English Literature
4. _Dickens_. What experiences in Dickens's life are reflected in his
novels? What are his favorite types of character? What is meant by the
exaggeration of Dickens? What was the serious purpose of his novels? Make a
brief analysis of the _Tale of Two Cities_, having in mind the plot, the
characters, and the style, as compared with Dickens's other novels.
5. _Thackeray_. Read _Henry Esmond_ and explain Thackeray's realism. What
is there remarkable in the style of this novel? Compare it with _Ivanhoe_
as a historical novel. What is the general character of Thackeray's satire?
What are the chief characteristics of his novels? Describe briefly the
works which show his great skill as a critical writer.
6. _George Eliot_. Read _Silas Marner_ and make a brief analysis, having in
mind the plot, the characters, the style, and the ethical teaching of the
novel. Is the moral teaching of George Eliot convincing; that is, does it
suggest itself from the story, or is it added for effect? What is the
general impression left by her books? How do her characters compare with
those of Dickens and Thackeray?
7. _Carlyle_. Why is Carlyle called a prophet, and why a censor? Read the
_Essay on Burns_ and make an analysis, having in mind the style, the idea
of criticism, and the picture which this essay presents of the Scotch poet.
Is Carlyle chiefly interested in Burns or in his poetry? Does he show any
marked appreciation of Burns's power as a lyric poet? What is Carlyle's
idea of history as shown in _Heroes and Hero Worship_? What experiences of
his own life are reflected in _Sartor Resartus_? What was Carlyle's message
to his age? What is meant by a "Carlylese" style?
8. _Macaulay_. In what respects is Macaulay typical of his age? Compare his
view of life with that of Carlyle. Read one of the essays, on Milton or
Addison, and make an analysis, having in mind the style, the interest, and
the accuracy of the essay. What useful purpose does Macaulay's historical
knowledge serve in writing his literary essays? What is the general
character of Macaulay's _History of England_? Rqad a chapter from
Macaulay's _History_, another from Carlyle's _French Revolution_, and
compare the two. How does each writer regard history and historical
writing? What differences do you note in their methods? What are the best
qualities of each work? Why are both unreliable?
9. _Arnold_. What elements of Victorian life are reflected in Arnold's
poetry? How do you account for the coldness and sadness of his verses? Read
_Sohrab and Rustum_ and write an account of it, having in mind the story,
Arnold's use of his material, the style, and the classic elements in the
poem. How does it compare in melody with the blank verse of Milton or
Tennyson? What marked contrasts do you find between the poetry and the
prose of Arnold?
10. _Ruskin_. In what respects is Ruskin "the prophet of modern society"?
Read the first two lectures in _Sesame and Lilies_ and then give Ruskin's
views of labor, wealth, books, education, woman's sphere, and human
society. How does he regard the commercialism of his age? What elements of
style do you find in these lectures? Give the chief resemblances and
differences between Carlyle and Ruskin.
11. Read Mrs. Gaskell's _Cranford_ and describe it, having in mind the
style, the interest, and the characters of the story. How does it compare,
as a picture of country life, with George Eliot's novels?
12. Read Blackmore's _Lorna Doone_ and describe it (as in the question
above). What are the romantic elements in the story? How does it compare
with Scott's romances in style, in plot, in interest, and in truthfulness
to life?
CHRONOLOGY
_Nineteenth Century_
============================================================================
HISTORY | LITERATURE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1825. Macaulay's Essay on Milton
| 1826. Mrs. Browning's early poems
1830. William IV | 1830. Tennyson's Poems, Chiefly Lyrical
1832. Reform Bill |
| 1833. Browning's Pauline
| 1833-1834. Carlyle's Sartor Resartus
| 1836-1865. Dickens's novels
1837. Victoria (_d_. 1901) | 1837. Carlyle's French Revolution
| 1843. Macaulay's essays
1844. Morse's Telegraph | 1843-1860. Ruskin's Modern Painters
1846. Repeal of Corn Laws |
| 1847-1859. Thackeray's important novels
| 1847-1857. Charlotte Brontë's novels
| 1848-1861. Macaulay's History
| 1853. Kingsley's Hypatia
| Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford
1854. Crimean War |
| 1853-1855. Matthew Arnold's poems
| 1856. Mrs. Browning's Aurora Leigh
1857. Indian Mutiny |
| 1858-1876. George Eliot's novels
| 1859-1888. Tennyson's Idylls of the King
| 1859. Darwin's Origin of Species
| 1864. Newman's Apologia
| Tennyson's Enoch Arden
| 1865-1888. Arnold's Essays in Criticism
1867. Dominion of Canada |
established | 1868. Browning's Ring and the Book
| 1869. Blackmore's Lorna Doone
1870. Government schools |
established |
| 1879. Meredith's The Egoist
1880. Gladstone prime minister |
| 1883. Stevenson's Treasure Island
| 1885. Ruskin's Praeterita begun
1887. Queen's jubilee |
| 1889. Browning's last work, Asolando
| 1892. Death of Tennyson
1901. Edward VII |
============================================================================
* * * * *
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Every chapter in this book includes two lists, one of selected readings,
the other of special works treating of the history and literature of the
period under consideration. The following lists include the books most
useful for general reference work and for supplementary reading.
A knowledge of history is of great advantage in the study of literature. In
each of the preceding chapters we have given a brief summary of historical
events and social conditions, but the student should do more than simply
read these summaries. He should review rapidly the whole history of each
period by means of a good textbook. Montgomery's _English History_ and
Cheyney's _Short History of England_ are recommended, but any other
reliable text-book will serve the purpose.
For literary texts and selections for reading a few general collections,
such as are given below, are useful; but the important works of each author
may now be obtained in excellent and inexpensive school editions. At the
beginning of the course the teacher, or the home student, should write for
the latest catalogue of such publications as the Standard English Classics,
Everyman's Library, etc., which offer a very wide range of reading at small
cost. Nearly every publishing house issues a series of good English books
for school use, and the list is constantly increasing.
_HISTORY_
_Text-books:_ Montgomery's English History; Cheyney's Short History of
England (Ginn and Company).
_General Works:_ Green's Short History of the English People, 1 vol., or A
History of the English People, 4 vols. (American Book Co.).
Traill's Social England, 6 vols. (Putnam).
Bright's History, of England, 5 vols., and Gardiner's Students' History of
England (Longmans).
Gibbins's Industrial History of England, and Mitchell's English Lands,
Letters, and Kings, 5 vols. (Scribner).
Oxford Manuals of English History, Handbooks of English History, and
Kendall's Source Book of English History (Macmillan).
Lingard's History of England until 1688 (revised, 10 vols., 1855) is the
standard Catholic history.
Other histories of England are by Knight, Froude, Macaulay, etc. Special
works on the history of each period are recommended in the preceding
chapters.
_HISTORY OF LITERATURE_
Jusserand's Literary History of the English People, 2 vols. (Putnam).
Ten Brink's Early English Literature, 3 vols. (Holt).
Courthope's History of English Poetry (Macmillan).
The Cambridge History of English Literature, many vols., incomplete
(Putnam).
Handbooks of English Literature, 9 vols. (Macmillan).
Garnett and Gosse's Illustrated History of English Literature, 4 vols.
(Macmillan).
Morley's English Writers, 11 vols. (Cassell), extends through Elizabethan
literature. It is rather complex and not up to date, but has many
quotations from authors studied.
Taine's English Literature (many editions), is brilliant and interesting,
but unreliable.
_LITERARY CRITICISM_
Lowell's Literary Essays.
Hazlitt's Lectures on the English Poets.
Mackail's The Springs of Helicon (a study of English poetry from Chaucer to
Milton).
Dowden's Studies in Literature, and Dowden's Transcripts and Studies.
Minto's Characteristics of English Poets.
Matthew Arnold's Essays in Criticism.
Stevenson's Familiar Studies in Men and Books.
Leslie Stephen's Hours in a Library.
Birrell's Obiter Dicta.
Hales's Folia Litteraria.
Pater's Appreciations.
NOTE. Special works on criticism, the drama, the novel, etc., will be found
in the Bibliographies on pp. 9, 181, etc.
_TEXTS AND HELPS_ (inexpensive school editions).
Standard English Classics, and Athenaeum Press Series (Ginn and Company).
Everyman's Library (Dutton).
Pocket Classics, Golden Treasury Series, etc. (Macmillan).
Belles Lettres Series (Heath).
English Readings Series (Holt).
Riverside Literature Series (Houghton, Mifflin).
Canterbury Classics (Rand, McNally).
Academy Classics (Allyn & Bacon).
Cambridge Literature Series (Sanborn).
Silver Series (Silver, Burdett).
Student's Series (Sibley).
Lakeside Classics (Ainsworth).
Lake English Classics (Scott, Foresman).
Maynard's English Classics (Merrill).
Eclectic English Classics (American Book Co.).
Caxton Classics (Scribner).
The King's Classics (Luce).
The World's Classics (Clarendon Press).
Little Masterpieces Series (Doubleday, Page).
Arber's English Reprints (Macmillan).
New Mediaeval Library (Duffield).
Arthurian Romances Series (Nutt).
Morley's Universal Library (Routledge).
Cassell's National Library (Cassell).
Bohn Libraries (Macmillan).
Temple Dramatists (Macmillan).
Mermaid Series of English Dramatists (Scribner).
NOTE. We have included in the above list all the editions of which we have
any personal knowledge, but there are doubtless others that have escaped
attention.
* * * * *
Biography
Dictionary of National Biography, 63 vols. (Macmillan), is the standard.
English Men of Letters Series (Macmillan).
Great Writers Series (Scribner).
Beacon Biographies (Houghton, Mifflin).
Westminster Biographies (Small, Maynard).
Hinchman and Gummere's Lives of Great English Writers (Houghton, Mifflin)
is a good single volume, containing thirty-eight biographies.
NOTE. For the best biographies of individual writers, see the