English Literature Part 42

Criticism: Essays, by Bagehot, in Literary Studies; by L. Stephen, in Hours in a Library; by Saintsbury, in Corrected Impressions; by Harrison, in Studies in Early Victorian Literature; by Matthew Arnold.

_Newman_. Texts: Uniform edition of important works (London, 1868-1881); Apologia (Longmans); Selections (Holt, Riverside Literature, etc.). Life: Jennings's Cardinal Newman; b.u.t.ton's Cardinal Newman; Early Life, by F.

Newman; by Waller and Barrow, in Westminster Biographies. See also Church's The Oxford Movement; Fitzgerald's Fifty Years of Catholic Life and Progress.

Criticism: Essays, by Donaldson, in Five Great Oxford Leaders; by Church, in Occasional Papers, vol. 2; by Gates, in Three Studies in Literature; by Jacobs, in Literary Studies; by Hutton, in Modern Guides of English Thought; by Lilly, in Essays and Speeches; by Shairp, in Studies in Poetry and Philosophy. See also b.u.t.ton's Cardinal Newman.

_Rossetti_. Works, 2 vols. (London, 1901). Selections, in Golden Treasury Series. Life: by Knight (Great Writers); by Sharp; Hall Caine's Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti; Gary's The Rossettis; Marillier's Rossetti; Wood's Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Movement; W.M. Hunt's Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Criticism: Tirebuck's Rossetti, his Work and Influence. Essays: by Swinburne, in Essays and Studies; by Forman, in Our Living Poets; by Pater, in Ward's English Poets; by F.W.H. Myers, in Essays Modern.

_Morris_. Texts: Story of the Glittering Plain, House of the Wolfings, etc.

(Reeves & Turner); Early Romances, in Everyman's Library; Sigurd the Volsung, in Camelot Series; Socialistic writings (Humboldt Publis.h.i.+ng Co.).

Life: by Mackail; by Cary; by Vallance.

Criticism: Essays, by Symons, in Studies in Two Literatures; by Dawson, in Makers of Modern English; by Saintsbury, in Corrected Impressions. See also Nordby's Influence of Old Norse Literature.

_Swinburne_. Texts: Complete works (Chatto and Windus); Poems and Ballads (Lovell); Selections (Rivington, Belles Lettres Series, etc.). Life: Wratislaw's Algernon Charles Swinburne, a Study.

Criticism: Essays, by Forman, Saintsbury (see above); by Lowell, in My Study Windows; see also Stedman's Victorian Poets.

_Charles Keade_. Texts: Cloister and the Hearth, in Everyman's Library; various editions of separate novels. Life: by C. Reade.

Criticism: Essay, by Swinburne, in Miscellanies.

_Anthony Trollope_. Texts: Royal edition of princ.i.p.al novels (Philadelphia, 1900); Barchester Towers, etc., in Everyman's Library. Life: Autobiography (Harper, 1883).

Criticism: H.T. Peck's Introduction to Royal edition, vol. 1. Essays: by H.

James, in Partial Portraits; by Harrison, in Early Victorian Literature.

See also Cross, The Development of the English Novel.

_Charlotte and Emily Bronte_. Texts: Works, Haworth edition, edited by Mrs.

H. Ward (Harper); Complete works (Dent, 1893); Jane Eyre, s.h.i.+rley, and Wuthering Heights, in Everyman's Library. Life of Charlotte Bronte: by Mrs.

Gaskell; by Shorter; by Birrell (Great Writers). Life of Emily Bronte: by Robinson. See also Leyland's The Bronte Family.

Criticism: Essays, by L. Stephen, in Hours in a Library; by Gates, in Studies and Appreciations; by Harrison, in Early Victorian Literature; by G.B. Smith, in Poets and Novelists. See also Swinburne's A Note on Charlotte Bronte.

_Bulwer-Lytton_. Texts: Works, Knebsworth edition (Routledge); various editions of separate works; Last Days of Pompeii, etc., in Everyman's Library. Life: by his son, the Earl of Lytton; by Cooper; by Ten Brink.

Criticism: Essay, by W. Senior, in Essays in Fiction.

_Mrs. Gaskell_. Various editions of separate works; Cranford, in Standard English Cla.s.sics, etc. Life: see Dictionary of National Biography.

Criticism: see Saintsbury's Nineteenth-Century Literature.

_Kingsley_. Texts: Works, Chester edition; Hypatia, Westward Ho! etc., in Everyman's Library. Life: Letters and Memories, by his wife; by Kaufmann.

Criticism: Essays, by Harrison, in Early Victorian Literature; by L.

Stephen, in Hours in a Library.

_Stevenson_. Texts: Works (Scribner); Treasure Island, in Everyman's Library; Master of Ballantrae, in Pocket Cla.s.sics; Letters, edited by Colvin (Scribner). Life: by Balfour; by Baildon; by Black; by Cornford. See also Simpson's Edinburgh Days; Eraser's In Stevenson's Samoa; Osborne and Strong's Memories of Vailima.

Criticism: Raleigh's Stevenson; Alice Brown's Stevenson. Essays: by H.

James, in Partial Portraits; by Chapman, in Emerson and Other Essays.

_Hardy_. Texts: Works (Harper). Criticism: Macdonnell's Thomas Hardy; Johnson's The Art of Thomas Hardy. See also Windle's The Wess.e.x of Thomas Hardy; and Dawson's Makers of English Fiction.

_George Meredith_. Texts: Novels and Selected Poems (Scribner).

Criticism: Le Gallienne's George Meredith; Hannah Lynch's George Meredith.

Essays: by Henley, in Views and Reviews; by Brownell, in Victorian Prose Masters; by Monkhouse, in Books and Plays. See also Bailey's The Novels of George Meredith; Curie's Aspects of George Meredith; and Cross's The Development of the English Novel.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. (NOTE. The best questions are those which are based upon the books, essays, and poems read by the pupil. As the works chosen for special study vary greatly with different teachers and cla.s.ses, we insert here only a few questions of general interest.) 1. What are the chief characteristics of Victorian literature? Name the chief writers of the period in prose and poetry. What books of this period are, in your judgment, worthy to be placed among the great works of literature? What effect did the discoveries of science have upon the literature of the age?

What poet reflects the new conception of law and evolution? What historical conditions account for the fact that most of the Victorian writers are ethical teachers?

2. _Tennyson_. Give a brief sketch of Tennyson's life, and name his chief works. Why is he, like Chaucer, a national poet? Is your pleasure in reading Tennyson due chiefly to the thought or the melody of expression?

Note this figure in "The Lotos Eaters":

Music that gentlier on the spirit lies Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes.

What does this suggest concerning Tennyson's figures of speech in general?

Compare "Locksley Hall" with "Locksley Hall Sixty Years After." What differences do you find in thought, in workmans.h.i.+p, and in poetic enthusiasm? What is Tennyson's idea of faith and immortality as expressed in _In Memoriam_?

3. _Browning_. In what respects is Browning like Shakespeare? What is meant by the optimism of his poetry? Can you explain why many thoughtful persons prefer him to Tennyson? What is Browning's creed as expressed in "Rabbi Ben Ezra"? Read "Fra Lippo Lippi" or "Andrea del Sarto," and tell what is meant by a dramatic monologue. In "Andrea" what is meant by the lines,

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

4. _d.i.c.kens_. What experiences in d.i.c.kens's life are reflected in his novels? What are his favorite types of character? What is meant by the exaggeration of d.i.c.kens? What was the serious purpose of his novels? Make a brief a.n.a.lysis of the _Tale of Two Cities_, having in mind the plot, the characters, and the style, as compared with d.i.c.kens'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 a.n.a.lysis, 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 d.i.c.kens and Thackeray?

7. _Carlyle_. Why is Carlyle called a prophet, and why a censor? Read the _Essay on Burns_ and make an a.n.a.lysis, 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 Wors.h.i.+p_? 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 a.n.a.lysis, 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 cla.s.sic 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?