The Present Age

After the 2^nd WW, in England, after a tradition of conservatives, the Labour Party won the elections.

Thanks to the Marshall Plan, England quickly solved the economical crisis provoked by the war. But there was still a huge gap among social classes (a lot of them were subject to rationing) and so the government adopted the Welfare State, which was a service through which the government aided people. The first step was the social security, so they helped jobless and homeless people; a second step was the health, granted, through the National Health Service act, free medical treatment. The third step regarded education: some bonuses were introduced for the best students in order to go to the University.

THE WAR POETS ( Clicca qui >> )

The labour party also adopted the policy of nationalization of the industries: the government acquired the titles and the industrials had to support it.

APPUNTO SUL MODERNISMO INGLESE ( Clicca qui >> )

In this period there was also the testing of the hydrogen bomb.But the loyalty to the monarch remained: when George VI died, his daughter Elizabeth II ascended to the throne.

She was associated to Elizabeth I, and for this reason there was the idea that a new Golden Age could return.

L'ULISSE DI JOYCE ( Clicca qui >> )

In this period the affluent society affirmed, linked to the age of the pervasiveness. Infact, in England televisions, fridges, washing-machines, sportive cars were imported. The broadcast system wasn’t associated to the war anymore. And this was called age of pervasiveness because the barriers linked to the Victorian Age dropped. Infact, women with children outside marriages were accepted, and so also homosexuals, provided that they exchanged effusions in private; the use of contraceptive; the divorce; if the husband didn’t work, the wife could maintain him with her wage.