Transcription
I'm wondering when Thomas Carlyle was born. Who else was born? John Keats. Got it, guys? Welcome to this video on Victorian prose writers. Thomas Carlyle, a very major Victorian prose writer, was born in 1795, the year in which John Keats was born. We thought he is Victorian, but he's as old as a Romantic. Anyway, Thomas Carlyle was born—from 1790. Thomas Carlyle anyway, Thomas Carlyle was born in 1795 and he lived till 1881, and he was Scottish. Carlyle was a Scottish writer. He was meant for the clerical profession; he was Calvinist, but he did not go and join the clerical profession. He abandoned it, and he became a writer, as all of you know. He wrote very major works like Sartor Resartus, The French Revolution, Chartism, Past and Present, Heroes and Hero-Worship, and he had German influence. Carlyle was influenced by Transcendentalists, also Transcendentalists of America and Germans like Goethe. Influenced Thomas Carlyle. Goethe and Carlyle together—Goethe before and Carlyle later—developed the concept of wealth literature. He also translated Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. That's a very major work, isn't it? And he wrote the Life of Schiller. Schiller and Goethe, important German writers. So that is Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle lived at a time of industrial revolution; there was the working classes, uh, suffering and being exploited by the bourgeoisie, and Carlyle wrote a lot about the period in which he lived. A very important early book is Signs of the Times. Do you know the year in which it was written? 1829. Published in 1829, Signs of the Times is a collection of essays, and this is a criticism of the age. Then came Sartor Resartus in 1836, very important year. That was the year in which Charles Dickens started publishing. Sartor Resartus. It is a Latin title meaning "tailor repatched," tailor re-patched, because this book is about clothing. And Sartor Resartus is the fictional autobiography of a German professor called Teufelsdröckh, a German professor called Teufelsdröckh, and he is the author of an imaginary book. He's an imaginary professor, so obviously his book is also imaginary. His book is Clothes: Their Origin and Influence. Today, in cultural studies, we can talk about such things—clothing and the importance of clothing in a culture—but in those days it was rather funny. And the central question he's asking in this book is: Where can one find the truth? He's showing the truth is manipulated; truth is constructed, which is a very important idea in literary theory. Did you know, guys? This is called Philosophy of Clothes. Philosophy of Clothes. Everlasting Yay. Everlasting No. These are two characters he's introducing in this book. I think it was asked in that long ago. Everlasting Yay is faith; Everlasting No is disbelief; and in between there is agnosticism, the center of indifference. That is the, uh, central position of agnosticism. Such philosophical ideas are covered in the book Sartor Resartus. Then, in 1837, came The French Revolution. It is a book that inspired Charles Dickens a lot in writing A Tale of Two Cities. And did you know, guys? It was J.S. Mill who asked Carlyle to write this book. It was a commission that Mill got, and he gave it to Carlyle. Carlyle sent the manuscript to Mill, and the manuscript was accidentally burned by Mill's maid. No problem. Carlyle rewrote the manuscript. Wow. That is the history of the book The French Revolution. It was written in three volumes, 1837. In 1840 came the book Chartism, which talked about the Condition of England question. This later gave rise to Condition of England novels, which depict the condition of the working classes in England. In 1841 came the famous book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History. It is a collection of six lectures where he talks about great heroic people. You know, he talks about—I will read out all the entire list; it's very important—he talked about hero as divinity, and talked about Odin; hero as prophet is Muhammad; hero as poet is Dante and Shakespeare; then he talked about hero as priest; examples are Luther and Knox; hero as man of letters: Dr. Johnson, Rousseau, and Burns; hero as king is Cromwell and Napoleon. So those are the important heroes that he talked about in the book Heroes and Hero-Worship. It has been criticized because Carlyle is like reducing heroes—reduced—it has been criticized because Carlyle has reduced history to the history of a few heroes. Now that was in 1841. In 1843, two years later, came Past and Present, important book, which is also social commentary. Then came Latter-Day Pamphlets, Latter-Day Pamphlets, a book of essays, of course, on socio-political, religious issues. By the way, Latter-Day Psalms was written by Nissim Ezekiel. Shooting Niagara and After was written against the Great Reform Act of 1867. So Carlyle was a very brilliant prose writer. Incidentally, Carlyle criticized the utilitarian philosophy. So Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times against utilitarianism and dedicated it to Carlyle. Did you know that, guys? And, uh, then we have to talk about another prose writer, none other than Thomas Babington Macaulay, very important politician, novelist, and prose writer. Macaulay was born in 1800. So when he was 35 years old, he made the famous Macaulay's Minutes, which led to the English Education Act in India. Macaulay was an essayist, poet, and Whig politician. He wrote poetry also apart from prose. Whatever he wrote, he wrote for recreation. He was not a writer who earned a living by writing. Obviously, he was best known for A History of England that he wrote in five volumes. Wow, that's a big collection. He wrote a series of essays for Edinburgh Review. Remember, Edinburgh Review was a Whig magazine. There were 39 essays that he contributed to Edinburgh Magazine, most of them about writers. He wrote essays on Milton, Dryden, wow, Robert Southey, Byron, Boswell, Bunyan, Bacon, Addison, Goldsmith. You probably know that Macaulay very famously said, "Boswell licked the boots that kicked him." Oh, he says—say—on Goldsmith, "I have studied in Ba—" Now Macaulay had a brilliant style, but his history was not always very accurately presented. Macaulay also wrote three controversial essays attacking utilitarianism. And Macaulay in India, once again let me remind you, led to the development of the Indian Penal Code. Presented the Minute on Education in 1835, arguing that education in Sanskrit and Arabic is no use; we need education in English. He presented this minute to Lord William Bentinck. Another important prose writer is Henry Mayhew. Have you heard of Henry Mayhew? He was born in 1812. He's important for London Labour and the London Poor, a very important book published in 1851. These are essays on social journalism. London Labour and the London Poor, 1851. In 1819 was born John Ruskin. 1819 is the year in which Henry David Thoreau is also born. I think very important here; it is the annus mirabilis of John Keats and Ruskin. Incidentally, was born into the working class, the commercial class. His theories of society and life were informed by his commercial class background. He introduced the commercial classes to the possibility of appreciating art and enjoying it. He was a man of stupendous knowledge; he was a Victorian sage, writer, and prophet. Now he was a critic; he was a painter; he was a prose stylist—everything together. And Ruskin, do you remember, influenced the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood? Listen, everybody. John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood appreciated medieval art above the Renaissance arts. Ruskin was a professor at Oxford, at which time Walter Pater was also a professor there, but Ruskin and Walter Pater were like, uh, enemies—not enemies; they disagreed on theories of aesthetics. Ruskin was a, you know, person who believed in art for life's sake. Ruskin believed in art for life's sake, like Matthew Arnold's. He believed that art should teach us some values; art should reflect life. Matthew Arnold also believed that, but Walter Pater believed in art for art's sake. Walter Pater was the pioneer of art for art's sake movement, or aesthetic movement, to which Oscar Wilde belongs. Remember? So Ruskin and Walter Pater were like on the opposite sides of ideological, uh, appreciation of art and society. Ruskin was an artist in all his writings. He appreciated the connection of literature with art, with art, society, literature—that was like a triad that he developed: art, literature, society. And he also later in his writings focused on socio-political issues. Now Ruskin, as a critic, made a major impact on the 19th century. Ruskin wrote a lot of, uh, critical works on culture, on political economy, and so on and so forth. It will be very important to talk about Ruskin because in criticism, literary criticism also, Ruskin is important. Now Ruskin romantically idealized the medieval period, the Middle Ages. I already told you that this was influential on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, founded in 1848 by D.G. Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. Ruskin promoted Venetian painting and art especially; he promoted the Romantic artist J.M.W. Turner. That was in the book Modern Painters. And he believed in the importance of craftsmanship. English Arts and Crafts Movement, spearheaded by William Morris, was influenced by our John Ruskin. I told you he maintained ideas of art for life's sake, or the social utility of art. That was very important in Ruskin's writing. He also introduced the principle of naturalism in art. Naturalism is truth as how the artist sees it. Naturalism in artists: how the artist sees truth. And he also, uh, pioneered environmentalism. Did you know that John Ruskin pioneered environmentalism? A book by John Ruskin, Unto This Last, was very influential. Unto This Last, uh, inspired our Mahatma Gandhi. You probably know that. It's a collection of four essays. Then Fors Clavigera, Munera Pulveris, very important books by John Ruskin. Ruskin also wrote works on art criticism; he was also an art critic. Modern Painters, I already mentioned before. Modern Painters, uh, also he had written art, but Modern Painters is a very important book that glorified or praised the works of J.M.W. Turner. Other works of art criticism include Seven Lamps of Architecture, Seven Lamps of Architecture, and Stones of Venice. These are architectural criticism—criticism based on architecture—that he wrote. An interesting book is there that is relevant in literary criticism; that is Sesame and Lilies. You must have heard of that. It has two essays—collection of two essays—Of Kings' Treasuries and Of Queen's Gardens. One more was added: The Mystery of Life and its Odds. So Of Kings' Treasuries and Of Queen's Gardens. This became problematic because Ruskin had a rather stereotypical view of women. Many people said J.S. Mill's—J.S. Mill's Subjection of Woman, Subjection of Woman, is a better book compared to Sesame and Lilies. However, there is a very famous statement in Sesame and Lilies that you want—that you might want to know: "Shakespeare has no heroes, only heroines." Have you heard of that? It is based on Dr. Johnson's statement that Shakespeare has no heroes. Dr. Johnson meant that in Shakespeare's works there are no heroes; there are only people, human beings. Ruskin is saying that in Shakespeare's plays more important are the heroines. "Shakespeare has no heroes, only heroines," said Ruskin. Now did you know Ruskin has written a very important autobiography, Praeterita? Praeterita means "of past things." It is autobiography. And then another important writer is Matthew Arnold, as you know. He was a poet, but he was also a prose writer and critic. 1822 to 1888—that is the lifespan of Matthew Arnold. Matthew Arnold was an educationist, a classicist, and a moralist and a critic. He also wrote poetry. He was an educationist and wrote about educational problems. In criticism, a very important book that he wrote is Essays in Criticism, which has the famous essay The Study of Poetry. The Study of Poetry shows that poetry is going to replace—great poetry, for that matter—great poetry is going to replace religion and philosophy. Religion and philosophy have failed in the Victorian period, and great poetry is going to replace it. Great poetry should have high truth and high seriousness. That is also what he said. He defined criticism as "the disinterested endeavor to propagate the best that is known and taught in the world," a disinterested endeavor to propagate the best that is known and thought in the world. Haven't you heard that quotation? Very famous, um, after Essays in Criticism, he has written other important books like Culture and Anarchy, Literature and Dogma. Arnold's Culture and Anarchy gives a definition of culture as high culture. Culture is a study of perfection; culture should be the culture of the elite people. You know, Arnold was against giving voting rights to ordinary people, etc. He thought that elite culture of the high educator and aristocratic people is all that matters, and he believed that criticism should foster this study of perfection and high culture. Criticism should make the best ideas prevail; criticism should be about the canon and about high culture. That is what he believed. Culture and Anarchy, uh, is about high culture, and it inspired F.R. Leavis and T.S. Eliot. Later, cultural studies of Raymond Williams, E.P. Thompson, Richard Hoggart, etc., critiqued this perception of high culture as culture. For the cultural studies theorists, culture is everyday culture; culture is lived reality. So they departed—cultural studies theorists departed—from the views of Arnold, F.R. Leavis, and T.S. Eliot that culture means high culture. Got it, everyone? Now, in Culture and Anarchy, there are major concepts. One I already mentioned: he defines culture—will help us out of our great difficulties; culture will make the best ideas prevail, like criticism, because criticism is about great culture—and he criticized the English society because the upper-class people, the aristocrats, are barbarians; the middle-class people are Philistines; the working-class people are populace. But Arnold himself belonged to the Philistines, and he critiqued all of them. And Arnold talked about two aspects of high culture: it is Hellenism, and he Hebraism. Hellenism is the value of Hellenic Greece—Greek value—that means love of society, love of life, paganism, beauty, love of beauty. These are all aspects of Hellenism. Hebraism is, on the contrary, Hebrew culture—you know, Christian culture—strict adherence to rules, belief in one God. That is Hebraism. In writers like Milton, we have seen Hellenism and Hebraism mingle. There is both Hellenism and Hebraism in John Milton. Next prose writer we have to talk about is Walter Pater. Walter Pater was born in 1839, and he was a pioneer of aesthetic movements. He brought the idea of art for art's sake from France to England. Walter Pater was a teacher at Oxford, and he was closely associated with students like Oscar Wilde. Pater was a classical scholar. Unlike Ruskin, who valued medieval art, Walter Pater valued classical art. His major book is Studies in the History of the Renaissance. While Ruskin valued medieval, Walter Pater valued classical and Renaissance—the Renaissance for short. This book is called—Walter Pater's book is The Renaissance, 1873. It is a study of artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, etc., and here he talks about beauty and pleasure. This book is—has a very controversial conclusion because it seems to favor hedonism, or pursuit of pleasure. There is one novel that Walter Pater wrote; it is Marius the Epicurean, published in 1885, subtitled His Sensations and Ideas. Sensations is a very important aspect of Walter Pater's theory of art. Walter Pater's Marius the Epicurean is considered the golden book of the aesthetic movement. Pater has also written Imaginary Portraits, which is like philosophical fiction. In Imaginary Portraits, he's examining the tensions between tradition and modernity or innovation. Another book by Walter Pater is Appreciations, which is also essays on various English subjects, uh, so these are some of the works written by Walter Pater. Two critical essays are very famous by Walter Pater; they are Postscript and Essay on Style. Remember, they are very important and talk about prose writers. There are other prose writers like Lytton Strachey. He came very late, in 1880; he was born. He was actually not a Victorian writer; he was a 20th-century writer, but he wrote Eminent Victorians, a collection of biographies about the Victorian period. And then there was writers like Oscar Wilde, also. Oscar Wilde wrote The Critic as Artist, which is an important essay of the Victorian criticism. So that is, in a nutshell, about some of the major writers of the Victorian period. I'm telling you, guys, there are so many writers in the Victorian period. There is a great explosion of writing in the Victorian period. Please read on your own. This book will tremendously help you to get an overview: A Contemporary Encyclopedia of British Literature, which all of you might be familiar with. Many of you would already have it; I know hundreds and thousands of copies have already been sold, and people have passed various exams with this book thankfully. This, uh, has been a very, uh, appreciated book. So I'm just telling you, if you want it, you can use it. Otherwise, also read on your own; research on your own, like I tell you—remind you—in every video. So happy reading, happy research. I will come back with another useful video. Until then, bye-bye. You.