Based on literary sources and following Marshall Berman and Benedict Anderson’s theory, this article outlines some key tendencies of English society prior to World War I. Economic modernization and political imperialism emerged while the cultural avant garde (i.e. modernism) was pushed into the background. Religious, sexual and political repression completed the picture and supported the fear of inner ruptures and discontinuities related to the experience of modernity; in contrast, conventions and other mechanisms were used to create the illusion of continuity in their place.
