The 26 Best Writers of History (Western)

The Best writers They include Jane Austen, Miguel de Cervantes, Marcel Proust, Pablo Neruda and many others that I will name in this article. Writing, like other arts, awakens a series of feelings that would make it impossible to create a fair Olympus that satisfies all humanity.

In 1994, literary critic Harold Bloom published his work The Western Canon. The Books and School of Ages , Where he defended the existence of an elíseo of writers who managed to achieve aesthetic or artistic purity in his works.

This purity is based on the Esthetic Of Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804), which focused on seeking an intersubjective solution to the judgments about the artistic question and its legitimacy.

Below we list the 26 writers Bloom considered should appear on his list. You may also like This list of historical characters .

List with the best writers in Western history

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

William Shakespeare

Most important figure in the English-speaking literature. Poet and playwright, he is the author of 37 theatrical works and more than 150 sonnets, being The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet , Othello or Hamlet Some of its best known.

For Bloom, Shakespeare is on the cusp (along with Dante Alighieri) of his Canon.

If you want more information about this genius do not miss their 34 main works .

Dante Alighieri (1265? - 1321)

Quotes by Dante Alighieri

Born in Florence, Dante is one of the most recognized Italian poets in history, being considered as the"father of the Italian language". His best known work above all is the Divine Comedy , But also trials like Vita Nuova O De vulgari eloquentia Are highly valued essays.

As we discussed earlier, along with Shakespeare, the Florentine author is at the top of the Canon for Harold Bloom.

To know more about this author do not miss the article The 83 Best Phrases by Dante Alighieri .

Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616)

Phrases of Miguel de Cervantes

Author born in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) and the largest symbol of Spanish literature. "The Prince of the Witches"has the honor of owning the most edited and translated literary work of the stories after the Bible. As you can intuit we talk about Don Quijote of La Mancha , Work culmen of the author of Century of Gold.

"Like Shakespeare, Cervantes is inevitable for all the writers who followed him. If Dickens and Flaubert reflect their narrative method, Melville and Kafka inherit their character,"Bloom commented on the Spanish author in an article for El País.

In The 100 Best Quotes from Don Quixote You can extract some of the pearls from the pen of Cervantes.

Jane Austen (1775 - 1817)

Phrases from Jane Austen

Writer considered as one of the"classics"of the British novel. With an ironic and serene style, his work has always been linked to the environment that has surrounded him.

He wrote six novels, being Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility Y Persuasion Its best known.

Austen has been portrayed in film a lot of times, in part by some of Your best phrases .

Molière (1622-1673)

Moliere

Jean Baptiste-Poquelin is considered the father of the French Comedy, being one of the actors and playwrights that more have influenced in the theater.

Among his works we could highlight Tartufo, The Miser , The Bourgeois gentleman And above all The Misanthrope .

Molière, who had tuberculosis, felt indisposed while on stage while he represented his work The Imaginary Sick , Dying within a few hours at his home. Although this resulted in the popular superstition of the bad luck of the yellow in the theater, could also be interpreted as the love of a man for the art and its work.

Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910)

Leon-tolstoi

Writer of Russian origin, besides playwright, philosopher or pedagogue. In spite of its noble origin, it lived a life desestructurada by the convulsa stage that lived his country. This influenced his way of seeing the world and therefore of narrating his works.

We can highlight his novels War and peace , The death of Ivan Ilich, Los Cacos or Ana Karenina .

His ideology on"non-active violence"has influenced throughout history in many thinkers like Martin Luther King or Ghandi.

Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)

Franz-kafka

Exponent of the renewal experienced by the European novel at the beginning of the 20th century. Of Czech origin, although its work would be written in German of almost complete way. His narratives stand out for their symbolism and their expression of anguish in the everyday life of contemporary man.

Metamorphosis , The process Or El Castillo Have been some of his best known writings, being so striking and personal that the term Kafkaian Is collected in the Real Academia de la Lengua as something distressing or absurd.

Kafka left unfinished many of his works and few could see them published, however, its influence has been very important in feathers like that of Sartre, García Márquez The Albert Camus.

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)

Phrases from sigmund freud

Sigmund Freud Is known for his work in the field of psychoanalysis, this Austrian neurologist has been one of the most influential men of the last century thanks to his work and projects.

In the article 9 most important books by Freud , We compiled some of the gems that Bloom decided to include in her list of aesthetic purity.

If you are interested in this character, you know Your best dates To further discover how his mind worked and what his ideas and philosophy of life were.

Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)

Marcel-proust

Intelligent and sensitive man, he is considered as one of the most important essayists of France, partly thanks to works like In Search of Lost Time , One of the masterpieces of the twentieth century.

The death of the cathedrals , Pleasures and days or Parodies and miscellaneous Are other titles of the author born in Paris.

Pablo Neruda (1904 - 1973)

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda Was Nobel Prize for Literature (1971) and Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Oxford.

"No poet in the Western Hemisphere of our century admits comparison with him,"Bloom said of the author of Twenty Poems of love and a desperate song, Residencia en la tierra or Elementary Odes .

To learn more about this genius, discover some of his Best quotes about reflection or love .

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

Emily-dickinson

Poet born in Massachusetts, her sensitivity and depth to embrace the issues are some of the signs of her pen's identity.

Her work was very prolific, but barely a dozen poems were published while she lived. Life, love, time and eternity, nature or death were some of the themes that shaped the American writer in her work.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Goethe Phrases

German writer and one of the exponents of Romanticism. His work is based on epic and lyric writing in different modalities like prose and verse.

The learning years of Wilhelm Meister , Splendor or Elective affinities Are some of the titles that have deserved to appear in this list.

If you are interested in this author do not hesitate to enter into the article The" 123 best sentences of Goethe ".

Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)

Quotes by Charles Dickens

English writer and social critic, as it would be reflected in many of his works. He is one of the most important novelists of the Victorian era and some of his characters are world famous, enjoying lasting popularity.

Christmas Story, David Copperfield, Tough Times or Oliver Twist Are some of these perishable works in the libraries of any home.

Discover the ingenuity of this novelist through the article" Charles Dickens' Top 87 Phrases ".

Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986)

Jorge Luis Borges

Porteño by birth, is considered one of the most important literary figures of the last century. He worked several genres and sometimes came to merge them, highlighting brief stories.

The Aleph, The Maker, Fictions or The Brodie Report Are some of the key works of Borges.

Although considered one of the masters of contemporary fiction, he never received the Nobel Prize for Literature for his political ideas.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Walt Whitman

Humanist who worked as a journalist, poet and essayist. Born in the United States, he had some hard beginnings in which he practiced as a teacher or volunteer in the American Civil War, his talent was recognized in life, as was evident in his multitudinal funeral.

Alcohol, his sexuality or religion were some of the ingredients of his life that gave form to works like Leaves of Grass .

Find out more about this author by analyzing some of their more Famous quotes .

Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941)

Virginia woolf

Adeline Virginia Stephen became an important literary figure in the United Kingdom during the inter-war period thanks to his talents as an essayist, novelist, letter writer or storyteller.

The Waves, Mrs. Dalloway or Al Faro Are some of the most famous works of this convinced feminist, which had to deal in an era in which the literary genre was dominated by the man.

John Milton (1608 - 1674)

John milton

Important poetic figure of the United Kingdom, being compared with William Shakespeare.

A learned and enlightened man, he knew the classical languages, Hebrew and Italian, and became minister of foreign languages ​​during Cromwell's tenure.

Works Like lost paradise Y The recovered paradise Make him worthy of being considered one of the most important contemporary writers.

Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906)

Henrik-ibsen

Freethinker since very young and director and playwright of a theater since the age of 25. His trips to countries such as Italy and Germany exploded his creative capacity, being the period where he developed most of his work.

Although he was a controversial person and many of his titles were a scandal for the time, to this day he is considered the father of the modern realist drama and one of the artists who have most influenced modern dramaturgy.

Wraith , Brand , An enemy of the people or The Lady of the Sea Are some of his most significant works.

Fernando Pessoa (1888 - 1935)

Fernando-pessoa

The most important writer of Portuguese speaking, stiuado also among the most recognized worldwide. Poet and novelist, he practiced journalism and the commercial world.

His work in verse was the most outstanding, being Essential Poems of Fernando Pessoa, poems by Álvaro de Campos Y Odes by Ricardo Reis .

James Joyce (1882 - 1941)

James-joyce

Born in Dublin, his work has always been closely linked to his hometown. However, he was one of the most cosmopolitan authors of the time and one of the most influential of the twentieth century.

Ulises Is his work culmen, but novels Like Portrait of the teenage artist or Finnegans Wake Are another of the wonders of this Anglo-Saxon avant-garde.

Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)

Samuel beckett

Born in Dublin (Ireland), he is one of the greatest icons of literary experimentalism. Focused on minimalism, his writings address the pessimism of the human condition.

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, his most significant work is Waiting for Godot . Anecdotally, he was a disciple of James Joyce and worked for him as a translator.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 - 1400)

Geoffrey-chaucer

Next to Dante, the oldest list member. Philosopher, writer, poet, alchemist, diplomat or astronomer, the life of this multi-faceted English is marked by Tales from Canterbury , His best known stories.

They could also highlight House of fame, The Book of the Duchess or The Legend of Good Women .

Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)

Michel-de-montaigne

One of the most brilliant figures of the Renaissance. Humanist and skeptical, he was an admirer of Seneca, Plutarch, or Socrates, who influenced his writings.

He worked as a magistrate to get enough money and retire to his castle to write. His literary style was particularly pessimistic, something rare for the time he lived.

George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

George-eliot

Called Mary Anne Evans, she used the male pseudonym so that her work was taken seriously.

Author of novel and poetry, one could stand out among others to Silas Marner, Romola Y Mid March , His best known work.

Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

Samuel-johnson

Better known as Dr. Johnson, he began to get noticed in the lyrics through his journalistic articles and his satirical poems. Considered as one of the most distinguished feathers of English literature, he influenced in a important way among other writers of his time.

His best known works are: The vanity of human desires, Rasselas, prince of Abyssinia or Dictionary of the English language .

William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)

William-wordsworth

One of the greatest exponents of English Romanticism and literature of the nineteenth century.

With a simple and daily language he innovated in poetry, being key his Lyrical Ballads, Poetry or The tour .

Literates of renown, their qualities are not questioned and appear on this list is less deserved. However, I am sure dear reader that you miss some author, tell us!


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