A Fresh Look at Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga from the New Historicist Perspective

John Galsworthy as a novelist has a distinct place in the canon of English novelistic literature. However, he remained praised or dispraised for his concentrated representation of upper middle class life. Though he belonged to the same class, he was not of it. This aspect of his artistic achievement will come to the fore only when we study him in the context of his milieu, which was a society in transition and his technical virtuosity in dealing with the material. The new historicist approach helps us to identify his great achievement as a narrator of high sophistication. This review article explains Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga with a new historicist perspective. First it has a brief detail about the author. Secondly the different aspects (principles) of New Historicism are given. Thirdly the justification of the study of The Forsyte Saga with New Historicist approach is explained. The close reading of the primary text has been taken into account by choosing select passages from the primary source and analyzing them with the principles of new historicism. Here three passages from three novels, The Man of Property, In Chancery and To Let have been chosen for study. Finally it has a conclusion gathering all the important points explained in the article.