Even better, testament of youth has a strong christian, moral worldview of serving others. The book shows how the impact extended into the postwar years. Testament of youth is a 2014 british drama film based on the first world war memoir of the same name written by vera brittain. The plot of the film broadly follows narrative of the book, but does deviate in two. Testament of youth is a 1933 autobiographical memoir by vera brittain. Full text of testament of youth an autobiographical study.
In fact, for me the central narrative challenge of testament of youth is brittains effort to resolve the tension between the conflicting roles of active participant as nurse and passive spectator as mourner of the deadthough, as we will see, mourning cannot be understood simply as a passive activity of spectatorship, since freud. In the midst of her studies at oxford when war broke out across europe, vera brittain left. An intimate epic, testament of youth has great historical sweep yet remains focused on the human vicissitudes experienced by vera and her circle. This is vera brittains account of her childhood in buxton, england. She studies at the university of california, santa barbara. Testament of youth by vera brittaindiana athill first read vera. That work has never been out of print since first published in 1933, and its influence has been strengthened. She witnessed the coming of the british empire, and lived long enough to see the fall of the empire. Dive deep into vera brittains testament of youth with extended analysis. As the book closes, she has met and moved in with winifred holtby, her greatest. This 54page guide for testament of youth by vera brittain includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 12 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. I havent read it yet, but im certain it covers her experience in marriage and motherhood, as well as international affairs, including world war ii. The film was directed by james kent and written by juliette towhidi. The testament of youth community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and.
The testament of youth community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Vera brittain 18931970 served as a nurse in the british armed forces in world war i and afterward devoted herself to the causes of peace and feminism. Testament of youth essay example for free newyorkessays database with more than 65000 college essays for studying. Such interest is set to expand even more in this centenary year of the wars outbreak. Vera brittains testament of youth, for example, is a primary source and a memoir, assembled from her own diaries and letters sent from around the turn of the century, and has the unique flavor of being a womans perspective during the war. Testament of friendship 1940 and testament of experience 1957. Though often remembered as one of a very few world.
Published in 1933, testament of youth became an instant hit. Its a love story, so private, so singular to veraand it was to love. Elizabeth day explores why this book about the futility of death. This was a selection for my book club and so at least i got a notion of what the book was about. Testament of youth by vera brittaindiana athill first read vera brittains wartime memoir when it was published in 1933 and found the author tiresomely selfimportant and melodramatic. The reputation of vera mary brittain, named a fellow of the royal society of literature in 1946, centers on her achievements as an influential british feminist and pacifist and on her famous memoir of world war i, testament of youth. It is every bit as good as id remembered when i read it first about twenty years ago. Over the next six years, testament of youth sold 120,000 copies. Use dmy dates from april 2014 template film date with 2 release dates. In 2010, i read her memoir again and i may reread it a third time as i also experience. In vera brittain s memoir testament of youth, the negative aspects of early to midtwentiethcentury western society are examined in depth. She wrote twentynine books, of which testament of youth is the bestknown. The movie opens on armistice day in 1918 and then flashes back four years to 1914, a breezier time when the most dire thing on veras mind was getting her father dominic west to agree to let her take. Testament of youth was a best seller when it was first published in 1933, and became a bestseller once again in the 1970s.
Testament of youth is the story of the loss of an entire generations youth and innocence to the shattering tragedy of world war i 19141918. This book was a cliff notes of the real testament of youth. Tiein testament of youth the old testament pseudepigrapha, vol. Vera brittain was an english writer, feminist and pacifist, who wrote the best selling testament of youth an account of her traumatic experiences during the first world war. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Testament of youth is astounding in how it demonstrates just how. Testament of youth is both a record of what she lived through and an elegy for a vanished generation. Testament of youth by vera brittain books the guardian. The main character gives up her dreams to be a nurse for the wounded in world war i. More pertinently, shirley is the daughter of vera brittain, who is the author of testament of youth.
This study guide consists of approximately 24 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis. Testament of youth captures vera brittains innocence. Testament of youth by juliette towhidi based on the autobiography of vera brittain white shooting script 03. What shirley enjoyed in her academic life, vera had to fight for hers tooth and nail. Testament of youth study guide contains a biography of vera brittain, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Featured content includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay topics, and key themes like feminism and the impact of world war i on. Testament of youth, vera brittains memoir of life, love, and loss during wwi first came to my attention because of masterpiece theater which serialized it at least 20 years ago. Vera brittain was born 29 december 1893 in newcastle to a wealthy family who owned paper mills.
I should have known better are shattered in the introduction the existence of a lost generation is not literally true, and is entirely unsupported by the statistical evidence. It is a personal account of a young middle classed woman at the beginning of her adult life, just taking up a foughtfor place at oxford, thrown into a world war which absorbed and decimated. Vera brittain and the first world war tells the remarkable story of the author behind testament of youth whilst charting the books ascent to become one of the most loved memoirs of the first world war period. This paper takes an indepth look at the life of feminist vera brittain through analyzing her autobiography, testament of youth.
Expansions of the old testament and legends, wisdom and philosophical literature, prayers, psalms, and odes, fragments of lost judeohellenistic works new testament for everyone set, 18 volumes the. Analysis of the book youth and ghost by adam hochschild. A young womans coming of age experience is shattered and transfigured over night by world war i. Between these two books comes testament of friendship published in 1940, which is essentially a memoir of brittains close colleague and. Between these two books comes testament of friendship published in. When i first read testament of youth, i was 23the same age vera was in 1917and i accepted the story as she told it. Testament of youth by vera brittain devon remembers. Testament of youth by vera brittain on many levels, testament of youth is not an easy read. Testament of youth is based on the late british writer and pacifist vera brittains alicia vikander memoir about her experiences as an oxford studentturnedwar nurse during world war i. These notes were contributed by members of the gradesaver community.
Testament of youth is her memorial to roland, edward, and the others. Testament of youth is a memoir written by vera brittain, first published in 1933, and deals with the authors life during world war i. December 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message. My favorite time in history is wwi, and many have called this book the novel that best captures that period. This sample essay is completed by harper, a social sciences student. Testament of youth is the first instalment, covering 19001925, in the memoir of vera brittain 18931970. The third book testament of experience covers 19251950. Making his feature debut after work in television and documentaries, director james kent proves exceptionally skilled in supplying the film with a hauntingly poetic visual sense and eliciting. Hailed by the times literary suplement as a book that helped both form and define the mood of its time, it speaks to any generation that has been irrevocably changed by war. Testament of youth is a 2014 british drama film based on the first world war memoir of the.
In reply to this question, the stunning book testament of youth by vera brittain comes to mind. Its based on the beloved ww1 memoir by vera brittain, which was a bestseller on publication, heralded as the voice of a generation and has become the classic testimony of that war, from a womans point of view. This is the passionate, true story of vera brittain, who fought to further her education at oxford, only to postpone her attendance to serve as a volunteer nurse during the great war. That said, the movie has some violence and romance. Brittains memoir continues with testament of experience, published in 1957, and encompassing the years 19251950. The film stars alicia vikander as vera brittain, an independent young woman who abandoned her oxford studies to become a war nurse.
The most important thing that the reader learns about world. But many rereadings, and the shifting perspective that comes with encroaching years, have convinced me that the book is deceptively candidnot a simple. Testament of youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the first world war memoir by vera brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a womans point. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Literary testament of youth by vera brittain book clubs. All the content of this paper is just her opinion on western front and testament of youth and should not be seen as the way of presenting the. Hm, my ideas of the lost generation, perhaps an all too romantic one and not a scientific one. Vera brittain and the first world war by mark bostridge. Testament of youth is a powerful comingofage story which tackles love, war, loss and remembrance. Vera brittain wrote several volumes to document her life experiences, including one about her later life from 19251950 and another about her relationship with winifred holtby, a close friend. The film stars alicia vikander as vera brittain, an independent young woman who abandoned her studies at somerville college, oxford, to become a war nurse. Obviously, her entire future and past have not been erased by the deaths of roland and edward, but in that moment, that is the depth of her grief. Published in 1933, testament of youth by vera brittain is a memoir of the authors young life. For example, she says, there seemed to be nothing left in the world, for i felt that roland had taken with him all my future and edward all my past.
With the outbreak of the second world war, brittains. I purchased it by accident and didnt really know how to return it. An autobiographical study of the years 19001925 the book testament of youth, written by vera brittain is vera brittains very. The first part of a trilogy, it covers the years 19001925, from brittains early schoolage childhood through her late thirties. A final segment of memoir, to be called testament of faith or testament of time, was planned by brittain but remained unfinished at her death. Brittain dissects the patriarchal society that limits women to certain jobs, restricts their opportunities to higher education, and overall controls womens lives and their ability. Testament of youth has been acclaimed as a classic for its description of the impact of world war i on the lives of women and the middleclass civilian population of great britain. Full text of testament of youth an autobiographical study of the years 19001925. The testament of youth by vera brittain 1156 words cram. This essay is an analysis and critique of vera brittains testament of youth.
This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of testament of youth by vera brittain. Vera brittains testament of youth is a book that is deeply important to me, but it is also a book i wrestle with. Literary testament of youth by vera brittain mobileread. Testament of youth by vera brittaindiana athill first read vera brittains wartime memoir when it was published in 1933 and found the author. It is no accident that vera brittain began writing testament of youth, her peerless memoir of a.