unit five: political satire lesson ten the masters of the essay
Post on 22-Dec-2015
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TRANSCRIPT
The Spectator
“Thus I live in the world rather as a spectator of mankind than as one of the species.”
Contributions to the Middle Class of England
At the time they were writing, England was undergoing a great shift, from power being in the hands of the aristocracy to power being in the hands of the “middle class”.
That’s rather a misnomer, as there were some incredibly wealthy trades people.
Shifting Society
England was rapidly shifting from an agrarian economy to a mercantile economy, and people of “no birth and breeding” were coming into positions of great power.
Meritocracy
Political jobs no longer were going to the children of the aristocracy immediately, but a meritocracy was coming into being, especially after the Whig Ascendancy after the death of Queen Anne.
Social PolishThese powerful and wealthy people were often the
children or grandchildren of butchers, bankers and tradesmen.
They didn’t grow up knowing the “rules” of society and having certain standards of behavior, so many of the writers of the time were setting standards of “civilization” and polish for the middle class. Addison and Steele are two of the most powerful of
these writers.
Standards of Behavior
Based on Locke and the basic Christian humanism that had been the dominant intellectual current in Europe for centuries.
It is during this period, though, that the “Christian” part of humanism tones down remember, people were tired of the religious wars
and fighting
what is called modern liberal humanism emerged.
Prevailing Ideology
This is still the prevailing ideological ideal in the West.
In the US, there’s more of a trend towards the older Christian humanism America is the most religious country in the
West by far.
Serious Reformers
Both men knew that they were setting standards, and they took their roles in society quite seriously.
Sir Richard SteeleJoseph Addison
Sir Richard Steele
A typical representative of the post-Restoration mood, Steele was a zealous crusader for morality
His stated purpose in The Tatler was ``to enliven Morality with Wit, and to temper Wit with Morality.''
Joseph Addison
With The Spectator, Addison added a further purpose: to introduce the middle-class public to recent developments in philosophy and literature and thus to educate their tastes.
Enormous Influence
Although The Spectator and The Tatler each only ran two years, the influence that Addison and Steele had on their contemporaries was enormous
Their essays often amounted to a popularization of the ideas circulating among the intellectuals of the age.
Set Tastes for Centuries
With these wide-spread and influential publications, the literary circle revolving around Addison, Steele, Swift and Pope was practically able to dictate the accepted taste in literature during the Augustan Age
Critical Influence
In one of his essays for The Spectator, for example, Addison criticized the metaphysical poets for their ambiguity and lack of clear ideas
This critical stance which remained influential until the twentieth century.
Importance to Scholars
For scholars studying the relation between commerce and culture or the emergence of what Jurgen Habermas has called the `bourgeois public sphere,' the work of Addison and Steele is seminal.
Moreover, the periodical in general has recently become a great source of interest for literary scholars and academics working on `the history of the book.' '
Addison (1672-1719)
After five years at Oxford, Addison left to travel Europe and earned a reputation as a great gentleman whose only fault was a weakness for wine and an occasional smoke.
Strange Path to Power
Finding himself without a job at 33 years old, he was asked to write a poem about the Duke of Marlborough's victory of Blenheim
The poem was so well liked by the Whig party that he was named Vice Commissioner of appeals and later Under-Secretary of State
Thackerey on Addison
"It is as a tatler of small talk and a spectator of mankind that we cherish and love him, and owe as much pleasure to him as to any human being who ever wrote. He came in that artificial age, and began to speak with his noble, natural voice. He came, the gentle artist, who hit no unfair blows; the kind judge, who castigates only in smiling.” The Coverly Papers
Steele (1672-1729)
Born in Dublin and educated at Oxford. In 1694 he left Oxford without a degree and enlisted in the Life Guards.
Many Career Aspects
Steele went on to be a dramatist, a gentleman waiter to Prince George of Denmark, gazetteer, Commissioner of Stamps, the founder of numerous periodicals, a member of parliament, and a patentee of Drury Lane Theatre
Great Marketer
Steele was the first writer to gear his work toward more than just the educated male market.
He wrote to all people, especially to women
He took his material from first hand knowledge of the city and the people he met while in the service.
Thackeray Again
"Addison wrote [Steele's] exercises. Addison did [Steele's] best themes. [Steele] ran on Addison's messages; fagged for him and blacked his shoes: to be in Joe's company was Dick's greatest pleasure."
How to Behave
In the essays, especially the first ones that we looked at for today, we can see how to behave in society.
We can see the qualities that are admired by Addison and Steele, which they believed should be valued by all men and women of good sense in society.
Arbiters of Literary Taste
All writers need a sponsor
As Shakespeare had Dryden to help elevate him to “England’s bard,” so Milton had Addison and Steele.
Why Milton?
Paradise Lost is a major accomplishment, probably one of the biggest in English. But it’s difficult.
But Milton and his poem are perfect examples of greatness to be held up to the rising middle class.
Milton was not from the aristocracy--his family earned its money, albeit quite a lot of money.
He was a republican, and a staunch one at that, which may have been slightly problematic, but he was a
staunch supporter of liberty and political freedom.
Political Poem
The poem is a blueprint for a Whiggish society when read looking for political messages. If you are interested in the politics of PL, there
are two articles on EngSite for week 6: Milton and Modernity: Politics, Masculinity, and
Paradise Lost
“’Warring chains of signifiers’: metaphoric ambivalence and the politics of Paradise Lost.”)