British Culture - User contributions [en]

Daniel Defoe

2010-01-27T20:56:54Z

Jonathanvillar:

c.1659 – 24 April 1731. English writer, journalist, pamphleteer, today mainly known as author of one of the first English novels, ''Robinson Crusoe'' (1719).

Early life

Daniel Defoe was born in London circa 1659 in London. His father was tallow chandler belonging to the so-called groups of Dissenters (separated from the church) and sent his son to study in an academy at Newenton Green kept by Reverend Charles Morton. There he received an extensive education which boosted his abilities and imagination for writing which was his passion. Although they wanted him to serve the Presbyterian ministry, Defoe refused this and decided to work as merchant. In this period he traveled a lot in trading and making money, something which rewarded him both personally and economically.
During this time though he went through a series of setbacks which dampened his moral and affected his later works.In 1962 he went bankrupt due to the losses for sustaining the insuring ships during the war with France, although he had been honest with his debtors he was reported to be persued and pressed nonsensically following imprisonment. This took him away from trading and a great shock. He married Mary Tuffley in 1684, the daughter of a Dissenter merchant.They were married during 47 years (till Defoe´s dead) and they had a total eight children.

Turn to politics

Defoe´s interest of engaging in politics somehow had been growing the last years so he started to write pamphlets, the first one published dating from 1683. He was reported to have joined the rebellion of Manmouth and managed to escape alive after the Battle of Sedgemor. Defoe supported William III reign working for him as his offcial pamphleteer. In writing his very famous poem "The True-born Englishman in 1703 he criticized the racial prejudice.
The second major upset came when the Tories took power, these being very severe with dissenters, and Defoe wrote one of his most remarkable works called "Shortest-Way with the Dissenters"(1702) in which he was very ironic in religious and political issues, something which reported him big sales but big problems too. In 1703 he was prosecuted for libel , arrested and taken before the law who allegedly treated him badly, fined him and finally sentenced him to the pillory. This did not prevent him from writing since he wrote the poem "Hymn to the Pillory"(1703) as a way of criticizing his unfair position. Later the Earl of Oxford called Robert Harley bailed his release in exchange of Defoe working for him as pamphleteer and intelligence agent. A series of journeys to Scotland compelled him to write "Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain". He also managed to release a four-weekly periodical for a long time called "Review". In this periodical he discussed current affairs dealing with morals manners, religion, etc. this periodical may have an influence on the later periodicals like "The Tatler" or "The Spectator".

Latest years

In 1719 and already with a waning health, he wrote one of his most remarkable works and perhaps the most famous, a prose fiction called "Robinson Crusoe" having inspiration on the memoirs of the castway Alexander Silkirk. In 1722 he wrote another prose fiction novel called "Moll Falnders" and in 1724 he wrote "Roxana". These three works have in common thet they explore the human nature and psychological processes in a remarkable way maybe trying to reflect the misfortunes of his life.
The rumors about Defoe´s doings had been many, ranging from double-dealing or dishonest conduct to having unpaid debts, being a betrayer by shifting sides (Tories , Whigs) ect, which seemed to provide him many enemies as well as misfortune and disgrace.
All in all his figure was rendered enigmatic by his life but his works have not remained unnoticed and he proved an invaluable forerunner of the modern novel.

REFERENCES

http://www.britannica.com
http://www.litencyc.com/

Article by Jonathan Villar.

Daniel Defoe

2010-01-27T20:56:03Z

Jonathanvillar:

Daniel Defoe

2010-01-25T01:51:46Z

Jonathanvillar:

Daniel Defoe (c.1659 – 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain, and is even referred to by some as one of the founders of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He was also a pioneer of economic journalism.

Early life

Daniel Defoe has been reported to be born in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate London. The date and the place of his birth are uncertain with sources often giving dates of 1659 to 1661. His father, James Foe, though a member of the Butchers' Company, was a tallow chandler. In Daniel's early life he experienced first-hand some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: in 1665, 70,000 were killed by the plague. On top of all these catastrophes, the Great Fire of London (1666) hit Defoe's neighbourhood hard, leaving only his and two other homes standing in the area. All of this happened when Defoe was very young and by the age of about thirteen, Defoe's mother had died.His parents were Presbyterian dissenters; he was educated in a Dissenting Academy at Newington Green run by Charles morton, and is believed to have attended the church there.

Defoe entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woollen goods, and wine. Though his ambitions were great and he bought both a country estate and a ship, he was rarely free of debt.In 1692, Defoe was arrested for payments of £700 though his total debts may have amounted to £17,000. His laments were loud, and he always defended unfortunate debtors, but there is evidence that his financial dealings were not always honest.

Mature life: political activities

Daniel Defoe had been early on interested in politic issues and so show his first essays and essays.From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King William III to a standing army during disarmament after the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) had ended the Nine Years' War (1688–97).
Defoe's pamphleteering and political activities resulted in his arrest and placement in a pillory on July 31, 1703, principally on account of a pamphlet entitled ''The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters; Or, Proposals for the Establishment of the Church'', purporting to argue for their extermination. Defoe spent three days in the pillory, until Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, brokered his release in exchange for Defoe's co-operation as an intelligence agent.
Not all of Defoe's pamphlet writing was politically oriented. One pamphlet entitled "A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury the 8th of September, 1705," deals with interaction between the spiritual realm and the physical realm. It was most likely written in support of Charles Drelincourt's "The Christian Defense against the Fears of Death" (1651). It describes Mrs. Bargrave's encounter with an old friend, Mrs. Veal, after she had passed away. It is clear from this piece and other writings, that while the political portion of Defoe's life was fairly dominating, it was by no means the only aspect.

Major Works

''Robinson Crusoe''(1719) tells the story of his life on an island for 27 seven years. He learns to survive for more than 20 years there, until one day he finds a human foot print which is not his, and he's scared to death by the discovery: he knows he's surrounded by canibal barbarians living on the opposite shore of the island. Soon after, he witnesses a human sacrifice, but one of the preys escape from this slashing. Robinson rescues him, and names his new servant 'Friday', in honor of the day he saved him. Friday is taught to speak English and is introduced to the Bible, the only book Robinson found in his sunk ship.
Friday tells his master of the region where he used to live: there were white bearded people, like Robinson himself, that remains abandoned after another shipwreck. Yet another event unfolds when another ship, victim of a mutiny, arrives in the island. Crusoe and Friday help the Captain and the prisoners to retrieve the ship, finally escaping from the island with the help of these men. Back in London again, Crusoe learns of the new life and the new civilization that has evolved since he was left ashore in an island, 27 years ago.

''Moll Flanders''(1722) tells the story of an orphanaged girl who is born in Newgate Prison and must make her way in life by her wits and her beauty. Fate manages to kill, destroy, or to eliminate all of Moll's husbands, lovers, caregivers, and friends by means such as incest, chicanery, or imprisonment. Over all adversity Moll manages to triumph until , at the end of her life, Moll is living in comfort in London with her true love, Jemy. Both lament their former sins and wild ways and choose to "spend the remainder of our years in sincere penitence for the wicked lives we have lived." Main Characters:
Moll Flanders - the narrator and heroine of the book . Her escapades to procure wealth and her adventures as her circumstances change provide the plot of the novel.
Jemy - Moll's fourth husband, her true love, who is as much a con artist as Moll.
Defoe Moll's Brother/Husband - Moll's third husband who takes her to live in Virginia and, after several years of marriage, is revealed to be her half brother.
Robin - Moll's first husband who dies after only five years of marriage.
The Draper - Moll's second husband who escapes prison and flees to France after being arrested for bad debts.
The Bank Clerk - Moll's fifth husband who dies from grief over the loss of his money.
The Governess - the pawnbroker who encourages Moll in her life of thievery.

''Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress''(1724) concerns the story of an unnamed "fallen woman", who takes on various pseudonyms, including "Roxana," describes her fall from wealth thanks to abandonment by a "fool" of a husband and movement into prostitution upon his abandonment. Roxana moves up and down through the social spectrum several times, by contracting a marriage to a jeweler, secretly courting a prince, being offered marriage by a Dutch merchant, and is finally able to afford her own freedom by accumulating wealth from these men.
The novel examines the possibility of eighteenth century women owning their own estate despite a patriarchal society. The novel further draws attention to the incompatibility between sexual freedom and freedom from motherhood. Roxana becomes pregnant many times due to her sexual exploits, and it is one of her children who come back to expose her, years later, by the closing scenes in the novel.The character of Roxana can be described as a proto-feminist because she carries out her actions of prostitution for her own ends of freedom, but before a feminist ideology was fully formed.

Final years and legacy

In his final years, Defoe published two economic texts, ''The Complete English Tradesman'' (1725) and "Augusta Triumphans: A Plan of the English Commerce" (1728). Ironically, despite his personal interest in trade, and his successes as a bestselling pamphleteer and writer of fiction, Defoe died in poverty in his lodgings in Ropemaker's Alley, in Moorfields, London.
Defoe is regarded as one of the founders of the English novel. Before his time fiction was primarily written in verse or in the form of plays, but Defoe developed a new form of storytelling - one which remains until today. He can also be credited with being one of the founding fathers of English journalism.

REFERENCES:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155842/Daniel-Defoe

http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Defoe-Daniel.html

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Defoe_Daniel.html

Article by Jonathan Villar.

Daniel Defoe

2010-01-25T01:48:50Z

Jonathanvillar:

Daniel Defoe (c.1659 – 24 April 1731[1]), born Daniel Foe, was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain, and is even referred to by some as one of the founders of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He was also a pioneer of economic journalism.

Early life

Daniel Defoe has been reported to be born in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate London. The date and the place of his birth are uncertain with sources often giving dates of 1659 to 1661. His father, James Foe, though a member of the Butchers' Company, was a tallow chandler. In Daniel's early life he experienced first-hand some of the most unusual occurrences in English history: in 1665, 70,000 were killed by the plague. On top of all these catastrophes, the Great Fire of London (1666) hit Defoe's neighbourhood hard, leaving only his and two other homes standing in the area. All of this happened when Defoe was very young and by the age of about thirteen, Defoe's mother had died.His parents were Presbyterian dissenters; he was educated in a Dissenting Academy at Newington Green run by Charles morton, and is believed to have attended the church there.

Defoe entered the world of business as a general merchant, dealing at different times in hosiery, general woollen goods, and wine. Though his ambitions were great and he bought both a country estate and a ship, he was rarely free of debt.In 1692, Defoe was arrested for payments of £700 though his total debts may have amounted to £17,000. His laments were loud, and he always defended unfortunate debtors, but there is evidence that his financial dealings were not always honest.

Mature life: political activities

Daniel Defoe had been early on interested in politic issues and so show his first essays and essays.From 1697 to 1698, he defended the right of King William III to a standing army during disarmament after the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) had ended the Nine Years' War (1688–97).
Defoe's pamphleteering and political activities resulted in his arrest and placement in a pillory on July 31, 1703, principally on account of a pamphlet entitled ''The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters; Or, Proposals for the Establishment of the Church'', purporting to argue for their extermination. Defoe spent three days in the pillory, until Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, brokered his release in exchange for Defoe's co-operation as an intelligence agent.
Not all of Defoe's pamphlet writing was politically oriented. One pamphlet entitled "A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury the 8th of September, 1705," deals with interaction between the spiritual realm and the physical realm. It was most likely written in support of Charles Drelincourt's "The Christian Defense against the Fears of Death" (1651). It describes Mrs. Bargrave's encounter with an old friend, Mrs. Veal, after she had passed away. It is clear from this piece and other writings, that while the political portion of Defoe's life was fairly dominating, it was by no means the only aspect.

Major Works

''Robinson Crusoe'' tells the story of his life on an island for 27 seven years. He learns to survive for more than 20 years there, until one day he finds a human foot print which is not his, and he's scared to death by the discovery: he knows he's surrounded by canibal barbarians living on the opposite shore of the island. Soon after, he witnesses a human sacrifice, but one of the preys escape from this slashing. Robinson rescues him, and names his new servant 'Friday', in honor of the day he saved him. Friday is taught to speak English and is introduced to the Bible, the only book Robinson found in his sunk ship.
Friday tells his master of the region where he used to live: there were white bearded people, like Robinson himself, that remains abandoned after another shipwreck. Yet another event unfolds when another ship, victim of a mutiny, arrives in the island. Crusoe and Friday help the Captain and the prisoners to retrieve the ship, finally escaping from the island with the help of these men. Back in London again, Crusoe learns of the new life and the new civilization that has evolved since he was left ashore in an island, 27 years ago.

''Moll Flanders'' tells the story of an orphanaged girl who is born in Newgate Prison and must make her way in life by her wits and her beauty. Fate manages to kill, destroy, or to eliminate all of Moll's husbands, lovers, caregivers, and friends by means such as incest, chicanery, or imprisonment. Over all adversity Moll manages to triumph until , at the end of her life, Moll is living in comfort in London with her true love, Jemy. Both lament their former sins and wild ways and choose to "spend the remainder of our years in sincere penitence for the wicked lives we have lived." Main Characters:
Moll Flanders - the narrator and heroine of the book . Her escapades to procure wealth and her adventures as her circumstances change provide the plot of the novel.
Jemy - Moll's fourth husband, her true love, who is as much a con artist as Moll.
Defoe Moll's Brother/Husband - Moll's third husband who takes her to live in Virginia and, after several years of marriage, is revealed to be her half brother.
Robin - Moll's first husband who dies after only five years of marriage.
The Draper - Moll's second husband who escapes prison and flees to France after being arrested for bad debts.
The Bank Clerk - Moll's fifth husband who dies from grief over the loss of his money.
The Governess - the pawnbroker who encourages Moll in her life of thievery.

''Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress'' concerns the story of an unnamed "fallen woman", who takes on various pseudonyms, including "Roxana," describes her fall from wealth thanks to abandonment by a "fool" of a husband and movement into prostitution upon his abandonment. Roxana moves up and down through the social spectrum several times, by contracting a marriage to a jeweler, secretly courting a prince, being offered marriage by a Dutch merchant, and is finally able to afford her own freedom by accumulating wealth from these men.
The novel examines the possibility of eighteenth century women owning their own estate despite a patriarchal society. The novel further draws attention to the incompatibility between sexual freedom and freedom from motherhood. Roxana becomes pregnant many times due to her sexual exploits, and it is one of her children who come back to expose her, years later, by the closing scenes in the novel.The character of Roxana can be described as a proto-feminist because she carries out her actions of prostitution for her own ends of freedom, but before a feminist ideology was fully formed.

Final years and legacy

In his final years, Defoe published two economic texts, ''The Complete English Tradesman'' (1725) and "Augusta Triumphans: A Plan of the English Commerce" (1728). Ironically, despite his personal interest in trade, and his successes as a bestselling pamphleteer and writer of fiction, Defoe died in poverty in his lodgings in Ropemaker's Alley, in Moorfields, London.
Defoe is regarded as one of the founders of the English novel. Before his time fiction was primarily written in verse or in the form of plays, but Defoe developed a new form of storytelling - one which remains until today. He can also be credited with being one of the founding fathers of English journalism.

REFERENCES:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155842/Daniel-Defoe

http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Defoe-Daniel.html

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Defoe_Daniel.html

Article by Jonathan Villar.

Daniel Defoe

2010-01-25T01:47:17Z

Jonathanvillar:

Samuel Richardson

2009-12-16T20:20:15Z

Jonathanvillar:

1689-1761. 18th-century English writer. Among his works there are three which are considered his master pieces, all of them written in the epistolary form: ''[[Pamela, or virtue rewarded]]''(1740) , ''Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and the ''History of Sir Charles Grandison'' (1753). He also made contributions in magazines and journals and worked as publisher and printer. Although he is well known for his literature , he also spent some time painting, which was his other less known passion.

EARLY LIFE AND BEGINNINGS

Richardson was born in Derbyshire, in a family of middle-class tradesmen. He got his first opportunity to develop his abilities when he travelled to London to be apprentice of John Wilde, a great painter and draughtsman of that time. A family of painters called the Leakes took great sympathy for them , and their presses would be his future in the printing industry.
In his professional life Richardson was committed to his work and this gave him great success, since his works were said to be written with pure passion and dedication. As his printing press grew in prestige he became a respected intellectual by many others like the painter William Hogarth, the actors Colley Cibber and David Garrick, Edward Young, and Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of Commons, whose influence in 1733 helped to secure for Richardson lucrative contracts for government printing that later included the journals of the House.

HIS MAIN WORKS

In 1739 he published ''[[Pamela]] or Virtue Rewarded'', a story about a young woman who has to face the reality of the patriarchal world and overcome its many obstacles. Though the novel was immensely popular, Richardson was criticized by those who thought his heroine a calculating minx or his own morality dubious. Actually his heroine is an imagined blend of the artful in some instances and the artless in some others. She is a perplexed girl of 15, with a divided mind, who faces a real dilemma because she wants to preserve her virtue without losing the man with whom she has fallen in love. The point of discussion would be to consider first what is the notion of virtue at that time and what it really implied was quite complex ,although social class was a good reason to be virtuous.

In 1844 he writes the novel ''Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady''. He presents the heroine, Clarissa Harlowe, when she is discovering the concealed motives of her family, who would force her into a loveless marriage to improve their fortunes. Clarissa falls in love with Lovelace a nephew of a quite rich Lord, who would grant both her happiness and that of her family. As the novel comes to its close, she is removed from the world of both the Harlowes and the Lovelaces, and becomes a destitute child of heaven, although it could be read in several ways. In providing confidants for his central characters and in refusing to find a place in the social structure into which to fit his heroine, Richardson made his greatest advances over ''Pamela''. He was determined, as his postscript indicates, to write a novel that was also a tragedy and indeed was found more tragic than his previous heroine.

In his third novel called ''The History of Sir Charles Grandison'' (1753), he provides a hero who is a model of benevolence. He faces little that a good heart cannot remedy and leads him to a dilemma that he has to solve: a “divided love” between an English woman, Harriet Byron, and an Italian, Signora Clementina. He is saved for Harriet by the last-minute refusal of the Roman Catholic Clementina to marry a committed English churchman. The uneasy minds of Clementina and Harriet are explored with some penetration, but Sir Charles faces nothing in his society or within himself that requires much of a struggle. His dilemma is not so central to the novel as were those of Pamela and Clarissa. He is surrounded with a large cast of characters who have their parts to play in social comedy that anticipates the novel of manners of the late 18th century.

LEGACY

Richardson was an committed reviser of his own work, and the various editions of his novels differ greatly. Much of his revision was undertaken in a quite self-censoring response to criticism; the earliest versions of his novels are generally the more insightful and daring according to several critics.
Richardson’s ''Pamela'' is often credited with being the first English novel (others name Defoe's ''Robinson Crusoe'' or Aphra Behn's ''Oroonoko''). Although the validity of this claim depends on the definition of the term novel, it is not disputed that Richardson was innovative in his concentration on a single action, in this case courtship. By telling the story in the form of letters, he provided if not the “stream” at least the flow of consciousness of his characters, and he pioneered in showing how his characters’ sense of class differences and their awareness of the conflict between sexual instincts and the moral code created dilemmas that could not always be resolved. These characteristics reappear regularly in the subsequent history of the novel. Above all, Richardson was the writer who made the novel a respectable genre. He is widely considered a true forerunner of the psychological novel in Europe.

links:

http://www.nndb.com/people/703/000104391/
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3772
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404705452.html

An article by Jonathan Villar

Samuel Richardson

2009-12-16T20:19:09Z

Jonathanvillar:

1689-1761. 18th-century English writer. Among his works there are three which are considered his master pieces, all of them written in the epistolary form: ''[[Pamela, or virtue rewarded]]''(1740) , ''Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and the ''History of Sir Charles Grandison'' (1753). He also made contributions in magazines and journals and worked as publisher and printer. Although he is well known for his literature , he also spent some time painting, which was his other less known passion.

EARLY LIFE AND BEGINNINGS

Richardson was born in Derbyshire, in a family of middle-class tradesmen. He got his first opportunity to develop his abilities when he travelled to London to be apprentice of John Wilde, a great painter and draughtsman of that time. A family of painters called the Leakes took great sympathy for them , and their presses would be his future in the printing industry.
In his professional life Richardson was committed to his work and this gave him great success, since his works were said to be written with pure passion and dedication. As his printing press grew in prestige he became a respected intellectual by many others like the painter William Hogarth, the actors Colley Cibber and David Garrick, Edward Young, and Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of Commons, whose influence in 1733 helped to secure for Richardson lucrative contracts for government printing that later included the journals of the House.

HIS MAIN WORKS

In 1739 he published ''[[Pamela]] or Virtue Rewarded'', a story about a young woman who has to face the reality of the patriarchal world and overcome its many obstacles. Though the novel was immensely popular, Richardson was criticized by those who thought his heroine a calculating minx or his own morality dubious. Actually his heroine is an imagined blend of the artful in some instances and the artless in some others. She is a perplexed girl of 15, with a divided mind, who faces a real dilemma because she wants to preserve her virtue without losing the man with whom she has fallen in love. The point of discussion would be to consider first what is the notion of virtue at that time and what it really implied was quite complex ,although social class was a good reason to be virtuous.

In 1844 he writes the novel ''Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady''. He presents the heroine, Clarissa Harlowe, when she is discovering the concealed motives of her family, who would force her into a loveless marriage to improve their fortunes. Clarissa falls in love with Lovelace a nephew of a quite rich Lord, who would grant both her happiness and that of her family. As the novel comes to its close, she is removed from the world of both the Harlowes and the Lovelaces, and becomes a destitute child of heaven, although it could be read in several ways. In providing confidants for his central characters and in refusing to find a place in the social structure into which to fit his heroine, Richardson made his greatest advances over ''Pamela''. He was determined, as his postscript indicates, to write a novel that was also a tragedy and indeed was found more tragic than his previous heroine.

In his third novel called ''The History of Sir Charles Grandison'' (published when??), he provides a hero who is a model of benevolence. He faces little that a good heart cannot remedy and leads him to a dilemma that he has to solve: a “divided love” between an English woman, Harriet Byron, and an Italian, Signora Clementina. He is saved for Harriet by the last-minute refusal of the Roman Catholic Clementina to marry a committed English churchman. The uneasy minds of Clementina and Harriet are explored with some penetration, but Sir Charles faces nothing in his society or within himself that requires much of a struggle. His dilemma is not so central to the novel as were those of Pamela and Clarissa. He is surrounded with a large cast of characters who have their parts to play in social comedy that anticipates the novel of manners of the late 18th century.

LEGACY

Richardson was an committed reviser of his own work, and the various editions of his novels differ greatly. Much of his revision was undertaken in a quite self-censoring response to criticism; the earliest versions of his novels are generally the more insightful and daring according to several critics.
Richardson’s ''Pamela'' is often credited with being the first English novel (others name Defoe's ''Robinson Crusoe'' or Aphra Behn's ''Oroonoko''). Although the validity of this claim depends on the definition of the term novel, it is not disputed that Richardson was innovative in his concentration on a single action, in this case courtship. By telling the story in the form of letters, he provided if not the “stream” at least the flow of consciousness of his characters, and he pioneered in showing how his characters’ sense of class differences and their awareness of the conflict between sexual instincts and the moral code created dilemmas that could not always be resolved. These characteristics reappear regularly in the subsequent history of the novel. Above all, Richardson was the writer who made the novel a respectable genre. He is widely considered a true forerunner of the psychological novel in Europe.

links:

http://www.nndb.com/people/703/000104391/
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3772
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404705452.html

An article by Jonathan Villar

Samuel Richardson

2009-12-16T00:04:04Z

Jonathanvillar: Created page with 'SAMUEL RICHARDSON INTRODUCTION Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) was an 18th century English writer. Among his works there are three which are considered his master pieces, all …'

SAMUEL RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) was an 18th century English writer. Among his works there are three which are considered his master pieces, all of them written in the epistolary form: Pamela, or virtue rewarded(1740) , Clarissa :or the History of a Young Lady(1748) and the History of Sir Charles Grandison. It is remarkable the contributions in magazines and journals , as well as his work as publisher and printer. Although he is well known for his literature , he also spent some time painting, which was his other passion.

EARLY LIFE AND BEGINNINGS

Richardson was born in Derbyshire , in a family of middle-class tradesmen. He got his first opportunity to develop his abilities when he travelled to London to be apprentice of John Wilde, a great painter and draughtsman of this time. A family of painters called the Leakes took great sympathy for them , and their presses would be his future in the printing industry.
In his professional life Richardson was committed to his work and this gave him great success, since his works were said to be written with pure passion and dedication. As his printing press became more prestigious he became a respected intellectual by many others like the painter William Hogarth, the actors Colley Cibber and David Garrick , Edward Young, and Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of Commons, whose influence in 1733 helped to secure for Richardson lucrative contracts for government printing that later included the journals of the House.

HIS MAIN WORKS

In 1739 he published ''Pamela or Virtue Rewarded'' , a story about a young lady who has to face the reality of the patriarchal world and overcome its many obstacles. Though the novel was immensely popular, Richardson was criticized by those who thought his heroine a calculating minx or his own morality dubious. Actually his heroine is a imagined blend of the artful in some instances and the artless in some others. She is a perplexed girl of 15, with a divided mind, who faces a real dilemma because she wants to preserve her virtue without losing the man with whom she has fallen in love. The point of discussion would be to consider first what is the notion of virtue at that time and what it really implied was quite complex , although social class was a good reason to be virtuous.

In 1944 he writes the novel ''Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady''. He presents the heroine, Clarissa Harlowe , when she is discovering the concealed motives of her family, who would force her into a loveless marriage to improve their fortunes. Clarissa falls in love with Lovelace a nephew of a quite rich Lord, who would grant both her happiness and that of her family. As the novel comes to its close, she is removed from the world of both the Harlowes and the Lovelaces, and becomesa destitute child of heaven. In providing confidants for his central characters and in refusing to find a place in the social structure into which to fit his heroine, Richardson made his greatest advances over Pamela. He was determined, as his postscript indicates, to write a novel that was also a tragedy and indeed was found more tragic than his previous heroine.

In his third novel called ''The History of Sir Charles Grandison'' , he provides a hero who is a model of benevolence. He faces little that a good heart cannot remedy and leads him to a dilemma that he has to solve : a “divided love” between an English woman, Harriet Byron, and an Italian, Signora Clementina. He is saved for Harriet by the last-minute refusal of the Roman Catholic Clementina to marry a committed English churchman. The uneasy minds of Clementina and Harriet are explored with some penetration, but Sir Charles faces nothing in his society or within himself that requires much of a struggle. His dilemma is not so central to the novel as were those of Pamela and Clarissa. He is surrounded with a large cast of characters who have their parts to play in social comedy that anticipates the novel of manners of the late 18th century.

LEGACY

Richardson was an committed reviser of his own work, and the various editions of his novels differ greatly. Much of his revision was undertaken in a quite self-censoring response to criticism; the earliest versions of his novels are generally the more insightful and daring.
Richardson’s Pamela is often credited with being the first English novel. Although the validity of this claim depends on the definition of the term novel, it is not disputed that Richardson was innovative in his concentration on a single action, in this case a courtship. By telling the story in the form of letters, he provided if not the “stream” at least the flow of consciousness of his characters, and he pioneered in showing how his characters’ sense of class differences and their awareness of the conflict between sexual instincts and the moral code created dilemmas that could not always be resolved. These characteristics reappear regularly in the subsequent history of the novel. Above all, Richardson was the writer who made the novel a respectable genre. He is widely considered a true forerunner of the psychological novel in Europe.

links:

http://www.nndb.com/people/703/000104391/
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3772
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404705452.html

An article by Jonathan Villar