Galsworthy, John

English novelist and dramatist. His work examines the social issues of the Victorian period. He wrote The Forsyte Saga (1906–22) and its sequel, the novels collectively entitled A Modern Comedy (1929). His plays include The Silver Box (1906). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

Major works
Galsworthy first achieved recognition with The Silver Box and The Man of Property (1906), the first instalment of the Forsyte Saga series, which also includes In Chancery (1920) and To Let (1921). Soames Forsyte, the central character, is the embodiment of Victorian values and feeling for property, and the wife whom he also ‘owns’ – Irene – was based on Galsworthy's wife. A Modern Comedy contains The White Monkey (1924), The Silver Spoon (1926), and Swan Song (1928), and (included in later editions) the short stories On Forsyte Change (1930).