Essay About Hypocrisy Of His Own Aristocratic Class And Ada Galsworthy

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 cousins 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 fathers 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.