Review: Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain Diana Athill first read Vera Brittain's wartime memoir when it was published in 1933 and found the author tiresomely self-important and melodramatic. It was the first time women were accepted in many areas of work that had previously been the preserve of men. What follows are extracts from his article and a passage from the Testament of Youth’s. “Testament of Youth was written by Vera Brittain, a woman approaching 40 who had spent some 17 years coming to terms with her singular experience of the first world war – as a girl, a fiancee, a feminist, a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse and, finally, as the sorrowing victim of intolerable grief. | All those beautiful dreams were to be shattered one after the other. TESTAMENT OF YOUTH. She and her other friends help wounded soldiers. —Anonymous. Ratings Info scenes of bloody injury. Testament of Youth is the story of the loss of an entire generation’s youth and innocence to the shattering tragedy of World War I (1914-1918). Testament of Youth, review: 'stirring' Alicia Vikander gives a glorious performance as Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth. Edit Report This. Macmillan, 1933. Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. Genre(s) Drama Director(s) James Kent Cast includes Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Colin Morgan, Dominic West, Emily Watson, Joanna Scanlan, Hayley Atwell, Jonathan Bailey, Alexandra Roach, Anna Chancellor All except one: Vera wound up becoming a writer... A writer but a pacifist as well. Vera was also conscious of the role women were playing in the war. Written by people who wish to remain anonymous. She writes openly about her father's full opinion of women, which is deeply misogynistic, and he leaves her home to attend Oxford where she attends Somerville College. And, as her daughter Shirley Williams says in her introduction to the new edition of Testament of Youth, she would continue all her life "writing, … Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. Hailed by the Times Literary Suplement as a book that helped both form and define the mood of its time, it speaks to any generation that has been irrevocably changed by war. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain is Vera Brittain's own story. In 2010, I read her memoir again and I may reread it a third time as I also experience … Testament of Youth (2014) Plot Summary (2) A British woman recalls coming of age during World War I - a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times. With Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Dominic West. The gender roles displayed in Testament of Youth showed that women had gained more independence than they had before, but still had more constraints than men. The Question and Answer section for Testament of Youth is a great Vera Brittain's world falls to pieces around her as, one by one, the young men of her circle are caught up in the Great War. Anchored by an extraordinary performance from actress Alicia Vikander, James Kent’s “Testament of Youth” bears comparison to many other superbly mounted costume dramas backed by the BBC, but this one has a special distinction: it chronicles the horrors that World War I inflicted on a generation of young English people from a woman’s perspective. Right after Vera is telling her father she will never marry, Roland comes into her life. The memoirs of Vera Brittain. red cloth slightly faded at the spine. Read the Study Guide for Testament of Youth…, View Wikipedia Entries for Testament of Youth…. Book Testament Summary Of Youth. An editor She writes of her failed marriage to a man named 'G' and when she expresses to him that she is a feminist who cares for her work more than traditional marriage, he accepts her. Instead of analyzing Vera Brittain 's life as a kind of existential argument, the reader might consider that to Brittain, each moment in time was experienced in real life, in real time. front endsheet is slightly creased. Synopsis Testament of Youth is a powerful coming-of-age story which tackles love, war, loss and remembrance. It's when Vera tells him she found the letter he received from Geoffrey before he died and Edward's reaction to it. Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Testament of Youth Summary and Study Guide. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Testament of Youth study guide contains a biography of Vera Brittain, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. 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