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A Short BiographyWalter Scott was born in Edinburgh, as the
son of a solicitor Walter Scott and
Anne, a daughter of professor of medicine. An early illness - polio - left him lame in the right leg. Six of his 11 brothers and sisters
died in infancy. However, Scott grew up to be a man over six feet and great
physical endurance
Scott's interest in the old Border tales
and ballads had early been awakened, and he devoted much of
his leisure to the exploration of the
Border country. His early years Scott spent in Sandy-
Know, in the residence of his
paternal grandfather. There
his grandmother told him tales of old
heroes.
At the age of eight he returned to
Edinburgh. He attended Edinburgh High School (1779-
1783) and studied at Edinburgh University arts and law (1783-86, 1789-92). At the age
of sixteen he had already started to
collect old ballads and later translated into
English Gottfried Bürger's ballads 'The Wild Huntsman' and 'Lenore' and 'Goetz of Berlichingen' (1799)
from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play
Scott was apprenticed to his father in 1786 and in 1792 he was called to the bar. In
1799 he was appointed sheriff
depute of the county of Selkirk. Scott married in 1797
Margaret Charlotte Charpentier ,
daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France. They had
five children.
In 1802-03 appeared Scott's first major work, “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border”. As a poet Scott rose into fame with the
publication of “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” (1805) about an old border
country legend. He had burned its first version, when his friends did not like it. Scott returned to
the poem in 1802, when a horse had kicked him and he spent three days in
bed. “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” became a
huge success and made him the most popular author of the day.
It was followed by “Marmion” (1808), a historical romance in tetrameter, set in 1513, and concerning the attempts of Lord Marmion to marry the rich Lady
Clare. In 1810 appeared “the Lady of the Lake” and in 1813 “Rokeby”. Scott's last major
poem, “The Lord of the Isles”, was published in 1815.
Soldier, rest! thy warfare
o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not
breaking, Dream of
battled fields no more,
Days of danger, nights of waking.
(from The Lady of the Lake,
1810)
In 1806 Scott became clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh - this work took only a few hours daily and half of the year he was free. His long
holidays Scott spent at Ashestiel, situated on the Tweed River. To increase his income he started a
printing and publishing business with his friend James Ballantyne.
The firm had in the 1810s financial difficulties, and Scott spent his time in
immense labours for his publishers, much of it hack editorial work. Scott also expanded during these years his Abbotsford estate, but it was not until
1826 when the final crash came. He accepted all Ballantyne's debts
and decided to pay them off with his writings - the sum was £130,000
(millions today)
In the 1810s Scott published several
novels anonymously or under the pseudonym Jebediah Cleisbotham
or 'Author of Waverley.' From this period date
such works as “Waverley” (1814),
dealing with the rebellion of 1745,
which attempted to restore a Scottish
family to the British throne. The book set the classic pattern of the historical novel. It
had a hero, whose loyalty is split between
two rulers and two ways of life.
IVANHOE (1819) was set in the reign of Richard I and depicted the
rivalry between the King and his
wicked brother John (King
1199-1216).
Ivanhoe, a tale of chivalry, was set in the
age of Richard the Lion-Hearted. Wilfred
of Ivanhoe loves Rowena, but his father
plans marry her to Athelstane of
Coningsburgh. Ivanhoe serves with King Richard in the
crusades. King's brother John tries to
usurp the throne with the help of Norman
barons. Richard appears in disguise at
the tournament at Ashby de la Zouch,
where he helps Ivanhoe to defeat John's knights. At the
tournament Sir Brian falls in love with
Rebecca, a beautiful Jewess.
Michael Ragussis has argued that Scott's
Isaac the Jew and his daughter Rebecca restaged England's
medieval persecution of Jews and criticized
the barbarity of persecution and
forced conversion. In the story Rebecca is a healer and a voice of moderation between Saxon knights and
Normans.
She is taken captive with her father Isaac, Rowena,
Ivanhoe, and Cedric by the Norman barons and
imprisoned in Torquilstone. The King and his band of outlaws, among them Robin Hood,
release the prisoners. Rebecca is carried off by Bois-Gilbert and charged
of witchcraft. Ivanhoe appears as her champion, opposing Bois-Guilbert,
who dies. Rebecca, seeing Ivanhoe's love for Rowena, leaves England
with her father .
In the 1820s appeared KENILWORTH (1821), THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL
(1822), PEVERIL OF THE PEAK (1823)
, QUENTIN DURWARD (1823), THE TALISMAN (1825),
WOODSTOCK (1826), THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTER (1827), ANNE
OF GEIERSTEIN (1829). After the financial crash of 1825-26 the author's anonymity
was
destroyed, and he was exposed to the general public as Sir Walter
Scott. He had at least five pen names, including Jebediah
Cleisbotham, Crystal Croftangry, Malachi Malagrowther, Lawrence
Templeton, and Captain Clutterbuck. According to an anecdote,
when mortally sick, Beethoven (1770-1827) hurled away Scott's
novel with the cry: "Why, the fellow writes for money".
Scott's historical novels fall into three groups; those set in the background of
Scottish history, from Waverly to A Legend of Montrose; a group which
takes up themes from the Middle Ages and Reformation times, from Ivanhoe to
Talisman, and his remaining books, from Woodstock onwards. Scott's
dramatic work include HALIDON HILL (1922), MACDUFF'S CROSS (1823),
THE DOOM OF DEVORGOIL, A MELODRAMA (1830), and
AUCHINDRANE (1830), which was founded on the case of Mure of
Auchindrane in Pitcairn's Ancient Criminal Trials.
In 1820 Scott was created a baronet. A
few years later he founded the Bannatyne Club, which published
old Scottish documents. Scott
visited France in 1826 to collect material for
his LIFE OF NAPOLEON, which was published in 9 volumes
in 1827. A few years earlier Scott had
started to keep his Journal, recording in
undiscourageable spirit his deteriorating
health and other misfortunes.
His wife, Lady Scott, died in 1826, and the author himself had a stroke in 1830. Next year Scott sailed to Italy. In Malta he
wrote one novel and a short story, and in Naples he collected
old songs and ballads. After return to England in 1832,
he died on September 21. Scott was buried beside his
ancestors in Dryburgh Abbey.
From the profits of his writings all his
debts were ultimately paid