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Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They LivedLong, William J. (William Joseph)

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Name: Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived
Author: Long, William J. (William Joseph)

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

The most convenient way of dealing with Scott's works is to arrange
    them in three groups. In the first are the novels of Scotland:
    _Waverley_, dealing with the loyalty of the clans to the
    Pretender; _Old Mortality_, with the faith and struggles of
    the Covenanters; _Redgauntlet_, with the plots of the
    Jacobites; _The Abbot_ and _The Monastery_, with the
    traditions concerning Mary Queen of Scots; _Guy Mannering, The
    Antiquary_ and _The Heart of Midlothian_, with private life
    and humble Scottish characters.

    In the second group are the novels which reveal the romance of
    English history: _Ivanhoe_, dealing with Saxon and Norman in
    the stormy days when Richard Lionheart returned to his kingdom;
    _Kenilworth_, with the intrigues of Elizabeth's Court; _The
    Fortunes of Nigel_, with London life in the days of Charles
    First; _Woodstock_, with Cromwell's iron age; _Peveril of
    the Peak_, with the conflict between Puritan and Cavalier during
    the Restoration period.

    In the third group are the novels which take us to foreign lands:
    _Quentin Durward_, showing us the French court as dominated by
    the cunning of Louis Eleventh, and _The Talisman_, dealing
    with the Third Crusade.

    In the above list we have named not all but only the best of
    Scott's novels. They differ superficially, in scenes or incidents;
    they are all alike in motive, which is to tell a tale of adventure
    that shall be true to human nature, no matter what liberties it may
    take with the facts of history.

[Sidenote: QUALITY OF THE NOVELS]

In all these novels the faults are almost as numerous as the virtues; but
while the faults appear small, having little influence on the final result,
the virtues are big, manly, wholesome,--such virtues as only the greatest
writers of fiction possess. Probably all Scott's faults spring from one
fundamental weakness: he never had a high ideal of his own art. He wrote to
make money, and was inclined to regard his day's labor as "so much
scribbling." Hence his style is frequently slovenly, lacking vigor and
concentration; his characters talk too much, apparently to fill space; he
caters to the romantic fashion (and at the same time indulges his Tory
prejudice) by enlarging on the somewhat imaginary virtues of knights,
nobles, feudal or royal institutions, and so presents a one-sided view of
history.

On the other hand, Scott strove to be true to the great movements of
history, and to the moral forces which, in the end, prevail in all human
activity. His sympathies were broad; he mingled in comradeship with all
classes of society, saw the best in each; and from his observation and
sympathy came an enormous number of characters, high or low, good or bad,
grave or ridiculous, but nearly all natural and human, because drawn from
life and experience.

[Sidenote: SCENE AND INCIDENT]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

The most convenient way of dealing with Scott's works is to arrange
    them in three groups. In the first are the novels of Scotland:
    _Waverley_, dealing with the loyalty of the clans to the
    Pretender; _Old Mortality_, with the faith and struggles of
    the Covenanters; _Redgauntlet_, with the plots of the
    Jacobites; _The Abbot_ and _The Monastery_, with the
    traditions concerning Mary Queen of Scots; _Guy Mannering, The
    Antiquary_ and _The Heart of Midlothian_, with private life
    and humble Scottish characters.

    In the second group are the novels which reveal the romance of
    English history: _Ivanhoe_, dealing with Saxon and Norman in
    the stormy days when Richard Lionheart returned to his kingdom;
    _Kenilworth_, with the intrigues of Elizabeth's Court; _The
    Fortunes of Nigel_, with London life in the days of Charles
    First; _Woodstock_, with Cromwell's iron age; _Peveril of
    the Peak_, with the conflict between Puritan and Cavalier during
    the Restoration period.

    In the third group are the novels which take us to foreign lands:
    _Quentin Durward_, showing us the French court as dominated by
    the cunning of Louis Eleventh, and _The Talisman_, dealing
    with the Third Crusade.

    In the above list we have named not all but only the best of
    Scott's novels. They differ superficially, in scenes or incidents;
    they are all alike in motive, which is to tell a tale of adventure
    that shall be true to human nature, no matter what liberties it may
    take with the facts of history.

[Sidenote: QUALITY OF THE NOVELS]

In all these novels the faults are almost as numerous as the virtues; but
while the faults appear small, having little influence on the final result,
the virtues are big, manly, wholesome,--such virtues as only the greatest
writers of fiction possess. Probably all Scott's faults spring from one
fundamental weakness: he never had a high ideal of his own art. He wrote to
make money, and was inclined to regard his day's labor as "so much
scribbling." Hence his style is frequently slovenly, lacking vigor and
concentration; his characters talk too much, apparently to fill space; he
caters to the romantic fashion (and at the same time indulges his Tory
prejudice) by enlarging on the somewhat imaginary virtues of knights,
nobles, feudal or royal institutions, and so presents a one-sided view of
history.

On the other hand, Scott strove to be true to the great movements of
history, and to the moral forces which, in the end, prevail in all human
activity. His sympathies were broad; he mingled in comradeship with all
classes of society, saw the best in each; and from his observation and
sympathy came an enormous number of characters, high or low, good or bad,
grave or ridiculous, but nearly all natural and human, because drawn from
life and experience.

[Sidenote: SCENE AND INCIDENT]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

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