second time. He became great friends with the famous poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller. The two men talked about many of their ideas and helped one another by offering criticism of their works. He wrote short works such as "Hermann und Dorothea" which is about life in a small German town at the time of the French Revolution.
Two works of the greatest importance works occupied him at this time. One is the novel "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre". This is an example of what is called in German a “Bildungsroman” which means something like “Education novel”. It means a novel which shows a person growing up and developing his character and learning about the world. This book was a very important influence on the 19th century Romantic novel and on all German autobiographical novels ever since. Goethe spent many years working on this book.
The second work of enormous importance was his play "Faust". He made changes to the original version, putting all the small bits together into one great play. Schiller gave him advice while he was writing it. Faust enters into a pact with the devil, Mephistopheles who promises him all his soul can wish for: fine living, gold, women and honour. He signs the pact with his blood.
Napoleon was fighting wars all over Europe at this time. Germany, which was still made up of lots of small countries, was an enemy of France. Goethe always thought of Napoleon as a hero. His ideas about politics were still based on 18th century ideas. He hated war and so he did not take part in politics but concentrated on science and literature. He wrote a book called "Die Wahlverwandtschaften" ("Elective Affinities") which is about a divorce problem. Some of his scientific ideas are used in the story as he talks about the way that two chemical compounds can break up and form new unions. He compares this to the people in his story. His poems in "Westöstlicher Divan" are some of his greatest. He uses ideas from Persia and other Eastern countries together with ideas from the West. It has a lot of parables about human life.
Many interesting things that Goethe said were written down in a book by his friend Eckermann, who published them in a book called "Conversations with Goethe". Goethe also wrote about his own life in his autobiography which he called "Dichtung und Wahrheit" ("Poetry and Truth"). The book tells us about his youth up to the time of his arrival in Weimar. It is in four parts. The fourth part was published after his death. He chose the title to show that he was telling us the truth about his life, but that he had changed the order of some events to make it into a poetic book.
Goethe wrote a sequel (a part which follows on) to "Wilhelm Meister" called "Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre" ("The Years of Wilhelm Meister’s Wanderings"). It consists of several sections which are like separate stories. They tell us about Wilhelm Meister’s relationship with society and how he has to change his ways to fit in with other people.
Goethe’s "Faust" had made him the greatest person in European literature. At the end of his life he finished a second part of "Faust". It is quite hard to read, and is more of a long poem than a dramatic play. It talks of his ideas about allegory, science and philosophy.
Goethe died in Weimar on March 22, 1832. He had started as a great Classical writer of the 18th century and finished as a young Romantic of the 19th century. No one else had such a big influence on art and literature of that time.
Pythagoras of Samos was a famous Greek mathematician and philosopher ( ). He is known best for the proof of the important Pythagorean theorem, which is about right angle triangles. He started a group of mathematicians, called the Pythagoreans, who worshiped numbers and lived like monks. He had an influence on Plato.
He had a great impact on mathematics, theory of music and astronomy. His theories are still used in mathematics today. He was one of the greatest thinkers of his time.
Pythagoras was born in Samos, a little island off the western coast of Asia Minor. There is not much information about his life. It is said that he had a good childhood. Growing up with two or three brothers, he was well educated. He did not agree with the government and their schooling, so he moved to Crotone and set up his own cult (little society) of followers under his rule. His followers did not have any personal possessions, and they were all vegetarians. Pythagoras taught them all, and they had to obey strict rules.
Some say he was the first person to use the term philosophy. Since he worked very closely with his group, the Pythagoreans, it is sometimes hard to tell his works from those of his followers.
Religion was important to the Pythagoreans. They swore their oaths by "1+2+3+4" (which equals 10). They also believed the soul is immortal and goes through a cycle of rebirths until it can become pure. They believed that these souls were in both animal and plant life.
Pythagoras' most important belief was that the physical world was mathematical and that numbers were the real reality.
Pythagoras is most famous for his theorem to do with right triangles. He said that the length of the longest side of the right angled triangle called the hypotenuse (C) squared would equal the sum of the other sides squared. And so a² + b² = c² was born. There are many different proofs for this Pythagorean theorem.
Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC) was one of the greatest Greek philosophers. He did not propose any specific knowledge or policy. He showed how argument, debate, and discussion could help men to understand difficult issues. Most of the issues he dealt with were only political on the surface. Underneath, they were moral questions about how life should be lived. Such is the influence of Socrates that philosophers before him are called the Presocratic philosophers.
Socrates made enemies, three of whom brought charges against him. Socrates was tried for his life in 399 BC, found guilty, and put to death by drinking hemlock (a herbal poison). The story of his trial and death is the subject of a tract by Plato which is called the "Apologia".
Most of what we know about Socrates comes from the works of Plato, who was his pupil. Socrates lived in the Greek city of Athens. His method of teaching was to have a dialogue with individual students. They would propose some point of view, and Socrates would question them, asking what they meant. He would pretend "I don't know anything; I'm just trying to understand what it is you are saying", or words to that effect. This is now called the Socratic method of teaching.
Socrates is sometimes called the "father of Western philosophy". This is because in the discussions he uncovered some of the most basic questions in philosophy, questions which are still discussed today. Some of the people he taught came to be important and successful, like Plato and Alcibiades.
Socrates never wrote anything. All of what we know about Socrates is from what other people wrote about him. Our main source of what we know about Socrates is from the writings of his student, Plato. Some of Plato's dialogues, such as the "Crito" and the "Phaedo", are loosely based on fact. They are not written records, but artistic re-creation of Socrates in action.
Another of Socrates' students, Xenophon also wrote about Socrates. Aristophanes, a person who wrote brilliant satirical comedies, wrote about him in play called "The Clouds". Socrates was an easy target for satire. He walked barefoot, and with a swagger. Sometimes he stood in a trance for hours. In "The Clouds" Socrates is a crazy person who tries to scam people out of their money. Plato wrote that Socrates taught for free.
We do not know if Plato's description of Socrates is accurate or not. That is called the 'Socratic problem'. While a lot of what Plato wrote about Socrates is accepted by historians, some believe that Plato (who saw Socrates as a hero) portrayed Socrates as a greater man than he actually was. Some think that Plato was using the character of Socrates as a tool to express his own opinions rather than to accurately write about Socrates. This is what makes Socrates such a mysterious historical figure. Plato's dialogues are works of art, finely written. The general view is that they are based on reality, but no doubt adjusted for the purpose of writing.
Socrates' father was a sculptor, and his mother was a midwife who helped women give birth to children. He may have been a stonemason like his father, and Plato wrote that he served in the Athenian army as a hoplite (heavy infantry). We know he was influenced by an older philosopher, Archelaus, and that he talked with anyone who had interesting ideas in Athens, but beyond that nothing is known.
Socrates was about 50 when he married a much younger woman, Xanthippe. They had three children together. Socrates made complaints about his wife, but no one knew if he was telling the truth.
It is said that one of Socrates' friends went to ask the oracle at Delphi if there was anyone wiser than Socrates in Athens. The oracle said that there was no wiser person. The oracle was well known for saying things that were ambiguous or unclear. It did not say that Socrates was the wisest, just that there was no person wiser.
After being puzzled by this, Socrates finally decided that his wisdom lay in knowing that he was ignorant. His attempts to show the citizens that some of their ideas were nonsense might help explain his unpopularity. In Plato's works, Socrates says he knows nothing, but can draw out other people's ideas just as his mother helped other women to give birth.
In 399 BC, when Socrates was an old man, three citizens—Meletus, Anytus and Lycon—brought charges against Socrates. A trial was held. In ancient Athens the procedure was quite different from the present day. There was a jury of 500 men drawn from the citizens. Both the accusers and the defendant had to make speeches in person to the jury. Guilt or innocence was by majority vote. There was no preset penalty if the verdict was 'guilty'. Both the accuser and the defendant would make speeches proposing what the penalty should be. Again, a vote was taken.
There were two charges against him. The general theme was that Socrates was a menace to society. The first charge was of heresy, disbelief in the Gods. It was probably meant to cause prejudice amongst the jurymen. Actually, Socrates observed all the correct procedures of the religion of his times. The charge had been used successfully against another philosopher, Anaxagoras.
The second charge was that he corrupted the youth with his teachings. What was meant by this? Apparently, this was not about his personal relationship with his pupils. It was about the way he was thought to influence their political views. His circle had included a number of right-wing aristocrats whose ideas were now rejected by most citizens. The brilliant Alcibiades, once a great leader of Athens, was now seen as a traitor.
Crito, a friend of Socrates, illegally paid the prison guards to allow Socrates to escape. Socrates, however, decided not to escape. When Socrates was put on trial, he gave a long speech to defend himself against the claims made by the Athens government.
We have Plato's version of how Socrates defended himself, in the "Apologia". It starts:
When Socrates was asked to propose his punishment, Socrates said that the government should give him free dinners for the rest of his life for all the good that he did for society. The court held a vote between giving Socrates a fine to pay or putting him to death. The verdict was that Socrates was to be put to death.
Socrates did not fear death. He did not try to avoid death by apologizing for his actions because he thought it was morally right to stand by his principles. Socrates was ordered to drink a cup of hemlock (a poisonous liquid got from the plant). He drank it and died soon after.
There are several dialogues by Plato which deal directly with the trial of Socrates and the period up to his death. They are, in order of the events:
Socrates helped people to see what was wrong with their ideas. Sometimes they liked this, sometimes they were not happy or grateful. He said that he, Socrates, was not wise, but that he "knew that he knew nothing." Since other people think they know something, but no one really knows anything, Socrates claimed he knew more than anyone else. He said that people who do bad things do so because they do not know any better.
People think that Socrates was a good man because he did no harm, except he asked questions about everything. However, during his life many people thought he was a bad person, because he asked those questions and because he made young people unhappy about their lives.
Someone once wrote that Socrates said that "A life that was not examined was not worth living". This means that someone must think about their own life and its purpose. Some people believe that most humans are happier if they do not think too much about their life.
Socrates also taught that many people can look at something and not truly see it. He asked questions about the meaning of life and goodness. These are still very important questions. Much of philosophy (love of wisdom) is about these things.
Socrates is seen by some people as a martyr, since he willingly died to support the idea that knowledge and wisdom are very important to our lives.
Socrates is known as one of the most important philosophers in history. He is often described as the father of Western philosophy. He did not start Western philosophy, but he had a big influence on it. Before Socrates, philosophy was mainly about mathematics and answering questions about our natural world. Socrates expanded on that and added questions about ethics, politics, and epistemology to philosophy.
Dante Alighieri (), known simply as Dante (, , ; c. 1265 – September 14, 1321), was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages/Early Renaissance. His central work, the "Commedia" ("Divine Comedy"), is considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. In Italian he is known as "the Supreme Poet" ("il Sommo Poeta"). Dante and the "Divine Comedy" have been a source of inspiration for artists for almost seven centuries. Dante, alongside Petrarch and Boccaccio, is known as one of "the three fountains", and is often referred to as "the Father of the Italian language". The first biography written on him was by his contemporary Giovanni Villani. The most famous section in "The Divine Comedy" is the first third of it, the first 34 cantos of the poem, called "Inferno", which features Dante's vision of Hell.
Dante Alighieri was born in 1265, between May 14 and June 13, under the name "Durante Alighieri." ca. 1450 (Uffizi Gallery). His family was important in Florence, and supported the Papacy.
The poet's mother was Bella degli Abati. She died when Dante was seven years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. Lapa had two children, Dante's brother Francesco and sister "Tana" ( short version of "Gaetana").
Dante fought in the front of the Guelph troops in the battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289). After the victory Dante gained an important part in public life.
When Dante was 12, in 1277, he married Gemma di Manetto Donati. Dante had already fallen in love with another girl, Beatrice Portinari that is mentioned same in "Divine Comedy", (known also as Bice). Years after Dante's marriage to Gemma he met Beatrice again. He had become interested in writing poems.
Dante had six children with Gemma: Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni, Gabrielle Alighieri, and Antonia.
Not much is known about Dante's education, and it is presumed he studied at home. It is known that he studied Tuscan poetry. His interests brought him to discover the Occitan poetry of the troubadours and the Latin poetry of classical antiquity (with a particular devotion to Virgil).
At 18, Dante met Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia, and soon after Brunetto Latini; together they became the leaders of "Dolce Stil Novo" ("The Sweet New Style"). Brunetto later received a special mention in the "Divine Comedy" ("Inferno", XV, 28), for what he had taught Dante.
According to his work, "La Vita Nuova", when he was nine years old he met Beatrice Portinari, daughter of Folco Portinari, with whom he fell in love "at first sight", and apparently without even having spoken to her. He saw her frequently after age 18, often exchanging greetings in the street, but he never knew her well—he effectively set the example for the so-called "courtly love". Dante gave his imprint to the Stil Novo. Love for Beatrice (as in a different manner Petrarch would show for his Laura) would apparently be the reason for poetry and for living, together with political passions. In many of his poems, she appears such as semi-divine, watching over him constantly.
When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante tried to find "help" in Latin literature.
He then dedicated himself to philosophical studies at religious schools like the Dominican one in Santa Maria Novella. This "excessive" passion for philosophy would later be criticized by the character Beatrice, in "Purgatorio", the second book of the "Divine Comedy".
Boniface quickly dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante alone to remain in Rome. At the same time (November 1, 1301), Charles de Valois entered Florence with Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies. A new Black Guelph government was installed and Messer Cante dei Gabrielli di Gubbio was appointed "Podestà" of Florence. Dante was put in exile for two years, and ordered to pay a large hill of money.
Dante did not pay the money, in part because he believed he was not guilty, and in part because all his needs in Florence had been stolen by the Black Guelphs. He was condemned to exile for life, and if he returned to Florence without paying the money, he could be burned at the stake.
In exile he began searching the foundation for the "Divine Comedy", a work in 100 cantos, divided into three books of thirty-three cantos each, with a single introductory canto.
He went to Verona as a guest of Bartolomeo I della Scala, then moved to Sarzana in Liguria. Later, he is supposed to have lived in Lucca with Madame Gentucca. Some not sure sources say that he was also in Paris between 1308 and 1310. In 1310, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg, marched 5,000 troops into Italy. Dante saw in him a new Charlemagne who would restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor for re-take Florence from the Black Guelphs. He wrote to Henry and several Italian princes, demanding that they destroy the Black Guelphs. Mixing religion and private concerns, he invoked the worst anger of God against his city, suggesting several particular targets that coincided with his personal enemies. It was during this time that he wrote the first two books of the "Divine Comedy".
When Dante died at Ravenna, the custodians of the body at Ravenna put the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1829, a tomb was built for him in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he loved so dearly. The front of his tomb in Florence reads "Onorate l'altissimo poeta" – which roughly translates as "Honour the most exalted poet".
Virginia Woolf (25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English modernist writer, essayist and feminist.
She was born into a well-known family. Her father, Leslie Stephen, was a Victorian scholar. Her mother, born in India, was a favourite model of the Preraphaelite artists. Her sister, Vanessa Bell, was a painter. She had two brothers; one of them, Thoby, died in 1906.
Her mother died when she was thirteen and four years later her half-sister Stella died. In these times Virginia started to have her psychological, or mental problems. She had bipolar disorder in the time when few people knew this illness and most thought she was strange.
After the death of her mother, Leslie Stephen was not able to keep good relations in the family. Virginia and her sister Vanessa were sexually abused by their half-brothers George and Gerald. It affected Virginia for the rest of her life.
In their childhood, all the Stephens children wrote diaries, but only Virginia kept it for her whole life (and after her death, lots of them were published). It was important for her when she was sexually abused, because there was no one with whom she could talk about it. In the diary, she could write everything.
After her father's death, Virginia and her brothers and sister moved to Bloomsbury, London and there they became members of the famous group of artists called Bloomsbury Group. Here Virginia met writer Leonard Woolf (1880-1969), whom she was married to from 1912 until her death. Together, they moved to Richmond, where they opened a publishing office called Hogarth House Press, which later published all of Virginia's novels and essays.
She was bisexual. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with Violet Dickinson and she wrote her lots of love letters. Violet probably never loved her back. Later, Virginia had a sexual relationship with Vita Sackville-West, a writer and a poet. Their letters, which have been published, show how deeply they were in love.
Her most famous novels are "Mrs Dalloway" and "To the Lighthouse". She completed "Mrs Dalloway" in 1925. It is about a day in the life of an English woman called Clarissa Dalloway. Clarissa is throwing a party and she spends the entire day preparing. The story can appear stupid, but it is not so important in the book. What's more important are the feelings, the colours, or the mood of the story.
"To the Lighthouse" was published in 1927 for the first time. It is about a family of Ramsays and its friends. These people are altogether spending a summer in Ramsay's house on an island. The youngest of Ramsays children, James, wants to go to the lighthouse, but they can't go there because of bad weather. In the next part of the book, James is ten years older and his father is taking him to the lighthouse, although he doesn't want to go there anymore.
Virginia Woolf is also an author of these novels: "Jacob's Room" (1923), "Orlando" (1928) and "The Waves" (1931). She was a feminist and she wrote a few essays about women's position in the society, for example "The Room of One's Own" and "Three Guineas".
On 28 March 1941, Woolf drowned herself by filling her overcoat pockets with stones and walking into the River Ouse near her home. Her body was not found until 18 April. Her husband buried her cremated remains beneath an elm tree in the garden of Monk's House, their home in Rodmell, Sussex.
In 1998, American writer Michael Cunningham wrote a novel in which she appeared, called "The Hours" (a winner of the Pulitzer award), which is best known because of the "same named movie", in which the role of Virginia was played by actress Nicole Kidman. Kidman won an Oscar for her performance.
Rather better known is "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", in which her name is used as a catch-phrase by the lead couple. This was a play, and then a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The film won five Academy Awards.
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist. She wrote many books of romantic fiction about the gentry. Her works made her one of the most famous and beloved writers in English literature. She is one of the great masters of the English novel.
Austen's works criticized sentimental novels in the late 18th century, and are part of the change to nineteenth-century realism. She wrote about typical people in everyday life. This gave the English novel its first distinctly modern character. Austen's stories are often comic, but they also show how women depended on marriage for social standing and economic security. Her works are also about moral problems.
Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon, near Basingstoke. Educated mostly by her father and older brothers, and also by her own reading, she lived with her family at Steventon. They moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After he died in 1805, she moved around with her mother. In 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. In May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. She died there on 18 July 1817.
Jane Austen was very modest about her own genius. She once famously described her work as "the little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory, on which I work with so fine a brush, as produces little effect after much labor". When she was a girl she wrote stories. Her works were printed only after much revision. Only four of her novels were printed while she was alive. They were "Sense and Sensibility" (1811), "Pride and Prejudice" (1813), "Mansfield Park" (1814) and "Emma" (1815). Two other novels, "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion", were printed in 1817 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen. "Persuasion" was written shortly before her death. She also wrote two earlier works, "Lady Susan", and an unfinished novel, "The Watsons". She had been working on a new novel, "Sanditon", but she died before she could finish it. She is now a well known great writer.
Biographical facts about Jane Austen are "famously scarce" (few). Only a few letters remain (it is estimated that only 160 out of Austen's 3,000 letters survive). Her sister Cassandra (to whom most of the letters were written) burned "the greater part" of the ones she kept. The letters she did not destroy she censored. Other letters were destroyed by the heirs of Admiral Francis Austen, Jane's brother. Most of the biographies written about her for 50 years after she died was by her relatives, who often described her as "good quiet Aunt Jane". Scholars have not been able to find much information after that.
Austen's parents, George Austen (1731–1805), and his wife, Cassandra (1739–1827), were both part of the gentry. Cassandra was a part of the important Leigh family. George Austen, however, was of a lower class of society. He had first met Cassandra at Oxford, while she was meeting her uncle Theophilus. George and Cassandra married on 26 April 1764 at Walcot Church in Bath.
Austen had a large family. She had six brothers—James (1765–1819), George (1766–1838), Edward (1767–1852), Henry Thomas (1771–1850), Francis William (Frank) (1774–1865), Charles John (1779–1852)—and one sister, Cassandra Elizabeth (1773–1845), who died without marrying. Jane deeply loved Cassandra, and they were both best friends. Of her brothers, Austen was most close to Henry, who helped spread and influence her writing. "Oh, what a Henry!" she once wrote. George was almost ten years older than Jane. He suffered from fits and was not able to develop normally. His father wrote of him, "We have this comfort, he cannot be a bad or a wicked child". He may also have been deaf and mute. Jane knew sign language (she mentioned talking "with my fingers" in a letter) and could have communicated with him. Charles and Frank served in the navy. Edward was adopted by his fourth cousin, Thomas Knight. He became "Edward Knight" instead of Edward Austen in 1812.
Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon rectory. She was christened at home and then, as the Book of Common Prayer directs, brought to church for the baptism to be certified in public on 5 April 1776. A few months after she was born, her mother hired a woman named Elizabeth Littlewood to nurse her. Littlewood took care of Austen for about a year. According to family tradition, Jane and Cassandra were sent to Oxford to be educated by Mrs. Ann Crawley in 1783. They moved with her to Southampton later in the year. Both girls caught typhus and Jane almost died. After that, Austen was educated at home until she went to boarding school with Cassandra early in 1785. She learned some French, spelling, needlework, dancing,music, and probably drama. In the winter of 1786, Jane and Cassandra went back home.
Austen also learned much by reading books. Her father and brothers helped choose the books she read. George Austen seemed to have let his daughters read the books in his large library freely. He also allowed Austen's experiments in writing, and gave her costly paper and other writing materials.
Jane Austen and her family also enjoyed acting out plays privately. Most of the plays were comedies. This might have been a way for Austen's comedic and satirical talents to develop.
Perhaps from as early as 1787, Austen began writing poems, short stories, and plays for fun. Austen later put together "fair copies" of 29 of these early works into three notebooks. They are now called the "Juvenilia". It has pieces which were first written down between 1787 and 1793. Jane Austen had arranged her writing during this time into three volumes, namely "Volume the First", "Volume the Second" and "Volume the Third". There is some proof that Austen continued to work on these pieces later in life. Her nephew and niece, James Edward and Anna Austen, may have made further additions to her work in around 1814. In these works were included "Love and Freindship" which was completed in 1790 and "Lesley Castle" which was completed in 1792. In "Love and Freindship", she laughed at popular sentimental novels. She also wrote "The History of England", which had 13 watercolour pictures by her sister Cassandra inside it.
Jane Austen started to feel increasingly unwell during 1816, which was the year when her novel "<nowiki>'Persuasion' </nowiki>"was published. On 24 May 1817, she moved to Winchester in search for a cure to her illness. She died on 18 July 1817, aged 41. Although there is no conclusive evidence to prove the cause of her death, it seems likely that it was Addison's disease that killed her. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral on 24 July 1817.
Essay collections
Monographs and articles
Online works
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet.
She first published her works, including "Jane Eyre", under the pseudonym (false name) of Currer Bell. In 1846, Charlotte encouraged her sisters to print "Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell". They did not sell well. Her first novel, "The Professor", was rejected by many publishers. It was not printed until 1857. She is famous for her novel "Jane Eyre" (1847), which was very popular when it was printed.
"Jane Eyre" was a strong story of a plain, brave, clever woman struggling with her passions, reasons, and social condition. She later wrote the books "Shirley" (1849) and "Villette" (1853). She lived longer than her sisters, but she was only 38 when she died in pregnancy.
Charlotte Brontë was the third child of Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria née Branwell. In April 1821, the family moved a few miles to Haworth. Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate there. Maria Branwell Brontë died of cancer on 15 September 1821. She left her five daughters and a son to be looked after by her sister Elizabeth Branwell.
In August 1824, Charlotte was sent with three of her sisters to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire. She described it as Lowood School in her novel "Jane Eyre". The sisters were Emily, Maria and Elizabeth. The poor conditions of the school permanently affected Charlotte's health according to her. She thought it led to the early deaths of her two elder sisters, Maria (born 1814) and Elizabeth (born 1815). They died of tuberculosis in June 1825 soon after their father took them from the school on 1 June.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other living children (Branwell, Emily and Anne) began writing about the lives and struggles of the dwellers of their imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote Byronic stories about their country — Angria — Emily and Anne wrote articles and poems about theirs Gondal.
Charlotte went to school at Roe Head, Mirfield, from 1831 to 1832. There she met her lifelong friends, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. In 1833 she wrote her novella "The Green Dwarf" under the name of Wellesley. Charlotte returned as a teacher from 1835 to 1838. In 1839 she became a governess to various families in Yorkshire, a career she had until 1841.
In 1842 she and Emily travelled to Brussels to enroll in a pensionnat (boarding school) run by Constantin Heger (1809 – 1896) and his wife Claire Zoé Parent Heger (1814 – 1891). In return for this, Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. Their time at the pensionnat was cut short when Elizabeth Branwell, their aunt, died in October 1842. Charlotte returned alone to Brussels in January 1843 to be a teacher at the pensionnat. This stay was not happy. She became lonely, homesick and deeply attached to Constantin Heger. She finally returned to Haworth in January 1844 and later used her time at the pensionnat as the inspiration for some of "The Professor" and "Villette".
Emily Jane Brontë (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was a British author and poet. She is most famous for her only novel "Wuthering Heights" (published in 1847). She wrote under the pen name Ellis Bell. Brontë had two sisters, Charlotte and Anne, who were also writers. Her brother, Branwell, was a painter. She co-wrote the poetry collection "Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell" (1846), with her sisters. She was born in Thornton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She attended Cowan School with her sister Charlotte.
Brontë died of tuberculosis on 19 December 1848 in Haworth, West Riding of Yorkshire. She was 30.
Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë (17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English writer and poet. She is best known for writing "Agnes Grey" (1847) and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848).
Anne was born on 17 January 1820 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of Patrick and Marie Brontë and the youngest of their six children. She was taught at her family's home in Haworth by her aunt Elizabeth Branwell. She worked as a governess in 1839 and then again between 1841 and 1845.
In 1846 Anne contributed 21 poems to "Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell". This was a joint work with her sisters, Charlotte and Emily. "Agnes Grey" was published in 1847 in three volumes with "Wuthering Heights", a book written by her sister Emily. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" was published in 1848 and sold well.
Anne Brontë died on 28 May 1849 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England of tuberculosis.
The sisters of Anne Brontë:
The books of Anne Brontë:
Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was one of the great English writers of the 19th century.
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England. His parents were John Dickens (1785-1851), a naval pay clerk, and Elizabeth Barrow (1789–1863).
When Dickens was born he had a rare disorder meaning he could not read or write properly like other kids. When Charles was twelve years old, his family moved to Camden, London. He worked in a blacking factory there while his father was in prison for debt. Dickens's hard times in the factory served as a foundation of ideas for many of his novels. Many like "Oliver Twist" soon became famous. When his great-grandmother died and transmitted money, Charles' father paid off his debts and was released from prison. Charles did not like working and wished to stop working after his father was released. However, his mother said that the family needed the money so Charles was forced to continue working. Charles then finished his schooling, and got a job as an office boy for an attorney. After finding that job dull, he taught himself shorthand and became a journalist that reported on the government. Dickens was a Unitarian.
Charles Dickens was once involved in a train crash near Staple ford, Kent.
His first book was "Sketches by Boz" in 1836, a collection of the short pieces he had been writing for the Monthly Magazine and the Evening Chronicle. This was followed by "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" in 1837. Both these books became popular as soon as they were printed.
Charles Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870. He was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Charles Dickens wrote many books, including:
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is a city in the south of England, in the county of Hampshire. About 280,536 people live there (As Of 2017). It is a port and is the home of the British Royal Navy. It's the second-largest city in the county of Hampshire, behind Southampton. It is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. Portsmouth is on Portsea Island and is narrowly separated from the mainland by a creek.
For centuries the city was one of the world's biggest places of shipbuilding. Some of its most famous ships that people can still see are HMS Victory and the HMS Warrior. People also visit Portsmouth to see the old ship Mary Rose. This was Henry VIII of England's ship, and it was under the water for a long time, from 1545 to 1982. Tourists also go to see Cumberland House, the birthplace of Charles Dickens, a British author (writer).
Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, all British authors, are famous people who lived in Portsmouth.
It is home of the Football League Two side Portsmouth F.C. They play at Fratton Park.
Portsmouth has one university, the University of Portsmouth.
North of the city is Cosham.
HMS "Victory" is the oldest ship still in use. It is in Portsmouth, England with the HMS "Warrior" and the remains of the "Mary Rose", a ship belonging to Henry VIII of England.
Her most famous captains are Horatio Nelson, who died on the ship during the Battle of Trafalgar, and Samuel Hood.
HMS Warrior (1860)
The Mary Rose was a ship which belonged to Henry VIII of England. She sank in 1545 in battle with a French fleet.
In 1979, the "Mary Rose" Trust was formed. In 1982 the "Mary Rose" Trust managed to get the "Mary Rose" out of the sea. In 1994, they started to preserve her.
The remains of the "Mary Rose" are currently in Portsmouth, England with the HMS "Victory" and HMS "Warrior".
It is not known the exact reason for the sinking. One of the theories is that she had the gun ports open to fire at the French. She then turned to fire at the other side, but the men on board failed to close the gun ports. Sea water got in the open gun ports, which tipped her over and she sank.
The "Mary Rose" sank because the wind blew and tipped her over.
The name Mary Tudor can refer to either:
The Mutiny on the "Bounty has become a famous story, leading to many books, movies, and songs. The HMS "Bounty was a small, three masted, fully rigged, sailing ship. The "Bounty" became famous when the crew (seamen) mutinied (took over) the ship on 28 April 1789. The captain of the "Bounty" was named William Bligh.
The ship was built in Hull, England in 1784 and was first called "Bethia". In 1787 the ship was rebuilt to carry breadfruit trees. Heat and water were added to the cabins so the trees would survive in cold weather. The British government was hoping the breadfruit trees growing wild in Tahiti could be grown in Jamaica. This would provide cheap food for the slaves working on the sugar farms. The ship was very small - 90 feet 10 inches (27.7 metres) long and 24 feet 4 inches (7.4 metres) wide. The tallest mast was 53 feet (16.1 metres) high.
The "Bounty" was captained by Lieutenant William Bligh and he took command on 16 August 1787. On 23 December, 1787, "Bounty" set off on the long trip to Tahiti. On the journey, William Bligh tried to go around Cape Horn. He tried for over a month but bad weather and winds stopped the ship. The "Bounty" was turned around and went the longer way around the Cape of Good Hope.
The "Bounty" reached Tahiti on 25 October 1788. She had been at sea for ten months. The crew stayed for five months and lived on the island. They collected 1015 breadfruit plants. The crew were very happy living in Tahiti and Fletcher Christian fell in love with a Tahitian girl named Maimiti. They did not want to have another long journey and go back to England.
The "Bounty" left Tahiti on 4 April 1789, on the way to Jamaica. On 28 April, near the Friendly Islands, Fletcher Christian led the mutiny (take over). Bligh and 18 sailors were left at sea in a small boat, while Christian and the "Bounty" went back to Tahiti. Christian and a small group of sailors, 11 Tahitian women, and 6 Tahitian men then went to the remote Pitcairn Island. After they arrived they took everything they could from the ship. A sailor called Matthew Quintal, burned and destroyed the "Bounty" on 23 January 1790.
Pitcairn Island is a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. The Polynesians knew about the island and people had once lived there. There was nobody living on Pitcairn when it was discovered by an English sailor, Philip Carteret on 2 July 1767. He made a mistake and marked it on the map 200 miles from its real location. The people from the "Bounty" had the remote island to themselves. There was a lot of fighting between the new settlers. Fletcher Christian, 4 other mutineers and all 6 of the Tahitian men were killed. One of the 4 surviving mutineers fell off a cliff while drunk. Matthew Quintal was killed by the remaining 2 mutineers after he attacked them. When the American seal-hunting ship "Topaz" visited the island in 1808 they found only 1 mutineer, John Adams, still alive along with 9 Tahitian women. In 1856, the British government moved all the island people to Norfolk Island. Most stayed on Norfolk, but about 22 people found their way back and their descendants still live on Pitcairn. Norfolk has about 1000 "Bounty" descendants, which is about half its population.
Lieutenant William Bligh was able to sail the small boat 6500 km back to Batavia. He returned to England and reported the mutiny to the Admiralty on 15 March 1790. On 7 November 1790, HMS "Pandora" was sent to Tahiti look for the "Bounty" and to bring back the mutineers for punishment. The "Pandora" was able to capture the mutineers left on Tahiti, but could find no sign of the group that was hiding on Pitcairn. The "Pandora" was wrecked on the way back to England.
The following list tells what happened to the crew of the "Bounty".
Two died before the mutiny:
From the 19 left in the small boat, only 12 got back safely to England
One sailor was killed on the trip to Timor:
One sailor died from disease when they reached Timor:
Three sailors died from disease not long after getting to Batavia:
Two sailors died on their way home from Batavia to England:
Seven sailors were forced to stay on the "Bounty" after the mutiny. There was not room in the small boat. They were all taken prisoner in Tahiti by the "Pandora" to be taken back to England to be charged:
Two of the mutineers who stayed on Tahiti died before the "Pandora" arrived:
Three mutineers who were captured by the "Pandora", drowned in the wreck:
Four mutineers survived the wreck and were taken to England for trial:
Only two of the mutineers who went to Pitcairn died peacefully:
October 25
Political virtues
The political virtues were listed by Bernard Crick "In Defense of Politics", 1982. They included but were not limited to: