Edwardian (1901-1939): Synthesis

With the end of Victorian era, the Edwardian Era marked a new beginning for intense and bloody, political life style. The most notable fact is that war was regarded amoral rather than immoral, and violence was largely justified as righteous retribution. Nowadays, keeping the world peace is every country’s first priority and war is undoubtedly considered immoral. However, back in the Edwardian Era, the term “war” was taken differently due to World War I that came shortly after industrialization. Most European nations were involved with one of the most brutal violence for a long period of time, and the immense damage caused change in thoughts. Nationalism emerged throughout the society. Patriotic and eager citizens supported their countries and together they endured poverty and hardships in daily life. Slowly, violence, although absolutely wrong in logical sense, was conveyed as a justified act. Because the era was so absorbed in to the confliction, it reached to the point where war seemed normal. It might have even looked unpatriotic if the citizens don’t actively participate. Therefore, war was something that needed to be embraced in order to defend real, greedy and wicked reason for the bloody scene. This social change also affected the characteristics of art and literature of the era. In popular poems of the Edwardian period, The Everlasting Mercy (1911), and Dauber (1912), poet John Masefield emphasizes the boldness and masculine mind. He portrays cruelty as powerfully realistic, and embraces violence.