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Byronic Heroes
The Byronic hero is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of character, named after the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. Both Byron's own persona as well as characters from his writings are considered to provide defining features to the character type. The Byronic hero first reached a very wide public in Byron's semi-autobiographical epic narrative poem ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' (1812–1818). Historian and critic Lord Macaulay described the character as "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection". Byron's poems with Oriental settings show more "swashbuckling" and decisive versions of the type. Later works show Byron progressively distancing himself from the figure by providing alternative hero types, like Sardanapalus (''Sardanapalus''), Juan (''Don Juan'') or Torquil ("The Island"), or, when the figure is present, by presenting him as less sym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
René (novella)
''René'' is a short novella by François-René de Chateaubriand, which first appeared in 1802. The work had an immense impact on early Romanticism, comparable to that of Goethe's ''The Sorrows of Young Werther''. Like the German novel, it deals with a sensitive and passionate young man who finds himself at odds with contemporary society. ''René'' was first published as part of Chateaubriand's ''Génie du christianisme'' along with another novella, '' Atala''; although it was in fact an excerpt from a long prose epic the author had composed between 1793 and 1799 called ''Les Natchez'', which would not be made public until 1826. ''René'' enjoyed such immediate popularity that it was republished separately in 1805 along with ''Atala''. Plot summary René, a desperately unhappy young Frenchman, seeks refuge among the Natchez people of Louisiana. It is a long time before he is persuaded to reveal the cause of his melancholy. He tells of his lonely childhood in his father's castle in B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closet Play
A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Although non-performative in nature, the literary historian Henry A. Beers considers closet drama "a quite legitimate product of literary art." Definition A closet drama (or closet play) is a play created primarily for reading, rather than production. Closet dramas are traditionally defined in narrower terms as belonging to a genre of dramatic writing unconcerned with stage technique. Stageability is only one aspect of closet drama: historically, playwrights might choose the genre of 'closet' dramatic writing to avoid censorship of their works, for example in the case of political tragedies. Closet drama has also been used as a mode of dramatic writing for those without access to the commercial playhouse, and in this context has become c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lara (poem)
''Lara, A Tale'' is a rhymed, tragic narrative poem by Lord Byron; first published in 1814. Background The first work composed after Byron abandoned the idea of giving up writing and buying back his copyrights, it is regarded by critics as a continuation of the autobiographical work begun in ''The Corsair''. Unlike ''The Corsair'', it was published anonymously, in conjunction with Samuel Rogers' ''Jacqueline''. ''Lara, A Tale'' was first published anonymously by Lord Byron in 1814 alongside another poem that was not written by Byron. In this version, there is nothing to distinguish between ''Lara'' and ''Jacqueline'' (written by Samuel Rogers), as they were published anonymously and without any indication that there are two separate authors within the text. This tragic narrative poem is seen as a continuation of another poem of Byron's, ''The Corsair''. It details Count Lara's return home after spending a few years travelling abroad. With a page as his only company, Lara's story ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Corsair
''The Corsair'' (1814) is a long tale in verse written by Lord Byron (see 1814 in poetry) and published by John Murray in London. It was extremely popular, selling ten thousand copies on its first day of sale, and was influential throughout the following century, inspiring operas, music and ballet. The 180-page work was dedicated to Irish poet Thomas Moore. Background The poetry, divided into cantos (like Dante's ''Divine Comedy''), narrates the story of the corsair or privateer Conrad. It says that in his youth he was rejected by society because of his acts and his later war against humanity (excepting women). In this 180-page tale, the figure of the Byronic hero emerges, "that man of loneliness and mystery", who perceives himself a "villain", an anti-hero. The long poem was adapted for or inspired numerous other works in a variety of genres: the grand opera ''The Pacha's Bridal'' (1836), with music by Francis Romer and a libretto by Mark Lemon; the opera ''Il corsaro'' (184 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Giaour
''The Giaour'' is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 by John Murray and printed by Thomas Davison. It was the first in the series of Byron's Oriental romances. ''The Giaour'' proved to be a great success when published, consolidating Byron's reputation critically and commercially. Background Byron was inspired to write the poem during his Grand Tour during 1810 and 1811, which he undertook with his friend John Cam Hobhouse. While in Athens, he became aware of the Turkish custom of throwing a woman found guilty of adultery into the sea wrapped in a sack. "Giaour" (Turkish: ''Gâvur'') is an offensive Turkish word for infidel or non-believer, and is similar but unrelated to the Arabic word "kafir". The story is subtitled "A Fragment of a Turkish Tale", and is Byron's only fragmentary narrative poem. Byron designed the story with three narrators giving their individual point of view about the series of events. The main story is of Leila, a member of her master Hassan' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ossian
Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under the title ''The Poems of Ossian''. Macpherson claimed to have collected word-of-mouth material in Scottish Gaelic, said to be from ancient sources, and that the work was his translation of that material. Ossian is based on Oisín, son of Fionn mac Cumhaill (anglicised to Finn McCool), a legendary bard in Irish mythology. Contemporary critics were divided in their view of the work's authenticity, but the current consensus is that Macpherson largely composed the poems himself, drawing in part on traditional Gaelic poetry he had collected. The work was internationally popular, translated into all the literary languages of Europe and was highly influential both in the development of the Romantic movement and the Gaelic revival. Macpherson's f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Macpherson
James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poems. Early life and education Macpherson was born at Ruthven in the parish of Kingussie in Badenoch, Inverness-shire. This was a Scottish Gaelic-speaking area but near the Ruthven Barracks of the British Army, established in 1719 to enforce Whig rule from London after the Jacobite uprising of 1715. Macpherson's uncle, Ewen Macpherson joined the Jacobite army in the 1745 march south, when Macpherson was nine years old and after the Battle of Culloden, had had to remain in hiding for nine years. In the 1752-3 session, Macpherson was sent to King's College, Aberdeen, moving two years later to Marischal College (the two institutions later became the University of Aberdeen), reading Caesar's '' Commentaries'' on the relationships between the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ''magnum opus'' is generally considered to be ''The Prelude'', a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published by his wife in the year of his death, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge". Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850. Early life The second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, (now in Cumbria), part of the scenic region in northwestern England known as the Lake District. William's sister, the poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, to whom he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacobite Risings
, war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active = 1688–1780s , ideology = * Legitimist support for the senior line of the Stuarts * Indefeasible dynastic right * Divine right of kings * Irish nationalism * Scottish nationalism , leaders = , leader1_title = Military leaders , leader1_name = , headquarters = , area = British Isles , size = , allies = *Papal States (Until 1788) , opponents = Jacobitism (; gd, Seumasachas, ; ga, Seacaibíteachas, ) was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. The name derives from the first name of James II and VII, which in Latin translates as '' Jacobus''. When James went into exile aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juvenilia
Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appears as a retrospective publication, some time after the author has become well known for later works. The term was first recorded in 1622 in George Wither's poetry collection ''Ivvenilia''. Later, other notable poets, such as John Dryden and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, came to use the term for collections of their early poetry. The stories and poems which novelist Jane Austen wrote before the age of eighteen are called her ''Juvenilia''. Exceptions to retrospective publication include Leigh Hunt's collection ''Juvenilia'', first published when he was still in his teens; and Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...'s publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gothic Fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels. The first work to call itself Gothic was Horace Walpole's 1764 novel ''The Castle of Otranto'', later subtitled "A Gothic Story". Subsequent 18th century contributors included Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William Beckford (novelist), William Thomas Beckford, and Matthew Gregory Lewis, Matthew Lewis. The Gothic influence continued into the early 19th century, works by the Romantic poetry, Romantic poets, and novelists such as Mary Shelley, Charles Maturin, Walter Scott and E. T. A. Hoffmann frequently drew upon gothic motifs in their works. The early Victorian literature, Victorian period continued the use of gothic, in novels by Charles Dickens and the Brontë family, Brontë sisters, as well as works by the American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
