John Galsworthy's major literary achievement was the Forsyte Chronicles, a family epic consisting of two novel trilogies as well as several short stories. The Chronicles satirize upper-middle-class and upper-class British society in the Edwardian age and the immediate post-World War I period. Galsworthy was also a major dramatist, whose social dramas were very popular in his lifetime and are still performed. A compassionate reformer, he campaigned against long prison terms, abusive treatment of prisoners, class discrimination, injustice, anti-Semitism, and the intransigence of capitalists and labor union leaders.
In his novels John Galsworthy portrayed traditional “English” values: honorable behavior, love of the countryside, integrity in business and other worldly affairs, devotion to justice, respect for women, and support for the underdog. Modernist writers, however, like D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce, scoffed at...
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Citation: Sternlicht, Sanford. "John Galsworthy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1674, accessed 09 December 2025.]
