William Morris

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2018

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of William Morris, known in his lifetime for his poetry and then his contribution to the Arts and Crafts movement, and increasingly for his political activism. He felt the world had given in to drudgery and ugliness and he found inspiration in the time before industrialisation, in the medieval life which was about fellowship and association and ways of working which resisted the division of labour and allowed the worker to exercise his or her imagination. Seeing a disconnection between art and society, his solution was revolution which in his view was the only way to reset their relationship. The image above is from the Strawberry Thief wallpaper design by William Morris. With Ingrid Hanson Lecturer in 18th and 19th Century Literature at the University of Manchester Marcus Waithe University Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Magdalene College And Jane Thomas Professor of Victorian and Early 20th Century Literature at the University of Hull Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the BBC.
0:02.0	Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:05.0	There's a reading list to go with it on our website.
0:07.0	And you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time.
0:12.0	I hope you enjoyed the programs.
0:14.0	Hello, William Morris 1834 to 1896 is best known now as a designer wallpaper.
0:20.0	And for his advice to have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful
0:24.0	or believe to be beautiful.
0:26.0	Look beneath that wallpaper and you'll find a Victorian socialist
0:30.0	appalled by the lives of factory workers.
0:32.0	He contrasted their conditions with the medieval world where he pictured craftsmen taking pleasure in their work and working for pleasure.
0:38.0	For him, the aesthetic was political.
0:40.0	He thought if workers were more aware of beauty and its value, they would agitate them
0:46.0	and make them notice what the rich had in abundance and which they too might have if a revolution came.
0:51.0	We invite you to discuss William Morris our Marcus Wath, University Serious Senior Lecturer in English literature at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Moreland College.
1:01.0	In Greenhandson, a lecture in 18th and 19th century literature at the University of Manchester and Jane Thomas.
1:07.0	Professor of Victorian and early 20th century literature at the University of Hollywood.
1:12.0	Marcus Wath, can you tell us about William Morris's early life?
1:15.0	Yes, Morris was born in 1837.
1:19.0	Both of his parents were of Welsh extraction.
1:23.0	Morris became very aware and proud of that heritage as his life proceeded.
1:28.0	He was born in Wolfenstow, now East London.
	...

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