Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 – 4 April 1774) was a writer, poet, and physician famous for his novel, The Vicar of Wakefield(1776). His first successful literary work was The Traveller (1764), a poem about British rule.[1] Like Jonathan Swift, Goldsmith society, but he did not use satire like Swift.[1] Goldsmith's greatest poem, The Deserted Village (1770), was a sad poem about how country life was being destroyed by landowners.[1] The same theme is inside The Vicar of Wakefield. Goldsmith's biggest work at that time was a collection of soft-satire essays on English life seen by an imaginary Chinese visitor. He also wrote two plays, The Good Natured Man (1768), and She Stoops to Conquer (1773).[1](He is also thought to have written the classic children's story, The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes.)
Life
It is not known for sure when he was born. Most people now think that he was born in 10 November 1730.[3] He was the second son of Charles Goldsmith, curate of Kilkenny West in West Meath in Ireland. In 1745 he went to Trinity College Dublin. He quickly spent all his money by gambling, which he became to. After spending some time at the Universities of Edinburgh and Leyden he spent 1755 – 1756 travelling in Europe, where it is said that he lived by playing the flute. Before starting to write he worked in London as a doctor's helper, a doctor, and a school . He died in 1774 and was buried in Temple Church.
Oliver Goldsmith Media
A plaque to Oliver Goldsmith at the Temple Church in London, where he was buried.
A statue of Goldsmith at Trinity College, Dublin
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Stobaugh, James P. (2005). British Literature. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers. ISBN 9780805458947.
- ↑ 'A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, D. George Thompson, published by Owen Bailey, after James William Edmund Doyle, published 1 October 1851
- ↑ The Vicar of Wakefield. United States, New York: Oxford University Press Inc. 2006. ISBN 978-0-19-953754-9.
Other websites
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Wikisource has original writing related to this article: |
- Works by Oliver Goldsmith at Project Gutenberg
- Essays by Oliver Goldsmith at Quotidiana.org
- The Deserted Village
- Oliver Goldsmith: A Biography Archived 2004-10-14 at the Wayback Machine by Washington Irving from Project Gutenberg
- Goldsmith Archived 2008-07-08 at the Wayback Machine (English Men of Letters series) by William Black from Project Gutenberg
- An Essay on the Theatre; or, A Comparison Between Laughing and Sentimental Comedy
- Goldsmith Hall - student accommodation and lecture theatre, Trinity College, Dublin.
- Information on Goldsmith Archived 2006-06-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Oliver Goldsmith Resource Archived 2006-10-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Works by Oliver Goldsmith in e-book version
- The Goldsmith International Literary Festival Archived 2008-06-15 at the Wayback MachineInfo on the Festival held annually in Goldsmith's Home County
- Poems and essays, Oliver Goldsmith, 1839, (William Smith, London)
- Oliver Goldsmith at Find a Grave