Commentary antony & cleopatra

Historical context of Modernist Literature. Last decades of the 19th century to the beginning of the Second World War. The First World War and Its Aftermath • After the war, almost everyone would have had direct experience of loss and bereavement. • Questioning the beliefs, class hierarchies and conventional moralities that made such a war possible. • Rising importance of psychiatry as a “cure” for shell shock • Shocked pessimism dominates