Lytton Strachey by Himself by Lytton Strachey

Author:Lytton Strachey [Strachey, Lytton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784974190
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd.
Published: 2015-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

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The war acted as a catalyst to the writing of Eminent Victorians. Strachey altered his original concept of the book so that its theme became an ironic sifting of those Victorian pretensions that seemed to have led civilization into a holocaust of unparalleled magnitude.

For those who are misled by his jokes and camp manner into believing that Strachey did not feel strongly about militarism it may be necessary to emphasize that, because of his poor health, there was no chance of his being called up after compulsory military service had been introduced in Britain. However, he objected to conscription in principle, had worked for the No Conscription Fellowship, and, after the passing of the Military Service Bill, registered as a conscientious objector. ‘No doubt I have many feelings against joining the army which are not conscientious,’ he wrote to his brother James (28 February 1916), ‘but one of my feelings is that if I were to find myself doing clerical work in Class IVb – i.e. devoting all my working energy to helping on the war – I should be convinced that I was doing wrong the whole time; and if that isn’t a conscientious objec tion I don’t know what is... I’m willing to go to prison rather than do that work.’

On 7 March 1916 he appeared as a claimant for exemption before the Hampstead Advisory Committee, and read the following statement. The Committee rejected his claim.

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