Humour in English Literature

Clive James and Peter Porter, after their first series of discussions on literature and the arts, were asked to record another series, this time about the role of humour in English literature from Chaucer until now.

Programme 1
Date of Show: Sat, May 18, 2002
The world as it really is... from Chaucer to the early plays of Shakespeare.

Programme 2
Date of Show: Sat, May 25, 2002
The 17th century: from Shakespeare to Congreve and Rochester.

Programme 3
Date of Show: Sat, July 06, 2002
The 18th century; Boswell and Johnson, Pope and Swift, Fielding and Richardson.

Programme 4
Date of Show: Sat, July 13, 2002
The 19th century. From Byron and Peacock to Dickens and Wilde.

Programme 5
Date of Show: Sat, August 17, 2002
The 20th century, part one: from Shaw to Waugh.

Programme 6
Date of Show: Sat, August 24, 2002
The 20th century, part two. Satire in fiction and verse, from Evelyn Waugh to Raymond Chandler; from Betjeman to e e cummings... and more.