John Galsworthy

ohn Galsworthy

John Galsworthy belonged to a rich ancient and well established family

of Devonshire. He was born in Surrey on Aug 14, 1867. He received

education at Harrow Public School and Oxford University where he

studied law. In 1890 he became a lawyer but since he belonged to a

rich, affluent family, he never practised law. His legal training

reinforces his natural tendency to judicious impartiality and

exactness in the use of words. For some time in his life, he moved

around the world aimlessly,and on such voyage when he was returning

home, he met Joseph Conrad, a Polish sailor who later on became a

great novelist and his lifelong friend. During this time, he

discovered the dreadful London slums, some of which paid huge rents to

his own father and he was horrified by the misery he saw there. The

hypocrisy of his own aristocratic class became intolerable to him and

at the same time, he fell in love with his cousin's exceptionally

beautiful and talented wife, Ada Galsworthy, who was very unhappy in

her marriage. For 10 years, they maintained a secret love affair

because divorce in those days was unusual and moreover, Galsworthy

knew that his father would be distressed by this. They waited and got

married in 1905 upon his father's death and remained devoted to each

other for the rest of their lives. Ada came to be divorced and she was

looked down upon by most of their acquaintances and the humiliation

and suffering because of this deeply upset Galsworthy and he turned

into a rebel against the class to which he belonged for the rest of

his life through his writings. Ada helped him and discussed every

detail of his work and all his manuscripts were read and reread and

typed neatly.