Victorian Prose

Q.) Write a brief essay on the importance and contribution of the women novelists of the Victorian
period with special reference to any two major women novelists. / Discuss the contribution of
Victorian women novelists with reference to any two of the novelists./ Briefly Asses the
Importance of the Bronte Sisters (Charlotte, Emily-Wuthering Heights and Anne , George
Eliot , Charles Dickens ).
Ans.) In the development of English novels in the Victorian age, some women novelists played a very
significant part. As a matter of fact, their achievement in many respects were greater than men. The
spread of education and the extension of franchise (=right/right to vote) accounted (=considered) to some
extent for the emergence (=rise) of women as poet and novelists. The major women novelists of the
Victorian period are ---- Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Mrs. Gaskell and George Eliot.
Charlotte Bronte (1816-55) breaks the new ground in the history of English novel. She writes not
about men like Dickens nor about man like Thackeray but an individual man. With her novel becomes
vehicle of personal revelation. “She is”, as David Cecil says, “our first subjective (=personal) novelist,
the ancestor of Proust and James Joyce”.
Fundamentally Charlotte Bronte‟s principal characters are all the same person, and that is
Charlotte Bronte. The world she creates is the world of her inner life. She is her own subject. „Jane
Eter‟ her greatest novel tells the story of her own life. Charlotte has all the Victorian inequality. Like
Dickens‟ s her novels are badly constructed. Whatever unity she has due to the continued presence of
certain figures. She also fails over her characters. Most of the characters are only presented fragmentarily;
and they are also lifeless.
Charlotte Bronte injects the note of passion into the English novel. She writes of lonely, repressed
womanhood with a passion and intensity unsurpassed in English fiction. She is the first woman to write of
life from the woman‘s point of view as Fielding has done from the man‘s. she is an insurgent (=rebel);
and she revolts against the accepted convention of woman‘s place in the routine of life, and against the
hypocrisy, the harshness and cruelty that she saw around her. She is the first to sound the note of sex
revolt. She is the pioneer of the novel of emancipation (=freedom).
Charlotte Bronte is remembered by the trio of novels ---- „Jane Eyer‟ (1847), „Shirley‟ (1849)
and ‗Villette‟ (1853). Her best-known work ‗Jane Eyer‟“is a powerful and fascinating (=charming)
study of elemental love and hate, reminding us vaguely of one of Marlow‟s tragedies” (W. J. Long).
Emily Bronte (1818-48), younger sister of Charlotte Bronte, wrote only one novel, „Wuthering
Heights‟ (1847) is unique in English literature. Emily Bronte stands outside the main current of
nineteenth century fiction as markedly as Balke stands outside the main current of eighteenth-century
poetry. She writes about a different world from the other novelists of her age. „Wuthering Heights‟ is a
novel conceived at the highest poetic level, and her chief characters are dynamism of a kind normally
only in the greatest dramatic poetry.
Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-65) made the novel the instrument of social reform. As a wife of a
clergyman in Manchester she had seen the dark and dingy surroundings in which the poor workers lived.
In her novels „Mary Barton (1848) and „North and South‟ she presents the life of the industrial poor,
with a view to ameliorating (=perfecting) their condition. In her masterpiece „Cranford‟ she makes the
interesting study of female life and psychology. Her novel „Ruth‟ is a study of the inner life of a woman
(Ruth) seduced and betrayed by a young man at the age of sixteen. Mrs. Gaskell did not possess the
clearness of vision, the equipment of knowledge and the breadth (=range) of horizon required for
completely satisfying the definition of the psychological novel. What she did in part was fully
accomplished by George Eliot.

George Eliot (1819-80) is one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian age. Her major works are:
Romola, Adam Bede, Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch and Felix Holt. The English
novel was humanitarian in the hands of Dickens, and satiric in the hands of Thackeray. It becomes moral
and philosophical in the hands of Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen-name George Eliot.
Undoubtedly her masterpiece is Middlemarch ‗where the exploration of moral situations‟ according to
D. Daiches, ‗through the presentation of characters interacting (=relating) on each other and
belonging(=going) to intersecting(=meeting) social groups is achieved with a sustained(=constant)
brilliance‟.
In „Romola‟, George Eliot makes an excursion to Renaissance Florence. But her men and women
in this novel are the sort of humans who inhabited the Victorian Midlands. But she is at her best when, as
in „Adam Bede‟, „The Mill on the Floss‟, „Silas Marmer‟, and „Middlemarch‟, she keeps close to the
scenes and people she was familiar with. Her novels arrear to resemble those of Jane Austen; but while
Jane Austen gives us only the externals of men and women, George Eliot is concerned with their mind.
She seeks to do what Browning does in his poetry; that is, to represent the inner struggle of a soul, and to
reveal the motives, impulses and hereditary (=genetic) influences that govern human action.
Unlike Dickens and Thackeray‘s her characters are not flat. In George Eliot the characters develop
gradually. They go from weakness to strength or from strength to weakness. George Eliot was a moralist;
and her novels are all depressing. According to Hudson, “Her central theme was habitually(=usually)
the conflict between the higher and the lower life…...the movement of the story was commonly
from weakness to sin and from sin to nemesis (= doom) …. her books are profoundly sad”. But as
with all great tragedies‘ the tragedies of Aeschylus or Shakespeare, here is purifying sadness.

Let us conclude with David Cecil‘s words: “She (George Eliot) stands at the gateway between the old
novel and the new, a massive caryatid (= female figure used as a pillar), heavy of countenance and
uneasy of attitude(=behaviour), but noble, monumental(=epic), profoundly impressive(=inspiring)”.
The Victorian Period
Q.) Evaluate the English essay (Non-fictional Prose) in the Victorian Age with reference to any two
writers of your choice.
Ans.) The Victorian age is one of literary abundance in novel, poetry and prose alike. Great thinkers with
powerful minds and no less powerful pens enriched English essay (Non-fictional Prose) in this period.
The prophet-moralist prose writers were determined to attack the vices of their own time and society in
the most uncompromising fashion, and spoke against the spirit of their age. The turbulent (= violent)
energy with which Carlyle sought to storm the citadels (=fortress) of nescience (=ignorance), the high-
strung earnestness that Newman brought to bear upon (=to influence) his plea for faith and orthodoxy, the
supercilious (=arrogant/nose high in air) irony of Matthew Arnold, the passionate lucidity (=transparent)
of Ruskin, and Walter Pater‘s fastidious (=overnice) word-sense, each reflected the distinctive attitude
of the writer and his reaction to the problems that challenged his attention.
First and foremost among the Victorian essayist was Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), a Scotchman
who became “an English seer (= a man with spiritual insight, knowledge and morality) by grafting
German transcendentalism onto his native Calvinist feeling for stern moral judgment”.Carlyle was
linked to the Romantics through his Germanic studies, which helped him to attain his mystic affirmation
that the material world was a symbol of the Divine Idea.
Carlyle‘s most famous philosophical work, Sartor Resartus(1833), was a passionately ejaculatory
(= outcry) book, a disguised autobiography of the life and opinion of a German professor called
Teufelsdroch. But he became really famous with the publication of French Revolutionin 1927. It is
Carlyle‘s most sustained and brilliant work. Carlyle presented the great historical events under three
symbolic headings: The Bastille, The Constitution and The Guillotine. The Revolution demonstrated to
him the great truth that “a lie cannot endure forever”. His accounts derive its force from vivid pictures
he made to himself of the events and of the men who took part in them.
Carlyle‘s next book, Hero and Hero-worship (1841), treats of the hero as ‗divinity‘ (Odin of Norse
Mythology), as ‗prophet‘ (Mohamet), as ‗Poet‘ (Dante and Shakespeare), as ‗Priest‘ (Luther and Knox), as
men-of-letters (Johnson, Rousseau, Burns) and as ‗King‘ (Cromwell, Napoleon). Carlylian hero-worship
is an anticipation of the doctrine of the superman preached by Gobineau and Nietzsche. The book
brilliantly illustrates Carlyle‘s art of biography as well as his power of critical admiration. Among his
other important works are Chartism(= a movement of labourers‘ participation in politics) and Past and
Present, Carlyle goes to extreme in his repudiation (= refuse to acknowledge) of the spirit of
contemporary England.
John Stuart Mill, Dickens and Ruskin came considerably under his influence. Carlyle‘s mastery over
the language is almost unrivalled. The peculiarities of his supremely individual style are due to the
extraordinary personality of the writer; but it is neither affected, nor deliberately imitated.
John Ruskin (1819-1900) began an art critic with the publication of five volumes of
ModernPainters (1843-1860). In between he wrote Stones of Venice, explaining the rise and virtue of
the Gothic in terms of the moral virtue of the society that produced it. With his Political Economy of
Art(1862), he definitely turned over to the social criticism, and produced a series of memorable books

including Unto this Last, Munera Pulveris, Sesame and Lilies, The Crowning Wild Olive. Finally
came Praetriaand Fors Clavigera.
 Especially in Unto this Last and Munera Pulveris, Ruskin preached his social and economic
gospel, with varying degree of coherence (= be consistent) but always with magnificent eloquence. There
are flashes of wit, irony and invectives (= criticism) and visionary splendours that light up whole pages.
The main influence on his style was the Authorized Version of the Bible, which he read earnestly
and repeatedly throughout his life. The Bible has many styles, from the simple history of Samuel and
Kings to the lyrical eloquence of Psalms, rhetorical power of the prophets, and the direct narrative of the
Gospels, and the concrete symbolism of Revelation. Ruskin has employed all such samples excellently in
his work.

Victorian Period: Novels

Q.) Examine some important aspects of the Victorian novel with reference to the works of any two
novelists.
Ans.) The huge bulk of Victorian literature is mainly made of the novel of the age. The Victorian novel
certainly constitutes a golden phase in the history of English literature. But it is nothing absolutely new or
unconnected with the great tradition of the past. As a matter of fact, the Victorian novel is a continuance
of the tradition of novel-writing, set up by the classic masters of the eighteenth century, by Richardson,
Fielding, Smollett and Stern. Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, George Eliot, Mrs. Gaskell and the
Brontes are the great names in the fictional literature of the great Victorian age. They reign as the lawful
and undisputed monarchs of Victorian literature.
Of the Victorian novelists, Dickens (1812-70) is, without any doubt, is the most popular figure. He
is also deemed (= considered) as the most successful creative artist in English fiction. He is an innovator
in novel writing in more than one way. In the first place, he is the earliest novelist to have a conscious
artistry in plot-construction. In the second place, his didacticism is frankly and openly given out in his
major novels. In the third place, he is the first of the English novelists to go to the masses of the people ---
‗to the lower depth‟ --- in all their queerness and gross humour and deep pathos.
What is more interesting in Dickens is that he has treated successfully different fictional types in the
art of novel writing. His first novel The Pickwick Papers is in the picaresque manner. His Barnaby
Rudge and A Tale of Two Cities belong to the class of the historical novel. In Oliver Twist, A Christmas
Carol and Hard Times, he is found to have dealt with the social conditions of Victorian England, with a
reformatory zeal. His most widely read work David Copperfield is a successful autobiographical novel.
Good plot-construction and significant characterization make Great Expectation the finest of the lot,
there is much social doctrine too in it. Dickens is found to combine effectively pathos with humour,
social realism with romantic sensibility in his Nicholas Nickleby, Little Dorrit, The Bleak House,
Dombey and Son and The Old Curiosity Shop.
The novelist in Dickens, of course, has his limitations and faults in his exaggerations in the
presentation of characters into good and bad, his excessive caricature and his extreme sentimentality. Yet,
his art remains, in his ultimate analysis, masterly, and its grip on his readers is always quite powerful.
George Eliot (1819-1880) is one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian age. Her major works
are: Romola, Adam Bede, Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch and Felix Holt. The English
novel was humanitarian in the hands of Dickens, and satiric in the hands of Thackeray. It becomes moral
and philosophical in the hands of Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen-name George Eliot.
Undoubtedly her masterpiece is Middlemarch ‗where the exploration of moral situations‟ according to
D. Daiches, ‗through the presentation of characters interacting on each other and belonging to
intersecting social groups is achieved with a sustained brilliance‟.

Unlike Dickens and Thackeray‘s her characters are not flat. In George Eliot the characters develop
gradually. They go from weakness to strength or from strength to weakness. George Eliot was a moralist;
and her novels are all depressing. According to Hudson, “Her central theme was habitually the
conflict between the higher and the lower life…..the movement of the story was commonly from
weakness to sin and from sin to nemesis (= doom)….her books are profoundly sad”. But as with all
great tragedies‘ the tragedies of Aeschylus or Shakespeare, here is purifying sadness.
Let us conclude with David Cecil‘s words: “She (George Eliot) stands at the gateway between
the old novel and the new, a massive caryatid (= female figure used as a pillar), heavy of
countenance and uneasy of attitude, but noble, monumental, profoundly impressive”.

Victorian Period
Q.) Discuss the contribution of Dickens for the development of English novels.
Ans.) As a novelist, Dickens stands out without a parallel in English literature. He is certainly the most
famous, most read author of Victorian age. He is also found to be the most typical novelist of his age. In
fact, he remains the central attraction of Victorian fiction, as Tennyson of Victorian poetry. Both of them,
in their own sphere, represent their age perfectly.
Dickens‘s wide experience of acute poverty and suffering and of subsequent success and affluence
is found to be the material of his fictional world that is so varied and so potential; and he remains,
perhaps, the most popular fiction writer in the English tongue.
Dickens is a prolific author to whose credit is found a long list of novels, including „Pickwick
Papers‟, „Oliver Twist‟, „Nicholas Nickleby‟, „The Old Curiosity Shop‟, „Christmas Carol‟,
„Dombey and Son‟, „David Copperfield‟, „Bleak House‟, „Hard Times‟, „A Tale of Two Cities‟ and „
Great Expectation‟. His last unfinished novel is „Edwin Drood‟ on which he was working at the time of
his death in 1870.
As a novelist, Dickens is a social chronicler. Social conscience is the first strength of his fictional
world. He is found to have introduced social novels in a much broader sense. In the literary history of the
eighteenth century, the novel is more or less concerned with individual love, happiness, sufferings,
tragedy, and so on; but Dickens has gone to the much lower depth and treated society in its grim reality,
in its poverty and ignorance, in its want and filth. In „David Copperfield‟, „Oliver Twist‟, or in „The Old
Curiosity Shop‟, the novelist‘s canvas is broad social life. He brings to the light the dark state of the
underdogs of the English society of his age, with a genuine sympathy and a noble humanitarian zeal. In
fact, Dickens may be deemed (=considered) as the first effective social chronicler in fiction. His
significance is here immense in the world of English fiction.
In the second place, Dickens‟s contribution to the world of fiction is found in his story-telling. He
tells his story admirably well, and here he seems to teach his subsequent generations how a story is to be
told with an effective appeal. In the sphere of story-telling, Dickens‘s influence is far reaching. Here he
seems to excel his great predecessors and inspire his immediate successors.
In this connection, Dickens‟s plot-structure may well be mentioned. His plot is, no doubt, bulky, but
he manages this well and retains the suspense of the story till the end. His gifts of story-telling and plot-
construction is, too, a matter of emulation (=imitation) for his contemporaries and successors.
In the realm of characterisation, Dickens‘s uniqueness is no less remarkable. He has created a host of
unforgettable men and women. Sidney Carton, Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Micawber, Betsy Trotwood, Little Nell,
Mrs. Gump and many others are the Dickensian figures who live ever in people‘s memories. His art of
characterization indicates how the pages of the novel can be immortalised with men and women, drawn
from ordinary walks of life. This is certainly another point of strength of his fictional artistry.
Another element which shows Dickens‘s contribution to the art of novel-writing is his priceless gift
of humour with which his fictional world is enriched. In him is found a boundless faculty of
convincing humour in a free, vivacious and irresistible manner, and the fountain of his fun never seems to
run dry. His humour, however, is closely allied to his humanism. This well reveals his ability to mingle
pathos with fun, tears with laughter, irony with sympathy.
One more remarkable feature of Dickens‘s creative strength is the intensely forceful emotional
power with which much of his fiction is inspired. This is well marked in his treatment of love, integrity,
death, and suffering and noble self-sacrifice. The death of Paul Dombey in „Dombey and Son‟ or of
Little Nell in „The Old Curiosity Shop‟, Mr. Micawber‘s optimistic assertion, in a state of desperation, in
„David Copperfield‟ and Sidney Carton‘s noble self-sacrifice in „A Tale of Two Cities‟ may be cited
illustrative instances.
Finally, there is the poetry of Dickens‟s prose fiction. He is a poet in that his descriptive writing has
an imaginative range to turn even dull, sordid affairs of mechanical urban life into some piece of masterly
imagery. The account of the London fog in the opening chapter of „Bleak House‟ or of the marshland
background at the beginning of „Great Expectation‟ seems to have a lyrical grace.
Dickens, no doubt, has his faults in his exaggeration, sentimentalism, and bulky stories, but his
merits far out-weigh his weaknesses. His creative imagination is illustrated in whatever he has written and
here, in the world of novels, Dickens‘s name is surely imperishable.
Victorian Period
Q.) Discuss the importance of Thackeray in the history of English fiction (novel).
Ans.) In Victorian fiction, Thackeray‘s name goes very close to Dickens‟s. In fact, like Tennyson and
Browning in Victorian poetry, Dickens and Thackeray are often paired as preceptors and leaders in
Victorian novels, although the difference between them is quite substantial (=strong).
As a novelist, Thackeray is great, but notpopular. Though he has written several novels, he is
known simply as the author of two or perhaps three novels to the vast majority of general readers. His
„Vanity Fair‟ and „Esmond‟, with „Pendennis‟, lagging far behind, remain as his recognised works in
the popular estimation. His other works, including „The Rose and the Ring‟, „The Burlesque‟, „The
Newcomes‟ and „the Virginians‟ are slighted and seldom valued.
Thackeray is, no doubt, a great novelist and a very original one. But twofactors stand against his general
popularity and lasting fame. First, his literary genius is of a quite unevenstandard. Second, and this is
more important, his novels are more occupied with ephemeral(=brief / momentary) customs and
conventions of the Victorian world, and lack the triumphant universality that remains independent of time
and society.
Of course, Thackeray‘s novels have differentthemes, and he is found to follow the structuralformula of
the classics of English fiction. „Pendennis‟ traces the career of a young man, while „The Newcomes‟
deals with the history of a family. „The History of Esmond‟ is a sort of historical romance of the time of
Queen Anne, in which important literary and political personalities, like Addison, Steele, Swift,
Marlborough, and others are convincingly presented. But „Vanity Fair‟ has a broad and comprehensive
scheme to present and study a panorama of human life and society. In this work, which is deemed as his
masterpiece, Thackeray is found to break with the convention of the Victorian novel altogether and to
present a theme quite originally, although intricate enough.
As a matter of fact, Thackeray, like all Victorian novelists, is a very uncertaincraftsman. His fictional
craft, like theirs, is subjected to certain distressing (=painful) limitations. Tediousness and over-emphasis
often weaken his presentation. Even his irony, so much admirable in his art, degenerates occasionally into
monotony. Again, his view of human nature is not all penetrative and clear. His conception of character is
more social than individual.
Yet, Thackeray‘s accomplishment, as a novelist of the Victorian era, is quite considerable, and his
contributions to English fiction are many and varied and worth noting. In the first place, he is the first
English novelist to present a conscious, considered criticism of life. Here he seems to be much more
advanced than Richardson, Fielding and Dickens.
In the second place, the novelist in Thackeray is a conscious artist, with a turn for
technicalexperiments and innovations. This is noticed even in his novels, like „Esmond‟, „Pendennis‟
and „The Newcomes‟, which adhere, in their main outlines, to the broad conventions of the English
novels since its inception =beginning). The centre of the novel, „Vanity Fair‟, is no more one singular
figure, hero or heroine, but, as the title suggests, „Vanity Fair‟, a panoramaofhumanlife and conduct. This
is certainly a daring innovation, and seems to have immensely influenced a number of modern novelists.
In the third place, Thackeray‘s creative imagination is most impressively presented in a style that is
original and full of variety. This is a style, marked with irony, rather an all pervasive irony. Again, this is
full of colloquialism, digressions, but rich in reflectionsrhythm. This is a style that is at once homely as
well as sublime, slow as well as eloquent, careless as well as most appropriate. This is much more
sophisticated but less simple than what is found in Dickens.
Nevertheless Thackeray‘s fictional style is a good art and here, again he has much to instruct
subsequent authors
Romantic Prose
Q.) Write a brief essay on the importance and contribution of Jane Austen in the history of English
literature with special reference to any of her major work.
Ans.) Jane Austen (1775-1817) is undoubtedly one of the greatest novelists of the nineteenth century.
Though only six novels ---- „Sense and Sensibility‟ (1811), „Pride and Prejudice‟ (1813), „Mansfield
Park‟ (1814), „Emma‟ (1816), „Northanger Abbey‟ (1818) and„Persuasion‟ (1818) ---- stand to her
credit and though her range was very limited, still her contribution to the development to the English
novel is considerable.
Jane Austen is the first to writethe pure novel, though she herself did not hear of the concept. “The
writer of the pure novel”, says Allen, “sets out to delight us not by the prodigality (=lavishness) of
invention (=creation), the creation of a large gallery of characters, the alternation of a large number
of contrasted scenes, but by attention to the to the formal qualities of composition, to design, to
subordination of the parts to the whole, the whole being the exploration of the relation between his
characters, or of their relations to a central situation or theme” (W. Allen: „The English Novel‟). By
this criterion (=standard/principle) Jane Austen is a pure novelist.
Austen‟s novels have a formal perfection of design; there are no loose ends, no padding, no
characterization for its own sake. Even the language is suited to the person who speaks it. As Diana Neill
finely observes, “Nothing is allowed in a Jane Austen novel that is not there for a clearly defined
reason, to contribute to the plot, the drama of feelings, the moral structure or the necessary
psychology” (Diana Neill: „A Shoet History of the English Novel‟).
Austen‟s „Pride and Prejudice‟ is a marvel of architectonic (=architectural) plot structure. It is the
most popular of Jane Austen‟s novels. Diana Neill considers it “the first work of art in the history of
English fiction”. It is remarkable for the brilliant creation of Elizabeth Bennet, a heroine as witty as she
is charming. Elizabeth first meets Darcy at a village ball. She at once becomes prejudiced against him
because of his proud bearing (=birth) towards the village girl and because of his remark that she is not
handsome enough to tempt him to dance with her. Then events follow, which lead to the deepening of
Elizabeth‘s prejudice and to the awakening of Darcy‘s love foe her. Ultimately her prejudice melts away
and she is united in marriage with Darcy. “The marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy”, W. L. Cross
uniquely observes, “is not merely a possible solution of the plot, it is as inevitable (=unavoidable) as
the conclusion of a properly constructed syllogism or geometrical demonstration. For a parallel
workmanship of this high order one can look to Shakespeare, to such a comedy as „Much Ado
About Nothing‟” (W. L. Cross: „The Development of the English Novel‟).
Jane Austen refined and perfected the dramatic form evolved (=originated) by Fielding. As in a
drama there is in her novels, no digression (=a temporary departure from the main subject), no intrusion
(=trespass) by the author. She does not introduce her character before they are ripe for an experience
(=encounter). “She (Austen)”, according to Diana Neill, “catches the dynamic moment which
precipitates (=cause to happen suddenly or unexpectedly) the crisis and then within the scope of her
psychology allows the denouement (=final part of the play) to proceed according to plan” (Diana
Neill: „A Short History of the English Novel‟). Moreover,Austen adapted and carried further Fielding‟s
method of presenting action through a succession (=following) of short scenes in dialogue.
 Jane Austen was a realist. She gave anew (=again) to the novel the realism which it once had had,
especially in Fielding, butwhich it had since lost. She brings together her village folk and their visitors, at
the dinner-party and the ball, as naturally as they would meet in real life. Again, her “style is the

language of everyday life ---- even with a tinge of its slang ---- to which she has added an element of
beauty” (W. L. Cross: „The Development of the English Novel‟).
Jane Austen was an eighteenth-century moralist. “In some respects, she was the last and finest
flower of that century at its quintessential (=ideal). She had escaped entirely the infection of
sensibility and sentimentality” (W. Allen: „The English Novel‟). She judges her characters by the
criteria of self-command, just consideration of others, self-knowledge and right education. In Jane
Austen‟s world the errors and follies always proceed from faulty upbringing. She traces the wickedness
of Lydia Bennet in her elopement with Wickham to the foolishness of her mother and the irresponsibility
of her father. („Pride and Prejudice‟).
To conclude, Jane Austen was great novelist though her view was confined to “small square two
inches of ivory”.

Romantic Period
Q.) Write an essay on the English essayists of the Romantic Age with special reference to any two of
them.
Ans.) Till the early decades of the nineteenth century the essay form had been limited to having
instruction rather than pleasure as its aim. But the time seemed to have come “to release”, in the words of
Edmund Blunden, “the genius (= outstanding ability) of personal talk and give it wings again”.The
Romantic essay was conversational and contained a certain stamp of the essayist‘s personality. This form
of essay displays a certain disregard for classical standards and for formal (= prescribed) rigidity (=
inflexibility). It was Lamb who became the founder of this genre which was to develop further in the
hands of later authors. Charles Lamb, Thomas DeQuincey, Walter Savage Landor and William
Hazlitt delighted their contemporaries with their imaginative handling of personal experience and
fantastic (= extraordinary) rendering (= portrait) of impersonal themes.
More important, and of greater literary merit, prose writers ofthe Romantic movement than De Quincey
and Landor were Charles Lamb (1775-1834) and William Hazlitt (1778-1830), who, although very
different from each other in temperament and prose style, are always remembered together as the
Romantic counterparts of the Neoclassical twins, Addison and Steele.
Popularly known as the “prince of English essayists”,Lamb gave to the English essay the same kind of
turn that Wordsworth gave to English poetry. Whatever subject Lamb touched upon he injected it with
the moving spirit of emotion. Also while his predecessors allowed only the ‗gentleman‘ in theme to come
out in their essays, Lamb revealed his entire self in his prose compositions. As the Romantic gave
expression to their private emotions, so did Lamb reveal his private self.
Besides, and above all, Lamb made the English essay “a lyric in prose”, with its chief qualities of
intensity of emotion, unity of feeling, and illumination of imagination. Not much inclined to the pleasures
of Nature, Lamb‘s Romanticism largely consisted in recalling, in glamourizing, and in sentimentalizing
his own experiences, particularly those belonging to the past. His prose style is marked by the qualities of
spontaneity (= artlessness), simplicity, naturalness, musicality and allusiveness.
Lamb‘s The Essays of Elia (1823), mostly contributed to „London Magazine‟, is the most important set
of essays on which the writer‘s repulsion (= dislike / disgust) has always depended. The main character of
these essays, Bridget and James Elia, are pseudonyms for Mary and John Lamb, sister and brother of the
essayist. Most memorable of these essays include “Christ‟s Hospital Five-and-Thirty Years Ago”,
“The Two Races of Man”, “New Year‟s Eve”, “My Relations”, “Dream Children: a Reverie”, etc.
Lamb also produced with his sister Mary two works of children, namely Tales from Shakespeare (1807)
and The Adventures of Ulysses (1808).
Lamb has the power of infinite jest but this humour is also, according to Thomas Dequincy, “touched
with cross-lights of pathos”.There is real pathos in the essay when the figures of the ―dream children‖
begin to recede (= move away) and further away from the writer and, without speech, they strangely
impress upon him the effects of speech: “We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all.
We are nothing; less than nothing and dreams. We are only what might
(2)
have been, and must wait uponthetedious shores of Lethe millions of ages before we have existence,
and a name” (Dream Children).Lamb seems to smile through his tears.
One of the chief Romantic prose writers was Thomas DeQuincey (1785-1859), whose reputation
still rests on his autobiographical [Link]‘s work is not of uniform quality. His most
important work is Confession of an English Opium Eater (1821), which is a typical example of the
Romantic cocktail compositions mixing personal touch with high stylization, colloquial humour with
pathos, pain with pleasure.
The prose in Confession achieves at times a highest peak of poetic prose only to sink the next moment
into the bottom of banality (= dullness) and inanity (=silliness). The best of DeQuincey‘s prose is often
marked by a natural flow and smooth rhythm comparable to the virtues of the great lyrical style of the
Romantic poets. Note, for instance, the following: “....so sweet, so ghostly, in its soft, golden smile,
silent as a dream, and quiet as a dying trance of a saint........”(Confession of an English Opium
Eater)
DeQuincey‘s prose writing for the periodicals totalled two hundred and fifteen essays, which, like his
autobiographical writing, contain memorable prose. Although only about one tenth of these over two
hundred essays have survived, whatever has endured “is less for their intrinsically (= basically) meagre
content than for their remarkable style --- the „impassioned‟ poetic prose culminating in the ornate
style best known in Sir Thomas Browne, DeQuincey‟s master....”(History of English Literature:
Martin Day).

Besides his Confessions, he wrote Autobiography (1834-53) and Suspiria De Profundis (1845).
DeQuincey‘s other works include On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, Murder Considered as
one of the Fine Arts, Reminiscences of the English Lake Poets, The English Mail-Coach, etc.
 At its worst DeQuincey‘s style is dull, gushing (= talkative) and almost trite (= commonplace) with
rather unsuccessful attempts at humour but he can also be incisive (= sharp), eloquent (= expressive)
sinewy (=forceful) and charming.

The Romantic Period (1798—1832)

Q.)Asses the contribution of Walter Scott to the English Novel. (2013) / Consider Scott as a
historical novelist.
Ans.) Walter Scott was the first and last great historical novelist of England. He avoided the pitfalls
(=drawbacks) of his predecessors and set about the all-important task of actualising the past so as to show
its manners and morals in a proper perspective (=point of view) to his contemporaries. He had both the
qualities of a good historical novelist --- deep study and an amazing intuition. Compton-Rickett observes
in A History of English Literature: He (Scott) compels our interest by no literary trick, but by making
us feel that men and women of a past age were real live human beings.” With his historical novels Scott
proved, to quote Carlyle,“that the bygone ages of the world were actually filled by living men, not by
state papers, controversies, and abstractions (=vagueness)of men.... It is a great service, fertile (=rich)
in consequence, this that Scott has done; a great truth laid (=produced) open by him.”
Scottvitalized (=enlivened) the past and converted the monstrosities (=abnormalities) of his predecessors
into the pure gold of creative imagination. Diana Neillobserves in this connection: “What Richardson,
Fielding and Smollett had done in holding a mirror up to the eighteenth-century way of life, Scott did
for the remote centuries of which his contemporaries knew nothing.” He took name and dates from the
history primer (=first reading/text) and transformed them into imaginative literature. He assembled the
dry bones of the past and quickened them with a vigorous (=dynamic) life. He walked through the tombs
of time and, like an enchanter (=enchanter), brought to life their ghostly denizens (=dwellers).
Scott was the first novelist who was really qualified for his peculiar job. He was a historical
novelist not by mere endeavour but by his very temperament. Charles Reade reconstructed the past with
the art of a brilliant journalist; Thackeray refashioned it as a sympathetic critic; George Eliot treated it
as a scholar; Scott simply breathed the past as a part and parcel of his thinking life. According to Baker,
Scott was a “a born romancer”. He diligently (=heartily/carefully)applied himself to the study of old
romances, chronicles, and histories concerning, particularly, the Scotland of yore (=ancient).
Scott‘s range as a historical novelist is really amazing. Not only does he deal with different countries but
also with different centuries. We never find him at the same point more than once. Some of his novels like
Guy Mannering(1815), Old Mortality (1816), and The Heart of Midlothian (1818) deal with Scotland;
there are others, likeIvanhoe (1819), Kenilworth (1821), and The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) which are
concerned with English history; still others, like Quentin Durward (1823), and The Talisman (1825),
take us out of England to the Continent. Everywhere there is the same fidelity to essential historical facts
and an imaginative and lively recreation of the spirit of the past. No other English novelists have a
broader canvas or a surer brush; and there is the same fidelity in his representation of the bygone ages as
there is Dickens‟ or Fielding‘s representation of his own.
Some ‗limitations‘ of Scott as a novelist may here be taken cognizance (=acknowledging) of. The
most important of them is his deficiency as a psychologist. He cannot, or at least does not, bring out
shades and grades of passions. His characters are devoid of psychological subtleties. If they are virtuous,
their virtuousness is through-and-through; if they are villains, their villainy is unconcealed and
incorrigible(=irreparable). What Goethe said ofByron can be said of Scott, “the moment he reflects he is
a child”. He thought of life not as a problem but as a colourful pageant (=exhibition). Here is Carlyle‟s
gibe (=mocking) at his characterization:“.....Shakespeare fashions his characters from the heart
outwards; ....Scott fashions them from skin inwards, never getting near the heart of them.”Scott
himself admitted his contempt for some of his own heroes. He said of Edward Waverley, for instance,
that he was a “sneaking (=hidden/secret) piece of imbecility (=impotency/ignorance).”
Along with his deficient psychological equipment may be mentioned his lack of the architectonic
(=constructional) skill. He did not give plot-construction much importance. He was given to saying: “It is
no use having a plot; you cannot keep to it”. His plots resemble a sprawling (=extensive) Gothic
cathedral without any symmetry (=proportion). He followed and quoted Dryden‘s remark too often:
“What the devil does the plot signify, except to bring in good things?”
What Scott aimed at was telling a good, interesting story; and he succeeded pretty well. To conclude this
discussion with Leslie Stephen: “Scott is the most perfectly delightful story-teller natural by the fire-
side.”
Elizabethan Period (Fiction and Non-fiction Prose)
Q.) Indicate the importance and contribution of Francis Bacon in the history of English literature.
Ans.) By the side of religious there grew up in the Elizabethan period a secular (=non-spiritual) prose
literature. It was philosophical and moral, but not inimical (=unfriendly) to the religious literature.
Francis Bacon is the best representative of this secular prose literature.
Francis Bacon occupies a very significant place in the history of English literature; and his
importance can be best summed (=add) up in his own words: “A bell ringer who is up first to call other
to Church”. In his „Advancement of Learning‟ he is almost the first man to undertake the task of
consolidating (=uniting) and unifying knowledge. In his „Henry VII‟ he shows that it is possible to write
a flowing, orderly and picturesque narrative without resort (=support) to strained (=pure) conceits
(=elaborate metaphors). “In his (Bacon‟s) „New Atlantis‟”, according to Compton Rickett, “he started
a movement that led to the foundation of our Royal Society, and inspired in a later era (=age
/period/time) that stupendous (=amazing) undertaking the French Encyclopaedia” (A History of
English Literature).
But his importance in the history of English literature is due to what he did towards the
naturalization of a new literary form, namely essay and the development of popular and natural
prosestyle. It redounds to the credit of Bacon that he introduced essay into English literature. He
borrowed the conception of the essay from Montaigne, the French writer, whose essays had appeared
seventeen years before the earliest of Bacon‟s. he felt that the essay was suitable to receive many
thoughts of his own mind, and not merely his intellect but his whole disposition (=temperament/outlook)
made such a form as that which Montaigne supplied valuable to him. Like Montaigne again he uses the
word ‗essay‘ in its original etymological (=origin and historical development of words and their meaning)
sense which is equivalent ‗assay‘ ---- a trial or attempt. He regarded the essays as “dispersed
(=spread/detached) meditations” or informal thoughts on the subjects dealt with, not an exhaustive (=in-
depth) treatise (=book/thesis/long essays). He ranked them but as recreations in comparison with other
serious writings.
Bacon did more than introduce a new literary genre. “He took”, as Hugh Walker says, “one of
the longest steps ever taken in the evolution in the English prose style; a step which set that style
upon the road which it travelled, though not without divagations (=divergent/deviate), down to the
days of Swift and Addison”(The English Essay and Essayists).
Before Bacon and during his time English prose was rich and sonorous (=resonant). It used a
highly Latinized vocabulary and was characterised as much as Latin by the fondness for imagery, and the
love of analogy and metaphor. The sentences were of enormous length, and even in the hands of the most
skilful writers were frequently loose, involved and obscure. Parentheses (=writing usually marked off by
curved brackets, dashes,or commas) were extremely common. Bacon was the first to see the structural
differences of Latin and English and to strike out at once a short, crisp and firmly knit sentence of a type
unfamiliar in English. He rejected the conceits and overcrowded imagery of the euphemists (=who uses
mild words instead of harsh) and Latinists and used a simple, natural and straightforward style. Douglas
Bush rightly observes, “he (Bacon) was the theoretical and practical leader of the anti-Ciceronian
(=highly ornate i.e., highly Latinized) movement in England, and the groundwork (=foundation) of his
prose is reinforced(=refreshed/invigorated)homespun (=indigenous/homely)”.
Bacon was also the first to give English prose flexibility hitherto (=until a particular time) unknown in
English. The English prose before him cumbrous (=heavy/cumbersome). It could rise, but it could not
easily sink. It might befit (=suit/be appropriate), to use Goldsmith‘s jest about Johnson, “the mouths of
whales, but hardly those of little fishes”.The new style ofBaconfitted itself to all kinds of subjects ----
to buildings and gardens as well as to death and truth. Hugh Walker observes, “It could sink to the
familiarity of likening (=comparing) money to muck (=dirt/rubbish), not good unless it be spread, or
rise to a comparison between the movements of the human mind and the movement of the heavenly
bodies” (The English Essay and Essayists).
In short, the English literature is largely indebted to Bacon for making good what had hitherto been
its chief defect.

Restoration Prose
Q.) Write a brief essay on the importance and contribution of John Bunyan with special reference
to one of his major works.
Ans.) In the domain of Restoration prose John Bunyan(1628-88) alone contests the supremacy of
Dryden. He wrote much; but his four great works are „Grace Abounding‟ (1660), „The Pilgrim‟s
Progress‟ (1678-84), „The Life and Death of Mr. Badman‟ (1680) and „The Holy War‟ (1862).
John Bunyan is a very important figure in the History of English literature. His wonderful
imagination makes him a class almost by himself in an age hostile to imagination. “He (Bunyan) is”, as
Hudson says, “the only man in our literature who has ever succeeded in writing a long prose
allegory and filling it throughout, without any sacrifice of the symbolism, with the absorbing
interest of a real human story” (W. H. Hudson: An Outline History of English Literature).
Secondly, Bunyan is the only genuine child of Puritanism. Milton, though a child of Puritanism,
was fed (=obeyed/brought up) also by the Renaissance. If therefore one is asked to name the greatest
product of Puritanism in English literature, one should choose „The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ rather than „The
Paradise Lost‟.
Thirdly, Bunyan has got distinct contribution in the evolution of the English novel. „The Pilgrim‟s
Progress‟ and „The Life and Death of Mr. Badman‟, with their familiar realism----the picture of the life
and the people he saw around him----the familiar dialogue, the concreteness of detail and greatness of
dramatic power, might be regarded as forerunners of the novel.
Lastly, Bunyan will ever be remembered for his unique prose style----the style which has no
parallel in the whole range of English literature. Though it is based upon the ‗Bible‟, it is quite individual.
In his A History of English Literature, Albert remarks, “It is homely, but not vulgar; strong, but not
coarse; equable (=balanced), but not monotonous; it is sometimes humorous, but it is never ribald
(=nasty); rarely pathetic, but never sentimental. It has remained the pattern of a plain style, and is
one of the masterpieces of English language”.
„The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ (the first part) was written during the second period of Bunyan‘s
imprisonment. It takes the archetypal theme of man‘s life as a journey, and treats of Christian‘s journey
from the City of Destruction to Salvation to Heaven.
„The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ is one of the three great allegories (the other two allegories are Spenser‟s
„Faerie Queene‟ and Dante‟s „Divine Comedy‟) of the world‘s literature, and one of the most popular
books the world ever produced. Its popularity is attested (=proved/showed) by the fact that it has been
translated into seventy-five languages and dialects, and has been read more than any other book save the
‗Bible‟.
The historical importance of the book lies in its realism which becomes a novel. Moody and
Lovett observe, “Not only is the physical world through which Christian journeys from the „Wicket-
gate‟ to the Land of Beulah (=a pleasant fertile country beyond the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and
within sight of the Heavenly City; heaven itself) pictured with the most familiar realism, but also the
wayfarers whom he meets are such as might have been seen in Bunyan‟s day on any English
marketroad----portly (=fat) Mr. Worldly-Wisemen, full of prudential (=foresightful)maxims
(=proverbs),young Ignorance, gentlemen-like Demas, and sweet, talkative Piety” (W. V. Moody and
R. M. Lovett: A History of English Literature). The houses, the landscape and the people are all
described so realistically that it is impossible for a reader of „The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ to think of the
journey otherwise than as a real personal experience. It also anticipates the novel by its vivid
characterisation and natural dialogue.
Again, if picturesque novel is taken to mean any novel in which the hero undertakes a journey in
course of which he meets with all sorts, conditions and classes of men, „The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟might
reasonably be regarded as a picturesque novel.
If, in one sense, „The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ might be regarded as a forerunner of the novel, in another
it may be said to have revived the medieval romance. In it Christian contends (=struggles/opposes)
against dangers, natural and supernatural, on his way to the Holy City. Giant Despair in his dark castle,
the ugly-looking devils in the Valley of Shadows, the demon Apollyon, the angels and archangels who
lead the way from the fearful River of Death to the shining gates of the Holy City----all are elements of
medieval romance.
The second part of „The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ deals with the pilgrimage of Christian‘s wife Christiana
and her children from the City of Destruction to Salvation. She was accompanied by Mercy and guided
and protected by Greatheart. Much of her pilgrimages seems almost like a tourist‘s visit to the places
where Christian underwent their ordeals.
The style of the book is homely, graphic (=lifelike and vivid), humorous and lyrical.
********
Short notes (Restoration Period)
The Pilgrim‟s Progress

„The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟is an allegory by John Bunyan (1628-1688), first published in 1678. The second
edition with some additions appeared in the same year and a third in 1679. ―The Pilgrim‟s Progress is”,
in the words of George Sherburn, “one of the several masterpieces by various authors written in
prison”. Bunyan was a deeply and sincerely religious-minded person who reverenced (= respected) the
Bible in a most devoted manner. “He (Bunyan)”, says Legouis in A Short History of English
Literature, “seems to have lived with the Scriptures alone, indifferent to every production of the
human mind, occupied only with the quest for means of salvation”. The story of the salvation of a
Christian in ‗The Pilgrim‟s Progress‟ is set forth in the form of an allegory.

In the begin is described the dream of the author in which he sees Christian with a burden on his back,
reading in a book that the city in which he and his family are living (the City of Destruction) will be
shortly be consumed by fire. Christian prepares to run away from that city to the Celestial city (i. e.
Heaven) along with his wife and children; but they cannot be convinced by him, and he takes to his
journey alone.

But his journey is not easy. His path is beset with numerous obstacles and temptations. In part I
is described his journey through such places as the Slough (= mire) of Despond (= despair), the
Interpreter‘s House, the Palace Beautiful, the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of Shadows of Death,
Vanity Fair, and so on. In the course of his journey Christian meets allegorical personages like Mr.
Worldly Wiseman, Faithful, Giant Despair, Apollyon (a fiend), and so forth. The encounter with them
signifies the difficulties lying in the way to salvation.

In part II is described the journey of Christian‘s wife and her children to the same destination.
She has a vision and starts in the company of their neighbour Mercy, overruling the objection of people
like Mrs. Timorous (= timid). Great-heart accompanies them as their guard and guide, and it is he who
kills Giant Despair and other monsters and escorts the party safely to the Celestial City.

The story in its outline is quite simple. It is all imaginary, but Bunyan succeeds in enlivening the
whole thing by his simplicity coupled with the strength of conviction, and above all, his style, which
closely resembles in its strength, simplicity, and vividness, that of the Bible. His prose, says Legouis in A
Short History of English Literature, “has at once the tang (= hint) of popular speech and a dignity
derived from the noble translation of the Bible”. Bunyan as an allegorist or story-teller is not merely
didactic. There are some instances of humour and social satire also, which further add to the interest and
liveliness of his work.

Modern Period
Q.) Write a brief essay on „Stream-of-Consciousness‟ novel with reference to two practitioners.
Ans.) One of the most important developments in the technique of the modern novel is the ‗stream-of-
consciousness‘. The phrase ‗stream of consciousness‘ was first used by William James in Principles of
Psychology to denote (=indicate) the chaotic flow of impressions and sensations through the human
consciousness. This particular kind of novel is also called the subjective (=mental/inward) novel or the
psychological novel. The purpose of this type of novel is, according to Katherine Gerould, “to portray
life and character by setting down everything that goes on in the hero‟s mind, notably all those
unimportant and chaotic (=confused) thought sequences (=series) which occupy our idle and
somnolent (=sleepy) moments and to which, in real life, we pay ourselves, little attention.”
The stream-of-consciousness technique was influenced by the symbolism of French poets and the
novelist, Marcel Proust, by the new researches in psychology by Freud, and by the writings of William
James and Henry Bergson. The psychological novelists aimed at not presenting human character in the
traditional sense. They realized that a psychologically accurate account of what a man is at any given
moment can be given neither in terms of a static description of his character nor in terms of a group of
chronology arranged reactions to a series of circumstances. They became deeply interested in those
aspects of consciousness which cannot be viewed as a progression of individual and self-existing
moments, but which are basically dynamic rather than static in nature and are independent of
chronological sequence in a way that events are not.
In the early twentieth century people were disgusted with Victorian superficiality and were
turning inward. In England Dorothy Richardson, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf wrote ‗interior‘
novels. Lionel Edel elaborately writes about various aspects of the new technique which may be summed
up as the conscious observance of point of view, the internal monologue, the symbolic representation of
life, the control of the reader‘s vision, the use of the ‗arbitrary (=random) dial‘, the subjective and
autobiographical tendency, the desire to make the novel a poem, and to present blocks of consciousness
like images in a mirror.
Dorothy Miller Richardson‘s first novel Painted Roofs (1915) was the first novel written in the ‗stream-
of-consciousness‘ technique. In it she endeavoured to present both the subjective and objective biography
of a character, a woman named Miriam Henderson. Miriam‘s consciousness is the stage on which the
drama of her life is enacted. We follow the flow of her thoughts and there are many moments of
illumination of her character and situation. It is the stream of Miriam‘s consciousness that the novelist
reproduces without any interference on her part. Painted Roofs is an excellent study of feminine
psychology.
Dorothy‘s Pilgrimage (1935) has no plot in the conventional sense, nor has it any conclusive end as a
tragedy or comedy. This is only the depiction of human psychology, reacting to the influence of the
outside world and things and revealing the inner self. There is no past or future. The character is in an
eternal present. This is, indeed, a novel (=new) experiment with novel writing.
James Joyce is one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century. He is one of the chief exponents of
the ‗stream-of-consciousness‘ technique in English novel.
Joyce‘s first work The Dubliners (1914), a collection of short stories, is based on the slum life the
[Link] A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Dublin has played a role as its setting. It is
an autobiographical novel in which the novelist projects himself in the character of Stephen Dedalus. In it
Joyce reveals his unassailable (=unquestionable) power to explore the psychology of his own nature with
detachment (=indifference) and scientific curiosity. Ulysses (1922) is Joyce‘s masterpiece. It is a
remarkable psychological study of the life and mind of Leopold and Mrs. Bloom during a single day.
Stephen Dedalus appears again in it. In it the stream-of-consciousness technique finds its best exposition.
Ulysses, according to Hudson, “has been singled out as the greatest novel of the century and one of the
greatest novels of all time”.
 Joyce‘s Finnegans Wake (1939), resembles as a vast musical composition in which words are
used as a composer uses notes, sense gives way to sound, words are broken up, verbal funs abound
(=plentiful) and the whole work belongs to a dream world. It is, indeed, a night in the dream world of a
certain H. C. Earwaker. It is concerned with the psychological adjustments of the hero to the external
elements in the family constellation (=gathering).
Joyce‘s linguistic experiments are superb. His was a comic genius and his humour is mainly
sardonic (scornful) in tone. To conclude with Edward Albert‟s remarks: “......in his (Joyce‟s) use of the
stream of consciousness technique, and his handling of internal monologue, he went further and
deeper than any other.”

Periodical Essays (18th Century)

Q.) Write a brief account of the history of the periodical essay with special reference to Addison and
Steele. / Discuss the development of the English Periodical essay during the eighteenth
century.(Joseph Addison-The Spectator , Richard steele-The Tatler).

Ans.) The eighteenth century saw a phenomenal (=extraordinary) rise of the periodical essay. As A. R.
Humphreys rightly observes, “If any literary form is the particular creation and the particular
mirror of Augustan Age in England, it is the periodical essay”. It had its birth towards the close of the
seventeenth century, but it attained its acme (=top/pinnacle) of the development in the eighteenth century,
specially in the hands of Addison and Steele, its high-priests.
The periodical essay was invented towards the very close of the seventeenth century; and such
periodicals as L‟ Estrange‘s „Observator‟ (1681-87), Dunton‘s „Athenian Gazette‟ ((1690-97),
Tutchin‘s„Observator‟ (1705-6), and above all, Defoe‘s „Review‟ laid the foundation of the periodical
essay, but it was Richard Steele (1671—1729) and Joseph Addison (1672—1719)who brought it to
perfection, and established it as a literary form.
Steele began „The Tatler‟ in 1709, which consisted (=contained) of a folio half-sheet, and was published
tri-weekly----on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays. The purpose which inspired Steele to initiate its
publication was “to expose the false arts of life, to pull off the disguises of cunning, vanity and
affectation, and to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our discourse and our
behaviour”.Though the „Tatler‟ aimed at reforming manners and morals of men and women, it did not
fail to incorporate (=include) materials for amusement. Indeed, each number contained a section which
was meant to amuse the readers. It suddenly ceased publication in 1711 and was followed by „The
Spectator‟, by far the best of the periodical essays. It was also a folio half-sheet, but unlike the „Tatler‟ it
appeared daily excepting Sunday.
In the „Spectator‟ Addison who had contributed almost regularly became the chief partner of the
„Tatler‟. It ran on from March 1, 1711 to December 6, 1712, as a collaborative project. It was then
discontinued; but some eighteen months later (i.e. in June, 1714), it was revived by Addison alone, and
issued thrice a week from June 18 to December 20, 1714. In its complete form it contains 635 essays of
which Steele wrote 240 and Addison 274, the remaining essays being written by their various friends.
In their essays Addison andSteele undertook to break down the licentious Restoration tradition of
loose living and loose thinking on the one hand, and that of puritan fanaticism (=orthodoxy) and bigotry
(=bias/favour) on the other. They did not indulge in sweeping condemnation (=slander) and unqualified
invectives (=abusive/insulting), as, greatly to the damage of their cause, the puritan moralists habitually
did; they wrote good-humouredly, met all classes of readers on their own ground and made ample
allowances for the ordinary failings of humanity; but at the same time, they consistently (=constantly)
advocated the claims of decency and sound sense. They made use of wit, humour and satire in order to
achieve their object which was to set the conscience of their time right on the fundamental questions of
social and domestic conduct.
Addison and Steele had also an educational and a purely moral aim. They sought, through their
essays, to disseminate (=spread/publicize) and popularize general culture. Thus, they discussed in a light
and engaging (=attractive) way the art, philosophy, drama and poetry. In the „Spectator‟ Addison
contributed eighteen essays on the „Paradise Lost‟ with a view to helping the readers appreciate Milton
and his epic better. But the greatest aim they set before themselves was to laugh at the follies and foibles
of the ladies. The ladies of the post-Restoration period were immersed in the mire of immorality and
licentiousness and Steele and Addison undertook to draw them out from the mire into the current of
healthy life. Thus, they chided wifely extravagances (=waste) and ridiculed the feminine violence in party
politics.
The „Spectator‟ possesses great importance in the history of English literature. When Addison and
Steele wrote their essays, no lively picture of men and women in the ordinary social setting of their time
had appeared outside the drama. It redounds (=contribute greatly) to the credit of the essayists that they
first painted the picture of such men and women in many papers in which they treated the leading figures
of the Spectator Club, and especially the eccentricities of Sir Roger de Coverly, the amusing (funny) Tory
Squire.
Before Addison, there had been writers who ‗cultivated character- writings‘ along the line laid down by
the Greek writer, Theophrastus. Their characters, though admirable in many respects, were wooden and
lifeless. It fell to the hands of Addison and Steele to draw actual men moving and acting amidst real
scenes and taking part in various incidents. Hudson‘s remark is quite praiseworthy in this respect: “It is
scarcely, too much to say that in many of the „Spectator‟ papers, in which scenes from the life of Sir
Roger are described, we have the modern novel in germ (=seed)” (Hudson, An Outline History of
English Literature).
After the „Spectator‟ there was a flood of periodical essays. The most notable of them was „The
Guardian‟ which Steele began in 1713 and which had a run 175 numbers. If the „Spectator‟ had not
existed the „Guardian‟ might have outranked all periodicals, but it was shaded by the „Spectator‟.Steele
also began another periodical „The Englishman‟ (1713) which was however, very short-lived. Swift
wrote „Journal to Stella‟ in the years 1710-13 for the benefit of Esther Jhonson.
Another great name in the history of periodical essay is that of Dr. Johnson who started the periodical
„The Rambler‟ in imitation of the „Spectator‟ in March 20, 1750. It is appeared twice weekly (i.e., on
Tuesday and Saturday) till march, 1752. The „Rambler‟ was followed by ‗The Adventurer‟ and „The
Idler‟.Goldsmith also wrote a number of essays including a series entitled „The Citizen of the World‟.
To conclude with the opinion of Rees that there is something of the sermon in many of Johnson‟s essays.
He seems to lecture to us, whereas Steele and Addison seem to talk to us on friendly terms.
Eighteenth Century
Q.) Account for the rise of the novel in the Eighteenth Century. / Bring out the major characteristics
of the English novel in the eighteenth century with special reference to any two of the novelists of
the period.
Ans.) In the eighteenth century the years after the forties witnessed a wonderful efflorescence (=
production of flowers) of a new literary genre which was soon to establish itself for all times to come as
the dominant literary form. Of course we are referring here to the English novel which was born with
Richardson‘s „Pamela‟ and has been thriving (=blooming) since then. When Matthew Arnold used the
epithets “excellent” and “indispensable”for the eighteenth century which had little good poetry or drama
to boast of, he was probably paying it due homage (=respect) for its gift of the novel.
The eighteenth century was the age in which the novel was established as the outstanding and
enduring (= lasting) form of literature. The periodical essay, which was another gift of this century to
English literature, was born and died in the century, but the novel was to enjoy an enduring career. It is to
the credit of the major eighteenth-century novelists that they freed the novel from the influence and
elements of high flown romance and fantasy, and used it to interpret the everyday social and
psychological problems of the common man. Thus they introduced realism, democratic spirit, and
psychological interest into the novel --- the qualities which have since then been recognised as the
essential prerequisites (=fundamentals) of every good novel and which distinguish it from the romance
and other impossible stories.
Between 1740 and 1800 hundreds of novels of all kinds were written. However the real “masters”
of the novel in the eighteenth century were four --- Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, and Sterne. The rest
of them are extremely inferior to them. Oliver Elton remarks: “The work of the four masters stands
high, but the foothills are low”. The case was different in, say, the mid-nineteenth century when so
many equally great novelists were. Fielding was the greatest of the foursome. Sir Edmund Gosse calls
Richardson“the first great English novelist”and Fielding, “the greatest of English
novelists”.Fielding may not be the greatest of all, but he was certainly one of the greatest English
novelists and the greatest novelist of the eighteenth century.
Samuel Richardson(1689-1761) was the father of English novel. He set the vogue of the novel with his
„Pamela‟, or „Virtue Rewarded‟ (1741). It was in the epistolary manner. It took England by storm. In it
Richardson narrated the career of a rustic lady‘s maid who guards her honour against the advances of her
dissolute (=immoral) master who in the end marries her and is reformed. ‗Pamela‟ was followed by
„Clarissa Harlowe‟ (1747-48), in eight volumes. It was, again, of the epistolary kind, Richardson‘s third
and last novel was „Sir Charles Grandison‟ (1754). The hero is a model Christian gentleman very
scrupulous (=careful) in his love-affair.
Among Richardson‘s good qualities must be mentioned his knowledge of human, particularly
female psychology and his awareness of the emotional problems of common people. He completely, and
for good, liberated the novel from the extravagance (=excessive) and lack of realism of romance to
concentrate on social reality. The note of morality and sentimentality made him a popular idol not only in
England but also abroad. Thus Diderot in France could compare him to Homer and Moses.

However, his morality with its twang (= sound) of smugness (= self-satisfaction / praise) and
prudery (=carefulness) did not go unattacked even in his own age. Fielding was the most important of
those who reacted against Richardsonian sentimentalism and prudish (= formal) moralism. One great
defect of Richardson‘s novels is their enormous length. The epistolary technique which he adopted in all
his three novels is essentially dilatory (= slow) and repetitive, and therefore makes for bulkiness.
Richardson is at any rate a very good psychologist, and he is particularly admirable for the delineation of
the delicate shades of sentiment as they shift and change and the cross-purposes which the troubled mind
envisages (= imagine) when in the grip of passion.
Henry Fielding (1707-54) in the words of Hudson“was a man of very different type. His was a virile
(= manly), vigorous, and somewhat coarse nature, and his knowledge of life as wide as Richardson‟s
was narrow....”His very first novel, „Joseph Andrews‟ (1742), was intended to be a parody of „Pamela‟,
particularly of its priggish (=stuffy) morality and lachrymose (=tearful) sentiment. According to Wilbur
L. Cross, Richardson“was a sentimentalist, creating pathetic scenes for their own sake and
degrading tears and hysterics into a manner”. In Joseph AndrewsFielding light-heatedly titled against
morbid (=gloomy) sentimentalism and sham (= pretence) morality.
„Joseph Andrews‟ was followed by „Tom Jones‟ (1749) and „Amelia‟ (1751). We may add to the list of
his fictional works „Jonathan Wild the Great‟ (1743), a cynically ironical novel which, as Legouis says,
must have been written “after a fit of gloom”.
Fielding‘s novels are characterized by a fresh and realistic moral approach which admits
occasionally of animalism and ribaldry (=obscenity), a searching realism, good-humoured social satire,
and healthy sentiment. In his abundant (=adequate) and coarse vigour, his common sense and unflinching
(=constant)realism, and his delight in physical beauty --- especially female --- he is essentially a
masculine writer.
It is to the credit of Fielding that unlike Richardson and most of his own successors, at least in
Tom Jones (if not the other novels, too), he provided a glowing model of a well-constructed plot.
According to Coleridge, Tom Jones (with Sophocles‘ Oedipus the King and Ben Jonson‘s The
Alchemist) is one of the three works in world literature which have perfectly constructed plots.
Elizabethan Period
Q.) Make a critical estimate of fictional prose of the Elizabethan Age.
Ans.) The fiction of the age of Elizabeth is generally ‗romantic‘ in nature in the sense that it is of the kind
of romance. Many forms of fiction were practised in the age. Some important forms and their
practitioners are: The romance of Lyly, Greene and Lodge; The pastoral romance of Sir Philip Sidney;
The picaresque novel of Nashe; and The realistic novel of Delony.
John Lyly (1554-1606) in his romance displays all the peculiarities of Elizabethan prose. His Euphues,
the Anatomy of Wit(1579) and Euphues and his England (1580) earned him instant fame. What is
noteworthy is the style of the play from which is derived the term ‗Euphues‘. It is a highly self-conscious
and artificial style which lavish epithets, farfetched comparisons, balanced phrases and complex
alliteration. But the overall effect is pleasant and in his own day it earned conspicuous (= striking)
success. But according to Compton-Rickett, Lyly‘s style “suffers from the serious defect of ignoring
the distinction between the prose and verse. It is the prose of an age that found its most effective
medium in verse”.
Robert Greene (1558-92) was a patent imitator of Lyly, and later that of Sidney. Though in his actual life
he was a debauchee (= degraded) of the worst kind yet in his works he was quite didactic. His several
‗novels‘ include Pandosto (1588) which very obviously furnished the plot for Shakespeare‘s A Winter‟s
Tale. His other important works are Menaphon, Mamilliaand The Card of Fancy which was published
within a decade of Euphues. In his Life and Death of Ned Brown, a notorious pick-pocket, Green
provides hints for the low-life scenes we meet with in the novels of Smollett and Defoe.
Thomas Lodge (1558-1625) was another writer of euphuistic (= high flown style) novels the best of
which is Rosalynde; Or, Euphues‟ Golden Legacie (1590). In his tricks of style Lodge imitates Lyly, but
his matter is derived from Greek pastoral romance. The work is significant because it furnished
Shakespeare with the plot of As You Like It. Further, it includes, like Greene‘s Menaphon, some very
charming lyrics.
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86) also prompted a number of imitators. His Arcadia(1590) is the first
pastoral romance in English prose, just as Spenser‘s The Shepherd‟s Calendar is the first verse pastoral
romance. All the happenings of the story are envisaged (= imagined) in an imaginary land of idyllic (=
heavenly) beauty. It tells the story Bacillus, king of Arcadia, who settles in a village with his wife and two
daughters named Pamela and Philoclea. Two princes from abroad come to Arcadia and start courting the
two girls; andeverything ends happily. This was the first version of Arcadia, known as the ‗Old
Arcadia‟. In the revised version Sidney included many complications and also added much symbolism
and didacticism. In the Arcadia, observes Daiches, “Ideal love, ideal friendship, and the ideal ruler are,
directly and indirectly, discussed, suggested and embodied (= shaped)”.
Thomas Nashe (1567-1601) had a taste of buffoonery (= clownish), satire, reckless savagism (=
uncivilized), and effrontery (= shameless audacity). He wrote the first English Picaresque novelThe
Unfortunate Traveller, or The Life of Jack Wilton (1594) which is a tale of adventures of a page
named
(2)
Wiltonin the reign of Henry VIII. It was perhaps suggested by the Spanish Lazarillo de Thormes. It has
also been called the first English historical novel as it introduces as characters such known figures as
Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, and the Earl of Surrey. In his prose style Nashe follows neither Lyly nor
Greene nor Sidney. His sentences are short and striking, but sometimes he is carried away by a flood of
words. Anyway, his strength was acknowledged by his contemporaries, and he had many imitators.
Thomas Deloney(1543-1600), a silk-weaver by profession, exhibited even weaker sense of
form and structure than Nashe. His three tales, Jack of Newbury, The Gentle Craft and Thomas of
Reading (all 1950) show him as a story teller of the bourgeois (= middleclass) craftsmen. Deloney‘s style
was quite homely, and he was read and appreciated by a vast number of people, particularly craftsmen,
whom he had tried to flatter. In spite of his gifts of description he does not manage to give pattern, unity
of action, or even unity of tone or mood of his stories.
Elizabethan prose is colourful, blazing (= shining), rhythmic, indirect, prolix (= wordy) and
convoluted (= elaborate and complicated). Rarely does an Elizabethan prose writer call a spade a spade.

Short Notes (Elizabethan Period)

Arcadia
Sir Philip Sidney is next only to Lily as an Elizabethan romancer, and he is so by virtue of his „Arcadia‟,
published in 1590. It is a romance in which he gives free play to his fantastic imagination. It is influenced
by the Spanish romance of „Montemayor, Diana‟.
It is a pastoral. Its action takes place entirely in the ideal Arcadia, where King Basilius has retired and
brings up his two daughters Pamela and Philoclea as shepherdesses. Then two ship-wrecked princes,
Musidorus and Pyrocles arrive there, disguised respectively as a peasant and a woman, and make their
court Pamela and Philoclea. Awkward entanglements follow when the King takes Pyrocles to be a woman
and falls madly in love with him; and the queen who sees through the disguise, is consumed with guilty
love for the same prince (Pyrocles).
Then the black-hearted Cecropia who had been heiress to the crown of Arcadia until Basilius married,
now carries off Pamela, Philoclea and the disguised Pyrocles. She holds them captive in the castle, and
tries by the cruellest devices to make one or other of the sisters marry her son Amphialus. Finally, the
sisters are delivered by the deeds of valour by the disguised Pyrocles. The sisters and Pyrocles return to
the forest, where finally Musidorus runs away with Pamela. Then other complications follow, but they are
resolved and the story ends in the union of Musidorus and Pamela, and of Pyrocles and Philoclea. This is
the main plot, but it is crossed by many episodes. Subordinate romances are woven into the main
structure.
As a romance „Arcadia‟ enshrines (=cherishes) its author‘s noble ideals of medieval chivalry. The
two young Greek princes, Musidorus and Pyrocles, embody true knightly qualities. They are simple and
gentle, daring in action and devoted in love. In „Arcadia‟ the ancient and medieval worlds appear to meet
the modern. Romance, hitherto (=previously), had been speciously (=seemingly right, but actually it is
not) linked with the real and the actual. With Sidney, it got itself removed to fanciful realms and is made
to imply an escape from reality --- the sense in which it is accepted by the modern mind.
 What chiefly distinguishes „Arcadia‟ is its style. It is characterized not by euphuism but by what the
figure of speech terms ‗Pathetic fallacy‘. Sidney endows abstractions and inanimate matter with life and
will and feeling: “The Ladies…..drank a little of their cool wine, which seemed to laugh for joy to
come to such lips”; when ladies come from bathing the water “by some drops seemed to weep” that it
should pass from their bodies.
Sidney portrays his characters, describing them as though they figured on a master‘s canvas. To
conclude with Legouis: “He (Sidney) shows a sense of line and colour, of the effects of light and
shade, until, then unknown in English”.
********

Eighteenth Century Prose (Short Notes)

Humphry Clinker
„Humphry Clinker‟, in full „The Expedition of Humphry Clinker‟, epistolary novel by Tobias
Smollett (1721-71), his major work, written in 1770 and published in three volumes in 1771, the year of
his death. Tobias Smollett‟s„Humphry Clinker‘recounts the adventures of Mr. Matthew Bramble‘s
family party as they travel through England and Scotland.
The party consists of Bramble himself (Smollett himself), an outwardly (=apparently) misanthropical
(=hating /disliking) but really kind-hearted old valetudinarian (=sickly) bachelor, his husband-hunting
sister Tabitha; his nephew Jery Melford, an Oxford undergraduate, his sister Lydia, a girl in her teens;
Winifred Jenkins, Tabitha‘s maid, and Humphry Clinker, a ragged ostler (=a person employed to take care
of horses) whom they pick up en route (=on the way) as footman (=servant). Another interesting character
in the novel is the poor Scots soldier Lismahago who finally wins Tabitha. Clinker is married to Winifred
Jenkins.
The value of the novels lies in the fact that it presents a most striking panorama (=view) of English life
in the 1760‘s. it is written in the form of letters sent by the principal travellers to their friends. The
epistolary method is used not to analyse feeling, as in Richardson, but to bring out the humour of
conflicting point of view.
********
Tristram Shandy
Laurence Sterne‟s (1713-68) „Tristram Shandy‟ a peculiar type of the novel, in nine volumes. It forms
a class by itself. It has neither any predecessor nor successor. Nor has it any story or plot in the
conventional sense of the word. The very title of the novel is misleading, because the book has almost
nothing to do with the life and opinions of Tristram Shandy (its hero) who is born only in the fourth
volume, put into breeches in the sixth, and then disappears from the story. As Dr. Baker says, “The hero
is a nonentity; he is merely the peg for his father‟s absurd philosophy and the naïve (=simple)
remark of his uncle” (E. A. Baker: „The History of the English Novel‟, Vol. 4.).
Walter Shandy, a retired Turkey merchant, spends his time with his books and his brother, Toby.
Shandy is a Quixote, but his adventures take place in the world of ideas, where he is a mighty destroyer of
commonsense, and doughty (=tough) defender of harebrained (=fickle/inattentive) speculations. Toby is
his Sancho Panza whose hobby is fortification (=protection). Toby was wounded in the groin (=barrier) at
the siege (=cordon) of Namur, and having retired from active service, he spends most of his time in
company of his servant Trim, building fortification in the garden.
The seventh and eighth volumes of the novel are digressions (=temporary departure). They deal with
the author‘s travels in France, and with the story of the imaginary king of Bohemia. The main concern of
the book is to expose the author‘s own personality and whimsical imaginations.
Immediately on its publications the book was violently criticized in England. Dr, Johnson, Horace
Walpole and Goldsmith denounced (=condemned/criticized) it on moral and literary
[Link] saw in it nothing but “unaccountable wildness, whimsical incoherence
(=unintelligibility), uncommon indecencies (=obscenities/ filth)”.

Important Short Notes on Eighteenth Century

Pamela
Ans.) In the rise of the English prose fiction, in the middle of the eighteenth century, Pamelais the first
name. The author of this work, Samuel Richardson, is usually recognized as the first English novelist and
his Pamela, the first English novel. Pamela or Virtue Rewarded, published in 1741, occupies, indeed,
the position of the pioneer in the art of English novel writing.
Of course, prior to Pamela, there are stories, like Defoe‘s Robinson Crusoe and Swift‘s Gulliver‟s
Travels, but they are not exactly of the nature of a novel. In fact, in Richardson‘s Pamela, there is
perceived a change from the tales of adventure to the psycho-analytical method of the great French
sentimental novels. This study of the psychology of character forms the essence of fiction and here
Richardson is found to initiate novel writing, in the true sense, in English in his first work Pamela.
The theme of Richardson‘s novel centres round the attempt of a young gentleman to seduce and
violate the chastity of a young pretty virtuous maid, Pamela, who works under him. The story, told in
letters, written between different characters, brings out both the events and the mental trend of different
characters.
Richardson‘s novel, as observed, is written in the epistolary form. Of course, his approach is
didactic, and what he achieves here is to emphasize the ultimate reward of virtue. It is also realistic.
Social realism is the basis of his novel. The sociological role of the novel is firmly grounded in his very
first fictional work.
Richardson‘s work is no doubt, somewhat sentimental. This, however, seems natural, as his source
of inspiration is the sentimental French novel. As a result of his sentimentalism and didacticism, the
environment of Pamela often looks heavy and lacks the liveliness of Fielding‘s Tom Jones.
****
Robinson Crusoe
Ans.) Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) wrote Robinson Crusoe --- The Life and Strange Surprising
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, when he was nearly sixty years old, without any
work to preserve his name to the posterity (= descendants / ages to come). But Robinson Crusoe took the
world by a storm and proved to be an extraordinary writing for the age.
 The story of Robinson Crusoe is based on the experience of Alexander Selkirk who spent about
five years on an island, completely uninhabited. Defoe‘s hero Crusoe is ship-wrecked, and has to take
shelter in a lonely island just like Selkirk. He is able to salvage (= recover) basic tools and materials from
the wreck, and, by means of his shelter and livelihood. Crusoe‘s industry and ingenuity are the matters of
commendation (= praise) as well as fascination for young hearts.
Defoe‘s work also creates suspense by relating the dangers following from visiting cannibals.
Crusoe‘s acquisition (= gaining) of a companion, the savage man Friday, whom he saves from the
cannibals. In fact, suspense, excitement and thrill --- the materials of popular attraction --- are amply
present in Defoe‘s work.
Defoe‘s work is also written in a simple and vigorous style. There are, no doubt, enumerations (=
accounts) as well as multiplications (= developments) of details, but the author never makes himself
boring by the inventive aspect of his writing and the adventurous spirit of the whole work.
Robinson Crusoehas immense significance in English literature. Robinson Crusoe has a good deal of
the story element of the novel, and it is not too absurd to take it as the pioneer of the novel of incidents.

****

Gulliver‟s Travels
Jonathan Swift‘sGulliver‟s Travels, his best known work, was written between 1720 and 1725 and
published in 1726. Gulliver goes on four separate voyages --- to the land of Lilliput, the land of
Brobdingnag, Laputa and Houyhnhnms. Each journey is preceded by a storm. All four voyages bring new
perspectives to Gulliver's life and new opportunities for satirizing the ways of England.
The first voyage is to Lilliput, where Gulliver is huge and the Lilliputians are small. At first the
Lilliputians seem amiable, but the reader soon sees them for the ridiculous and petty creatures they are.
Gulliver is convicted of treason for "making water" in the capital (even though he was putting out a fire
and saving countless lives)--among other "crimes".
The second voyage is to Brobdingnag, a land of Giants where Gulliver seems as small as the
Lilliputians were to him. Gulliver is afraid, but his keepers are surprisingly gentle. He is humiliated by the
King when he is made to see the difference between how England is and how it ought to be. Gulliver
realizes how revolting he must have seemed to the Lilliputians.
Gulliver's third voyage is to Laputa (and neighbouring Luggnagg and Glubdugdribb). In a visit to the
island of Glubdugdribb, Gulliver is able to call up the dead and discovers the deceptions of history. In
Laputa, the people are over-thinkers and are ridiculous in other ways. Also, he meets the Stuldbrugs, a
race endowed with immortality. Gulliver discovers that they are miserable.
His fourth voyage is to the land of the Houyhnhnms, who are horses endowed with reason. Their
rational, clean, and simple society is contrasted with the filthiness and brutality of the Yahoos, beasts in
human shape. Gulliver reluctantly comes to recognize their human vices. Gulliver stays with the
Houyhnhnms for several years, becoming completely enamoured (= in love) with them to the point that
he never wants to leave. When he is told that the time has come for him to leave the island, Gulliver faints
from grief. Upon returning to England, Gulliver feels disgusted about other humans, including his own
family.
Particularly the first part continues to appeal to readers of all ages though the last book was
described by Thackeray as “furious, raging, obscene”. Truly, the last travel is morbid and repulsive (=
disgusting) bringing out author‘s feeling which he communicated to Pope: “I heartily hate and detest
that animal called man”. However, the first two books are written in a style that is much more attractive,
humorous, lucid vigorous.

****
Laurence Sterne

Of the 18th century English novelists, Laurence Sterne is quite original and surprisingly queer. The
novelists before him --- Richardson, Fielding and Smollett --- are classicists and their novels are
organised according to a set pattern. They are taken as traditional novelists who maintain order and

discipline perfectly in their writings. But Stern, as a novelist, is completely different. He is, as suggested
already, an original and originating power in fictional literature. There is no conventional pattern or
distinct order in his writing. His organisation is somewhat chaotic and disorderly. Here he appears to be
no conventional 18th century novelist.

But the novelist in Sterne is found to possess a creative originality. His chaotic organisation is
actually a bold novelty. Of course, he is no prolific author, and has to his credit only two fictional works -
-- The Life and Opinions of TristramShandy and A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy.
Of these, TristramShandy, published in nine volumes between 1759 and 1769, is of an outstanding
originality and holds a very prominent position among the 18th century fictional writings.

What is, however, particularly remarkable in TristramShandy is Sterne‘s technique in story-telling.

The past and the present are jumbled and the novelist follows no chronological order in his narration. The
hero‘s birth takes place only after the novel has advanced through half its course. Thechapters of the novel
vary in length, from several pages to a single short sentence. The punctuation mark is largely dashes.
There are also asterisks, blank pages, and so on. In short, this is all peculiar as a novel.

Sterne‘s another novel A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, published in 1768, is
also a quite new type of fiction. Stern seems to write here a travel tale which contains intimate glimpses
into the sentiments and emotions and mental states of different people he comes across in course of his
travel. Sterne‘s comic sense and sentimentality are equally present here.

A new dimension of English fiction is found opened with Sterne. The novel seems to move from the
rigid form to formlessness. From the regulated conventionalism of Richardson and Fielding, there is a
transition to the fiction of fantasia. The English novel has liberation, so to say, from formalism and a
passage towards expressionism.

****
Modern Prose
Q; Write a note on either Virginia Woolf or James Joyce as a Modern novelist/ Write an
essay on modern prose with special reference to any two major writers. (Ulyses-James
Joyce , Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness )

The early 20th century marked a decisive shift in literary sensibility, characterized by a break
from traditional narrative forms and the exploration of new techniques and themes. This period,
often termed ―Modernism,‖ saw prose writers grappling with the uncertainties of a rapidly
changing world shaped by industrialization, colonialism, war, and the disintegration of stable
moral frameworks. Among the most innovative and influential figures of this movement were
James Joyce and Joseph Conrad, whose works Ulysses and Heart of Darkness respectively,
exemplify the modernist spirit in prose.

James Joyce and Ulysses

James Joyce is widely regarded as one of the central figures of literary modernism. His
masterpiece, Ulysses (1922), is a landmark in modern prose due to its radical narrative
techniques, psychological depth, and linguistic experimentation. The novel parallels Homer‘s
Odyssey, but instead of ancient heroes, it follows an ordinary man, Leopold Bloom, through a
single day in Dublin. This elevation of the mundane to the epic reflects one of modernism's
central preoccupations: the significance of inner life over external action.

The most revolutionary aspect of Ulysses is its use of stream of consciousness, a technique that
attempts to represent the continuous flow of thoughts and sensations in the human mind. Joyce
dissolves traditional plot structure, instead foregrounding subjective perception. The narrative
frequently shifts between perspectives and employs a wide range of literary styles, from realistic
dialogue to parodic pastiche. In doing so, Joyce captures the fragmentation and multiplicity of
modern experience.

Joyce‘s prose is demanding, often opaque, and filled with allusions, but it mirrors the complexity
of consciousness and language itself. Ulysses thus not only redefines the novel‘s form but also
expands the possibilities of prose as a medium of psychological and philosophical inquiry.

Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad, though writing slightly earlier than Joyce, is often considered a precursor to full-
fledged modernism. His novella Heart of Darkness (1899) presents a similarly complex narrative
structure and probes themes that resonate deeply with modernist concerns—imperialism, moral
ambiguity, and the limits of knowledge.

The story, ostensibly a tale of a journey up the Congo River to find the mysterious ivory trader
Kurtz, becomes an allegory of the darkness within human nature and the collapse of European
pretensions to civilization. Conrad employs a frame narrative and a deeply introspective style,
blurring the line between external events and the narrator Marlow‘s psychological state. The
shifting layers of narrative reflect the unreliability of perception and the elusiveness of truth—a
hallmark of modernist thought.

Conrad's prose is rich, symbolic, and at times deliberately ambiguous. His treatment of
colonialism is complex and critical, exposing the hypocrisy and brutality of empire while
resisting simplistic moral judgments. In this sense, Heart of Darkness foreshadows the modernist
distrust of grand narratives and objective truth.

Conclusion

Both James Joyce and Joseph Conrad exemplify the innovations of modern prose, though they
do so in distinct ways. Joyce focuses on the interior, the linguistic, and the mythic structure of
everyday life, while Conrad explores moral complexity, imperial critique, and narrative
fragmentation. Together, they represent the movement away from linear storytelling and
objective realism toward a literature that mirrors the fractured, uncertain nature of modern
existence. Their works continue to challenge and inspire, demonstrating the power of prose to
capture the depth and disarray of human consciousness.
Romantic Period
Q; Write a note on the English personal essay of the romantic period with special emphesis
on any two essayists of your choice

The Romantic period in English literature, spanning roughly from the late 18th century to the
mid-19th century, brought a major shift in literary forms and themes. This era emphasized
emotion, imagination, individualism, and nature, reacting strongly against the rationalism and
formality of the preceding Enlightenment age. In prose, the personal essay flourished as a
flexible and expressive form through which writers explored their inner lives, philosophical
views, and social observations.

Unlike earlier essays, Romantic personal essays were introspective, conversational, and
emotionally rich. They often blended personal experience with literary or philosophical
reflection. Two of the most significant essayists of this period were Charles Lamb and Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, each contributing in unique ways to the development of the English essay.

Charles Lamb and the Essays of Elia

Charles Lamb (1775–1834) is perhaps the most beloved English essayist of the Romantic period.
His famous collection, Essays of Elia, published in The London Magazine, is a hallmark of the
personal essay tradition. These essays are known for their charm, wit, gentle melancholy, and
deep humanity.

Lamb‘s essays are highly subjective and reflective, often drawing on his personal life,
childhood memories, friendships, and observations of London society. In essays like Dream
Children: A Reverie, Lamb expresses deep emotion and sorrow over his lost hopes and the
burdens of personal tragedy, particularly his lifelong care for his mentally ill sister, Mary. Yet
even in such melancholy moments, his style remains graceful and humorous.

What distinguishes Lamb is his ability to elevate everyday experiences into thoughtful
meditations. He idealizes the past, especially the innocence of childhood, and portrays ordinary
life with warmth and nostalgia. His essays are rich with literary allusion, yet they remain
accessible due to his conversational tone. Lamb created a fictional persona, ―Elia,‖ through
whom he expressed his ideas, adding a layer of creative distance and literary charm.

Lamb‘s contribution lies in how he humanized the essay form—his writing is intimate,
reflective, and emotionally resonant, setting the stage for later personal essayists.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Biographia Literaria

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), better known as a poet and critic, also contributed
significantly to Romantic prose, especially through his major critical work, Biographia Literaria
(1817). Though not a personal essay collection in the same sense as Lamb‘s, Biographia
Literaria blends autobiography, literary criticism, and philosophical reflection, thus
embodying the spirit of the Romantic personal essay.

In this work, Coleridge discusses his own intellectual and poetic development, his views on
imagination, and his critical responses to contemporary writers, particularly Wordsworth. His
essays explore complex ideas such as the distinction between ―primary‖ and ―secondary‖
imagination and the nature of poetic genius. While dense and at times difficult, Biographia
Literaria is deeply personal—it reveals Coleridge‘s struggles with identity, creativity, and
philosophical questions.

Coleridge‘s style is more abstract and analytical compared to Lamb‘s, but he shares the
Romantic focus on individual perception and introspection. His philosophical inquiries are
rooted in personal experience and intellectual growth, making his work an important bridge
between personal essay and critical theory.

Conclusion

The Romantic personal essay, as exemplified by Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
marked a significant evolution in English prose. Lamb brought tenderness, humor, and
personality to the essay, making the reader feel like a confidant. Coleridge, though more
philosophical, opened the essay to intellectual and critical exploration rooted in personal thought.
Together, they expanded the possibilities of prose writing, demonstrating how the essay could
express both the heart and the mind.