Falstaff, the famous comic character in "Henry IV " and " Merry Wives of Windsor."

Barabbas, the leading character in Marlowe's "Jew of Malta."

Hazlitt... Northcote. James Northcote (1746-1831) was a painter whose talk Hazlitt has recorded in a book, the last one he published, “The Conversations of James Northcote."

180. quality of mercy, etc., a reference to the famous speech of Portia in "The Merchant of Venice."

181. When they told Joan of Arc, etc. See page 437.

so careless of the single life." Tennyson's "In Memoriam," LV. Shakespeare..

Sir Thomas Lucy. An allusion to a legend of a deer-stealing exploit by Shakespeare.

Topics: On writing about one's self, The pleasure of traveling, On campus nuisances, The magazine habit, An apology for the Saturday Evening Post, The recreations of a student, On being good, On the decay of hazing, On going to church, On studying a classic, On college heroes, On polite lying, Reflections in a library, On cultivating a garden, On campus customs, On barber shops, On the feeling of consciousness in freshmen, On the speech of college men, On the seriousness of sport, On letter writing, On dormitories, On the uses of leisure, Thoughts on a college course, On mother's flower garden, On fishing, On being "introduced," On household pets, The first college holiday.

On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth. The two forms of Hazlitt's essay reproduced in the text give point to many a saying on the importance of the right word. The essay first appeared, in the form printed at the bottom of the page, in the Monthly Magazine (March, 1827) and was republished, with omissions and variations, after Hazlitt's death in the "Literary Remains" (1836). The variations have been printed in italics, and expressions in each text having no correspondence in the other have been set in brackets.

Are the expressions in the original version ever incorrect or improper? Has Hazlitt substituted "finer" or less usual words? What has been the result of his verbal changes in respect to associative value, sound coloring, in the effect on equipoise of sound"? Does the result give the impression of being labored? Compare this essay with the "Apology for Idlers" in its general structure and its "web." What are the distinctive stylistic merits of each essay?

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183. The vast," etc. An adaptation from Addison's Cato," Act v Scene 1, "The wide, the unbounded prospect, lies before me." The use of quotation is in many writers, and in none more conspicuously than in Hazlitt, a prominent feature of style. When the mind is saturated in the stream of poetic reminiscence, the phrases of the poets will invade the natural utterance and impart to the expression something of their own tone. It is a rich source of suggestiveness in style, but is a most dangerous snare for the unpracticed. The slightest approach to impropriety or ostentation converts

the charm to a poison. The writer must be absolutely at ease with the phrases he handles, must make them fit as naturally and as closely into his context as any familiar word of his vocabulary, so naturally that quotation marks look like an impertinent intrusion. He may then be indulged in the licence which Hazlitt often permits himself of slightly altering and adapting the words of others to bring them into harmony with his own thought. So integral a part of Hazlitt's expression do these phrases become that when the marks are omitted it is often difficult to distinguish them from their surroundings. Other instances of this practice are pointed out in The Physical Basis of Life," "An Apology for Idlers," "Mark Twain,' "" Turner's Slave Ship," An Accountant," and elsewhere. "bear a charmed life." Macbeth," Act v, Scene 8.

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Bidding the lovely scene," etc. Collins's Ode, "The Passions," 32. 184. "this sensible, warm motion," etc. "Measure for Measure,"

the foolish fat scullion. See Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," Volume 5, Chapter 7.

186.

Life, thou strange thing," etc. From The Art of War," a poem by Joseph Fawcett, Hazlitt's friend.

187. the feast of reason," etc. Pope's "Imitations of Horace," Satire I, line 128.

brave, sublunary things." Cf. "Those brave translunary things." Michael Drayton, "To Henry Reynolds."

188. the mighty world of eye line 105.

and ear. Wordsworth's

"Tintern Abbey,"

"the stockdove's notes," etc. Thomson's "Castle of Indolence" Book I, Stanza 4. The quotation is given more exactly in the original version. 189. Rembrandt, the great Dutch painter of the seventeenth century. It was in despair of attaining an art like Rembrandt's, Hazlitt tells us elsewhere, that he abandoned the career of a painter which he had undertaken before turning to literature.

190. I started in life, etc. Hazlitt was one of the stanchest English supporters of the French Revolution and all its effects. He defied British sentiment in his enthusiasm for Napoleon and appeared heartbroken at the news of Waterloo. This was one of the reasons for his unpopularity.

192. E'en from the tomb," etc. Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard."

"all the life of life." Burns's "Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn." 193. From the last dregs," etc. Dryden's "Aurengzebe," Act iv,

Scene 1.

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1

REVIEWS AND CRITICISMS

Jane Austen's Emma. Reviewing is the branch of criticism which aims to convey an idea of a work of art to persons having no acquaintance with it. The duty of the reviewer is more to translate than it is to judge. He must give a just impression of the content and the general spirit of the work. To do this implies a certain degree of judgment, for it is impossible for any person to speak in so colorless a way about any work of art as to leave no trace of his attitude toward it. But the success of a review depends on the writer's capacity for reproducing, even with a remote resemblance, the impression of the original in its body and spirit. In the case of a novel or a play the simplest manner of doing this is by means of a summary which indicates the kind of action and persons with which the story is concerned. Such is the method employed by Scott in his essay on Jane Austen. A paragraph of generalization is followed by a series of summaries and a brief conclusion. Note the difference in the length of the summaries. Is the shortest any less complete than the longest? Which most effectively contributes to the writer's aim?

Jane Austen (1775-1817), wrote her masterpieces of observation and portrayal of quiet country life amid complete popular indifference. Scott was the first prominent person to call attention, in the year before her death, to her work. She has since taken her place with the classics. 195. Bayes, a character in Buckingham's "Rehearsal."

Miss Edgeworth, Maria (1767–1849), a writer of novels of fashionable life and of Irish character, for whom Scott had great admiration. Her reputation was high in her own day, but has since suffered an eclipse. Only her Irish stories, like "Castle Rackrent," now sustain her fame.

Topics: Write a review of a recent novel, a play, or poem by some writer of repute, such as W. J. Locke, Joseph Conrad, William De Morgan, Arnold Bennett, John Galsworthy, H. G. Wells, Alfred Noyes, John Masefield, Edith Wharton, Eden Philpotts, J. M. Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Wing Pinero, Henry Arthur Jones.

The Tatler. Hazlitt's object in this passage is to reproduce the impression which he has received from a set of miscellaneous essays, and he does so without expressing a judgment, unless we call a judgment the general compliment contained in the first sentence. The method is to suggest the subjects, the atmosphere, the observation, the humor, the reflection of "The Tatler," not by means of general remarks on each topic, but by a series of concrete details, each contributing a telling touch and all combining to create the very feeling of the original. This is called impressionistic criticism, and in the hands of a skilful writer, of a writer with restraint as well as appreciation, it may produce effects as fine as the work of which it treats.

The Tatler was the first of the famous eighteenth-century essay-periodicals. Richard Steele, its founder, and Joseph Addison were the chief contributors. It ran from April 12, 1709, to Jan. 2, 1711, and was succeeded by "The Spectator."

201. Montaigne, Michel de (1533–1592), is not only the first, but the

greatest of all essayists.

Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.

This name had just been made notorious by

Swift and was assumed by Steele in connection with "The Tatler."

the disastrous strokes, etc. Compare "Othello," Act i, Scene 3: "Some distressful stroke that my youth suffered."

He dwells with a secret satisfaction. "The Tatler," No. 107.

the club at the Trumpet.

the cavalcade, etc.

"The Tatler," No. 132. "The Tatler," No. 86.

202. the upholsterer and his companions. "The Tatler," Nos. 155, 160,

178.

burlesque copy of verses.

written by Swift.

"The Tatler," No. 238. These verses were

Plutarch (c. 46-120), a prolific Greek writer, whose most famous work is a series of Parallel Lives of the Greeks and Romans, of which there are several well-known English translations.

Betterton, Mrs. Oldfield, Penkethman, Bullock, are all actors of that day. Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill (1650-1722), was probably the greatest of all British generals.

Marshal Turenne (1611–1675), a great French general.

Vanbrugh, Sir John (?1664-1726), one of the chief writers of Restoration comedies.

Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), the greatest of the classical school in English poetry.

Write an appreciation of "The Essays of Elia," a volume of Hazlitt's essays, the novels of Dickens, the poetry of Scott, the tales of Poe, a story of Cooper's, Mark Twain's " Huckleberry Finn " and " Tom Sawyer," Stevenson's stories of adventure, Tennyson's “ Idylls of the King," the poetry of Burns.

The Waverley Novels. In this passage we have an illustration of criticism exercising its supreme function, that of judging the qualities which entitle a writer to a rank among the great ones in the art. In distinction from the creative process involved in Hazlitt's remarks on The Tatler," the process here may be called analytic, the object being to indicate the elements underlying the great effects which Scott's novels produce, to trace the sources of their power and thereby to estimate their importance in art and their duration. Would Mr. Woodberry's criticism be of any value to persons who did not know Scott's novels? What value does it have for persons familiar with Scott?

The Waverley Novels were the outstanding literary feature, rivalled only by Byron's poetry, of the period during which they were produced, 18141832. Although the more romantic novels of the series, such as " Ivanhoe and "Quentin Durward," are the most popular, the greatest without doubt are those which came before and dealt with the more familiar Scottish environment. It is the latter class that chiefly forms the basis of Professor Woodberry's analysis.

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NOTES

203. George Constable. In a note to his Autobiography (see Lockhart's "Life of Scott," Chapter 1), Scott refers to George Constable as an old He had many of the peculiarities of temper which friend of his father's. long afterwards I tried to develop in the character of Jonathan Oldbuck." John Clerk of Eldin (1728-1812). "Many traits of the elder Clerk were, his son has no doubt, embroidered on the character of George Constable in the composition of Jonathan Oldbuck." Lockhart's "Life of Scott," Chapter 5.

The Antiquary (1816) was the third in the series of Waverley Novels and had a contemporary setting.

Laidlaw, William (1780-1845), who in 1817 became Scott's steward at Abbotsford and subsequently his amanuensis. Referring to Laidlaw in this connection, Lockhart says (Chapter 7): "I have the best reason to believe that the kind and manly character of Dandie, the gentle and delicious one of his wife, and some at least of the most picturesque peculiarities of the ménage at Charlieshope, were filled up from Scott's observation of a family with one of whose members he had, through the best part of his life, a close and affectionate connection."

Castle Dangerous, the last of the Waverley Novels. To refresh his memory of the scenes in which the action of this novel is set, Scott paid a visit to Douglas Castle before he began to compose.

204. Bunce, a character in "The Pirate."

Sir Percie Shafton, a character in "The Legend of Montrose."

Count Robert of Paris, the last but one of Scott's novels, deals with the court of Alexius I, Emperor of the East at the end of the eleventh century. Quentin Durward, the hero of a romance set in the France of Louis XI. Richard Lionheart. Richard I figures prominently in both and "The Talisman."

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Ivanhoe "

The last uprising

205. A Jacobite, a supporter of the exiled Stuarts. in favor of the descendants of James II, in 1745, forms the basis of "WaThe Bride of Lammermoor." verley," which gave its name to the whole series of Scott's romances.

Ravenswood, the hero in "

207. the old fisherman. See p. 415.

208. "forms more real," etc.

Act i, line 748.

Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound,”

the form and pressure. Cf. "Hamlet," Act iii, Scene 2.

Topics: Dickens's treatment of character compared with Thackeray's, as a work of art, A George Eliot's portraiture of rural life, Wordsworth's mountaineers, The treatment of nature in Hardy's novels, Conan Doyle as a maker of plots, The satiric power of Swift, "The Ancient Mariner perfect sonnet, The imagery in "Paradise Lost."

Mark Twain. This passage illustrates an aspect of scientific criticism, the interpretation of literature in relation to its environment. Mark Twain's writings are not here viewed in their conformity to the rules expression of fundamental national traits, as an

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assertion