The Scottish writer Walter Scott, whose heyday was at the beginning of the 19th century, especially stood out against the background of his contemporaries in that under his talented pen the historical novel, as such, acquired completely new form. A vivid confirmation of this is the novel "Ivanhoe", which became the most famous work at Walter Scott.
If you do not have the opportunity to read the novel in its entirety now, we suggest that you read the Ivanhoe summary.
At the end of the XII century, Richard the Lionheart reigns, at the same time the formation of the English nation takes place, which consists of the following layers: common people, Anglo-Saxons, French knights. In 1066, when the Norman conquest passed, a long and bloody civil strife began. It should be noted that officially the history of England considered these events somewhat differently, namely, as a short and painless struggle.
What did Walter Scott show in Ivanhoe?
If you read even a summary of "Ivanhoe", you will clearly see that Walter Scott revealed the real situation in the novel, highlighting it from the historical side very accurately. And after reading the whole novel, this will become even more pronounced. So, more than a hundred years have passed since the days of William the Conqueror passed in England. Then King Richard the Lionheart was tormented in captivity, and the local family nobility of the Franklins and the common people were oppressed by the Norman nobles. Everyone is looking forward to the return of the king, putting an end to lawlessness and rallying the people.
Finally, dressed in the clothes of a pilgrim, after the crusade and battles, Richard's close friend, the brave knight Ivanhoe, arrives. We will not describe in detail all the events of the novel, since you yourself can read about them in the summary of "Ivanhoe", but let's say that Ivanhoe himself does not take much part in the actions, especially in battles and intrigues. Walter Scott shows that Ivanhoe is the bearer of the main idea of cohesion and unity.
The novel is written in a very lively and vivid language, it won the attention of millions of readers of many generations, and of course, the great influence of the novel affected historical genre as such, especially in the nineteenth century.
Read the summary of "Ivanhoe". In addition, in our summary section you can find many other works summarized in an accessible way.
In the 1920s, the reading world was gripped by a real Walter-Scott fever. The novels of the "great unknown" were repeatedly reprinted in the UK and very quickly translated into European languages. Scott was fond of people of different ages and classes. Colleagues in the pen envied his success, but mentioned his books in their works. So, on the night before the duel, Lermontov’s Pechorin reads the novel of the “great unknown”, from family troubles to the world of noble heroes and beautiful ladies “runs away” main character novel "Wives and Daughters" by Molly, and "Rob Roy" get acquainted in the living room of the Nekhlyudovs in Tolstoy's "Youth".
Especially popular after the debut "Waverley" was "" - the first book, which takes place in medieval England, and not in Scotland of the 16th-17th centuries. Initially, it was a commercial project designed to attract even more readers to the work of Walter Scott, but literary critics are sure that the stubborn author could not write anything worthwhile if he did not hope that this work would become his mite in the political discussion of his day. And even now, when Ivanhoe is considered a children's book (“the first and last novel for boys”), one can easily see in it important topics post-Napoleonic era.
Walter Scott
A chivalric novel about the 19th century
Leaving aside the romantic tale of a disinherited knight and his beautiful lover, England at the end of the 12th century, torn apart by disputes between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans, comes to the fore in the novel. Professional historians have often reproached Walter Scott in that he exaggerated these differences. Like, more than a hundred years after the invasion of William the Conqueror, both sides had almost nothing to share. The writer, of course, did not invent anything, the remnants of this confrontation are still visible in English language, where high style is formed by words with Romance roots, and simple speech is marked by lexemes of Germanic origin. However, the resistance of the Anglo-Saxons was really not so obvious.
Could Walter Scott have made such a mistake? There are indeed a number of historical inaccuracies in Ivanhoe, but in the context of the novel, they can rather be attributed to reservations. The writer started this book after working on the article “Chivalry” (“Knighthood”) for the Encyclopædia Britannica. The article was published in 1818 and largely explained the difference between the military-feudal knighthood (an Anglo-Saxon term for a category of professional horsemen) and the Norman concept of chivalry, which includes social and cultural connotations. Based on the collected material, a year later the author of Waverley published Ivanhoe.
Today, a number of researchers of Walter Scott's work agree that the end of the 12th century in the novel is easily superimposed on the situation of the first half of the 19th century, and the dispute between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans is a metaphor for the differences between the British and the Scots. The latter became part of the United Kingdom only in 1707, but did not reconcile themselves to their "vassal" position.
As a Scottish patriot, Walter Scott believed in the national identity of his small people, loved their culture and deplored the dying dialect, but as a man who knew politics and understood the situation in the country, he could appreciate the benefits of uniting with England. In this context, Ivanhoe should be seen as an attempt to reconcile the two camps.
Indeed, Scott created a novel not about the end of the Anglo-Saxon resistance, but about the birth of a single English nation. Both warring groups in the book have their strengths and weaknesses. So, the writer clearly sympathizes with the indigenous population, but he portrays the Saxon then Cedric as an inert and grumpy old man, and the main hope of the entire “party” - Athelstan of Koningsburg - as a lazy and indecisive person. At the same time, the Normans, unpleasant in all respects, are more detailed analysis turn out to be masters of their craft, strong and purposeful warriors. The indigenous people are fair and freedom-loving, while the invaders know how to "fend for themselves."
The disinherited Ivanhoe and his patron, King Richard the Lionheart, are the best representatives of their peoples here. Moreover, Richard is even more of an “Englishman” than Ivanhoe, he is a true follower of William the Conqueror, a brave and courteous knight, but at the same time a just and wise ruler who is not afraid to sully his reputation by communicating with people who are outlaws (Loxley's story). Of course, Walter Scott idealized the ruler, whose crusade, which ended in a ransom from captivity, almost led the country to economic collapse.
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The literary influence of "Ivanhoe"
The writer followed the ballad tradition of depicting a noble warrior king. And, I must say, rehabilitated Richard I in culture. In 1825, Walter Scott used his image for the second time in his novel. We are talking about the book "The Talisman", where the Lionheart became the main character.
"Ivanhoe" also influenced the literary fate of another semi-legendary character - Robin Hood, who is called Locksley here. Thanks to Walter Scott, the tradition firmly established that the noble robber lived in the 12th century and was a contemporary of John the Landless and his crusader brother. However, the writer contradicts himself, because in the novel Loxley becomes the winner of the archery tournament, and such competitions began to be held in England no earlier than the 13th century. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, Ivanhoe was not without errors and anachronisms.
Most legends about Robin Hood stipulate that he comes from a noble family. This view was first questioned by the British antiquary and folklore collector Joseph Riton. According to his version, historical prototype Robina was a yeoman (small landowner) born in the village of Loxley near Nottingham (hence the hero's second nickname). Scott adopted precisely this hypothesis in order to make out of Robin Hood a fighter for a strong individual power, capable of resisting the private interests of the feudal lords. Locksley and his detachment are true allies of Richard, helping him in the fight against Fron de Boeuf, de Bracy and others. No matter how pretentious it sounds, the writer turned the noble robber into a symbol of popular resistance. Some literary scholars even call the relationship between people in his squad primitive communism.
Ideal Middle Ages
From the middle of the 19th century, the popularity of Walter Scott's books began to decline. The rational era was not useful romantic heroes author of "Waverley" new wave interest in them arose only at the beginning of the 20th century. But, as the French medievalist historian Michel Pastouro writes, it is still very difficult to find a complete, not adapted for children, version of the novel in European bookstores, which undermines respect for the work in the eyes of literary and university criticism. At the same time, the images of the knight Ivanhoe, Rowena, Rebecca or Loxley have become cultural topoi and continue to influence their audience, if not directly, then through films.
“In a survey conducted in 1983-1984 by the journal Medievales among young researchers and recognized historians, the question appeared: “Where did your interest in the Middle Ages come from?” Among about three hundred respondents, a third claimed that they owe the early awakened interest in the Middle Ages Ivanhoe,” writes Pasturo.
Eugene Delacroix "Rebecca and the Wounded Ivanhoe"
What is it that modern readers find in a not too accurate historical work? The fact is that Walter Scott managed to create an image of the ideal Middle Ages with knightly tournaments, heraldry, trials against witches and the struggle of the feudal lords and the king, in a word, all that, regardless of historical details, is repeated in any scientific or fiction book. History built like fairy tale, is placed in the gloomy atmosphere of the era of continuous wars, which do not allow leaving the house without an armed detachment, and difficult living conditions, where even the chambers of a noble lady are so permeable that curtains and tapestries sway in the wind.
After the release of Ivanhoe, science and literature briefly changed places. The novel aroused such a keen interest in the Middle Ages that in 1825 Augustin Thierry, a graduate of the Higher Normal School, teacher and pioneer scientific history, publishes the first of his works - "The history of the conquest of England by the Normans, outlining its causes and consequences for England, Scotland, Ireland and continental Europe from antiquity to the present."
For your country writer Walter Scott became almost a national hero, since before him almost no one was interested in Scottish history, considering the highlanders "wild people". Scott's novels in Europe and other countries were so popular that they helped change the attitude towards Scotland, and especially towards its inhabitants. AiF.ru recalls how a lawyer became a national bard.
Romantic Lawyer
For thirty years literary activity Scott wrote twenty-eight novels, nine poems, many stories, literary criticism and historical works - and this despite the fact that he was not in good health since childhood. Even in infancy, the future writer fell ill with paralysis, lost the mobility of his right leg and remained forever lame. However, he was more fortunate than others: out of 13 children in the Scott family, only six survived.
Walter Scott was born to the daughter of a professor of medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Anna Rutherford and lawyer Walter John. Despite his love of literature, under the influence of his father, Scott entered the University of Edinburgh in the law department. A prestigious profession helped Scott support his family. At first he worked as a lawyer, in 1799 he became sheriff in Selkirkshire, and from 1806 he was one of the chief clerks of the Supreme Court of Scotland.
Over time, he became more and more interested in writing, but he treated it rather as a hobby and never neglected his main work in favor of literature.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
"Walter Scott Shouldn't Write Novels"
Founder of the genre historical novel began with poetry, and only at the age of 42 dared to anonymously publish his first prose work. It was Waverley, or Sixty Years Ago, about the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Scott timidly hoped for recognition, but he was not ready for the glory that suddenly fell upon him. The author's fears that Waverley was too Scottish and would not be popular in other countries did not come true. His writing made a splash everywhere - critics in unison started talking about a new literary luminary.
The popularity of the novelist was such that on the covers of subsequent works it was enough to write "from the creator of Waverley" to sell them like hot cakes. In the meantime, all of Europe was eagerly reading Scott's books, other authors showed dissatisfaction.
For example, the English novelist Jane Austen declared: “Walter Scott should not write novels, especially good ones. This is unfair. Being a poet, he deserved Fame and Income, and he should not snatch a piece of bread from other authors from his mouth. I don't like it, and I'd really like not to like Waverley - but unfortunately I can't help myself." Frenchman Stendhal and influential English critic George Henry Lewis assured that Scott's success is a transient fashion phenomenon, and at the suggestion of an American Mark Twain the novelist has generally become an object of parody.
Walter Scott on the hunt. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
"Great Unknown"
For a long time, Scott published novels anonymously and denied his authorship. He had three reasons for this. Firstly, he was afraid to shake his poetic fame, and secondly, he considered the title of novelist incompatible with his official position. But most importantly, the Scot could not stand talking about his own literary works.
For some time he managed to keep his real name secret: for the author of "Waverley" they took his own brother. Thomas, then comrades Erskine And Elissa, then criticism Geoffrey. But readers continued to conduct their own investigations, and newspapers published articles speculating about who the “great unknown” novelist really was.
In the end, the truth was revealed, but Scott himself, right up to 1827, stubbornly continued to deny his authorship. Only 5 years before his death, the Scot began to sign novels in his own name.
Monument to Walter Scott in Edinburgh. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Deadly nobility
Biographers note Scott's fantastic performance: every day he wrote up to forty-eight pages. Last years his life, the need to work day in and day out was caused by the huge debt that the Scot took on as a result of the financial panic on the London Stock Exchange, when all the bankers at once demanded repayment of loans. Scott could easily get rid of obligations to creditors, it was only necessary to declare himself bankrupt, as the others did. But he took responsibility for all the accounts that bore his signature.
The nobility cost him many years of work, several strokes and a heart attack that ended his life. But despite fantastic efforts, the Scot died a debtor (even the money from the biography written after the death of the "great unknown" went to pay off debts).
Literature for Scott turned into hard and exhausting work, which could not but suffer the quality of his writing. latest works. But this does not negate what the writer managed to do for his country and world literature - he stood at the origins of the historical novel genre.
The novel "Ivanhoe" appeared at the very end of 1819 and immediately became the most popular work of Walter Scott. With this work, Walter Scott began a new theme in his work - English history and defined it in a special way - as a "chivalrous novel". This meant that the story was far more distant than his books on Scotland's past.
Deciding, on the advice of the publisher, to still maintain continuity with the "Scottish" novels, Walter Scott on the first pages of the new book recalled his former character, hardly noticeable to readers, but essential in terms of composition. This is Dr. Jonah Dryezdast, archivist, a writer who acts in "Scottish" books as an editor, author of prefaces, etc. This keeper of legends, whose surname in Russian would sound like Suhopylny, in Ivanhoe turns out to be the addressee of a letter of dedication sent to him along with the manuscript on behalf of an English antiquary, a certain Lawrence Templeton from Cumberland, the land of hills and lakes ... In other words, this is another collector of antiquities, which were so fond of in that era, English antiquities. Moreover, if Dryezdast-Dryezdast, in accordance with his symbolic name, is a pedant who stands guard over documentary and authenticity, then the English writer pronounces for himself the right to a certain freedom in dealing with the material of the past. This was also expressed by the definition of the narrative - "knightly romance" - for "knightly" in the time of Walter Scott meant "semi-fairytale, mythical."
Of course, this is not the fabulousness about which in question in Ivanhoe, when the heroes of the oldest chivalric stories are mentioned there - Tristan and Lancelot. They, as one of the characters in the novel recalls, sought adventure in enchanted forests, fighting dragons and giants. These heroes, especially Tristan, were still akin to epic heroes. In "Ivanhoe" chivalry is called to life much later and quite real.<...>
As already mentioned, in England Saxon-Norman contradictions over the years have smoothed out, healed. Talk about which of them is more Saxon, and who is Norman, among the English in the time of Walter Scott could only be conducted in an ironic, comic sense. But other internal contradictions, social ones, were ripe, and against their background, "Ivanhoe" was read accordingly. The old nobility acted as the defeated or defeated, the new nobility played the role of winners or attackers, as well as bourgeoisie, so the picture of internal strife in the country, be that as it may, looked topical.
The situation outlined by Walter Scott was unusually relevant: the king, in alliance with the common people, opposed the masterful barons.
King Richard I, nicknamed the Lionheart, is, of course, idealized in the novel. Presented as a defender of popular interests, he actually brought ordinary Englishmen to ruin. For most of his reign, Richard was out of England - on campaigns, and his power was manifested mainly in the establishment of more and more requisitions necessary for the maintenance of the army. And the ransom, in order to rescue the king from overseas captivity, completely depleted the treasury and almost led to a national catastrophe. Having escaped from captivity, Richard returned to his kingdom for only a few weeks, after which, having collected another tax, immediately again went to the continent on another campaign, from which he never returned. Wars, testifying that the king deserved the proud nickname given to him by rumor - the Lionheart, brought nothing to the country and people but impoverishment and confusion.
The king's love for poems and songs, emphasized in the novel, corresponds to the truth. Richard the Lionheart was not only an outstanding warrior, but also an outstanding bard: he skillfully composed poems and performed them himself to his own accompaniment. However, the touching concern for the subjects and the alliance with the common people is a frank and tendentious fiction of the author of Ivanhoe,<...>
From the point of view of reliability, historians can (and have found) quite a few irregularities in Ivanhoe, especially in time. The same story of Isaac and Rebekah is not taken by Walter Scott from remote sources, but was heard from Washington Irving and belongs to a much later time. As for Robin Hood, Walter Scott had certain reasons to give him the name Loxley, because the collectors of English antiquities discovered a certain Robert Fitz-Ut, originally from Loxley in the county of Nottingham, he allegedly was noble robber, who robbed only the rich and received the legendary nickname Robin Hood, that is, Robin in the Hood. The alliance of the famous robber with the king is not excluded, but not with Richard the Lionheart, but with Edward II - at least a hundred years later, and in this case it is no longer Robert of Loxley, but some other person: legends about Robin Hood took shape over a long time, and despite the fact that they could have a factual basis, a variety of times were reflected in the nickname.
According to Walter Scott's biographer John Lockhart, the success of Ivanhoe brought some damage to the author: his other novels became less popular.
D. Urnov
Questions and tasks
1. Hope you readnovel
Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe" in its entirety. Who are his heroes? What is the essence of the novel?
2. What historical era is the novel dedicated to?
3. What writers of Russia depicted the history of their Motherland as widely?
4. What is especially attractive about Scott's novels?
Literature, 8th grade. Proc. for general education institutions. At 2 o'clock / auth. V. Ya. Korovin, 8th ed. - M.: Enlightenment, 2009. - 399 p. + 399 p.: ill.
The nineteenth century, in the person of Walter Scott, was presented to forever establish the true meaning of the novel.
V.G. Belinsky
On August 15, 1771, the world-famous British writer of Scottish origin, the founder of the historical novel, Sir Walter Scott, was born.
The only time Belinsky spoke heart to heart with Lermontov, their conversation lasted 4 hours, and what did they talk about? The most important place in their conversation was occupied by Walter Scott (1771-1832), his influence on literature.
What about A Hero of Our Time? Remember: all night long - and this is before the duel! - Pechorin is reading ... Whom? Of course, Walter Scott, a novel "Puritans".
And Dostoevsky in his stories portrayed the same nightly, drunken reading of Walter Scott. He himself read it a lot in his youth, and in his mature years he tried to instill the same passion in his children.
A younger contemporary and friend of Dostoevsky, poet and critic Ap. Grigoriev, who made a general hobby in childhood "Scottish bard"(as Scott was called), left memories of how Walterscott novels were snapped up and read to holes, despite the fact that we had them "gray and dirty" published, "vile" translated (from French translation) and "Sold cheap."
Walter Scott enjoyed unconditional, unquestioned fame both in his homeland, and throughout Europe, and overseas. He was the idol of the reading public, and among writers was considered the measure of creative greatness. Belinsky in his articles and letters mentioned the name of Walter Scott at least two hundred times, and if he wanted to point out a creative task of particular complexity, almost unbearable, he said that he would not have coped with this task or had coped only with the greatest difficulty, Walter Scott himself.
The American celebrity James Fenimore Cooper (whom Belinsky and Lermontov, during that memorable and one-of-a-kind conversation, put on a par with "Scottish bard") turned to writing historical adventure novels under the strong impression of the books of Walter Scott.
Balzac called "Scottish bard" nothing less than a genius, and sought to apply his narrative method to the present.
Goethe said: “Walter Scott is a great talent without equal, and really it is not surprising that he makes such an impression on the reading world. It gives me abundant food for thought, and in it a completely new art opens up to me, which has its own laws.
“I don’t know a more fascinating reading than the works of Walter Scott,” - wrote Byron (who not only did not concede, but in some respects even surpassed "Scottish bard" popularity among readers). The same Byron admitted: "I have read all the novels of Walter Scott at least fifty times ...".
When reading Walter Scott, contemporaries had the impression of a miracle. "Forgotten, fascinated by magical fiction",- Lermontov describes the reader's impressions of his hero. “It is so beautifully described that you sit at night ... you read,” - Dostoevsky conveys the impressions of his character (in White Nights).
Walter Scott was born in the Scottish capital, the city of Edinburgh, on August 15, 1771. He was the ninth child in the family, but when he was six months old, only three survived. In a family of 13 children, six survived. His father was a successful wealthy lawyer, his mother was the daughter of a doctor, a professor of medicine.
At 1.5 years old, Walter Scott was struck by an ailment that left him lame for life. Biographers suggest that it was childhood paralysis. Hoping for the healing country air, the child was sent to live with his paternal grandfather in Sandy Know, where he had a farm.
Walter Scott read a lot, partly, as he himself said, because he had nothing to do because of various illnesses. He recognized early on Shakespeare and his older contemporary Edmund Spenser, the author of poems in which, according to Scott, "knights, ladies and dragons". He read ancient authors, was fond of novels and poetry, and emphasized the traditional ballads and tales of Scotland. The people around were amazed at the boy's magnificent memory and agile mind.
Walter's childhood years were spent on his grandfather's farm and in his uncle's house near Kelso. IN hometown he returned in 1778, and from the next year he became a student in the capital's school.
In November 1783 Walter entered Edinburgh City College. Visiting the Edinburgh Library (“I was thrown into this great ocean of reading without a helmsman and without a compass,”- Scott recalled), the future writer first saw Robert Burns there, and a little later he had the opportunity to listen to the famous poet in the house of his friend Adam, son of the philosopher Adam Ferguson.
While in college, Walter Scott became interested in mountain climbing, became stronger physically, and gained popularity among his peers as an excellent storyteller. Within the walls of this educational institution, Walter and a company of friends created the "Poetic Society".
Walter Scott willingly and intensively studied languages. He knew Latin (without this he would not be a lawyer!), Italian, French, and then suddenly, as his biographer-in-law says, he and his friends from one article that appeared in an Edinburgh magazine learned about the latest German literature and philosophy. The article seemed to them a revelation, and it was indeed significant: it reported on the German school of thought, directed to soil and roots, tradition and nation, which was becoming popular in the British Isles, including Scotland.
In 1792, after graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Walter Scott received a law degree. The writer's knowledge was extremely broad, but he acquired most of his intellectual baggage through self-education. “Whoever has achieved anything in life, he once wrote, I owe my own education primarily to myself. Everything that interested him was forever imprinted in his phenomenal memory. He did not need to study special literature before writing a novel or a poem. A colossal amount of knowledge allowed him to write on any chosen topic.
After university, Walter Scott acquires his own practice and at the same time begins to get involved in collecting old songs and ballads from Scotland. He first appeared in the field of literature, translating two poems by the German poet Burger in 1796, but the reading public did not react to them. Nevertheless, Scott did not stop studying literature, and in his biography there was always a combination of two roles - a lawyer and a writer.
In 1797 Walter Scott married Charlotte Carpenter (Charlotte Charpentier) (1770-1826). On October 14, 1798, Scott's first child (son) was born and died, not having lived even two days. Then they will have more children - Sophia (born in 1779), Walter (1801) and Anna (1803). Charles appeared in 1805. All four survived their parents.
In life, Walter Scott was an exemplary family man, a good, sensitive, tactful, grateful person; he loved his Abbotsford estate, which he rebuilt, making a small castle out of it; he was very fond of trees, domestic animals, a good feast in the family circle.
“…All his life Scott was surrounded by dogs; the owner and his dogs understood each other perfectly, they just didn’t talk. At that time, his favorite was Kemp, a cross between a piebald English terrier and an English spotted bulldog of the purest blood. When Scott climbed the rocks - and here everything depended on the strength of the muscles and the tenacity of the fingers - Kemp often helped him choose the most convenient way: jumped down, looked back at the owner, returned to lick his hand or cheek, and again jumped down, inviting you to follow.
By old age, Kemp had sprained his ligaments and could no longer keep up with Scott. However, when Scott returned home, the first person to notice him from afar informed Kemp. Hearing that the owner was coming down the hill, the dog ran to the back of the estate; if Scott approached from the side of the ford, then Kemp went down to the river; there was no way he was wrong.
... After Kemp's death, Maida became his favorite, a cross between a greyhound and a mastiff, with a shaggy mane like a lion's, six feet from the tip of his nose to the tail of his tail and so huge that when he sat at dinner next to Scott, his muzzle reached the top master's chair. A mighty dog could defeat a wolf or knock down a seasoned deer, but the cat Hinze did not give him free rein. Once Scott came out to his plaintive howl and found that the dog "Afraid to pass by the kitty, which is located on the steps."
Maida's appearance attracted countless artists who were eager to paint portraits of Scott, so that the dog appeared on several of these canvases, and in some cases acted as a model in itself. “I had to personally attend the sessions, - Scott told about one of these cases , - for the sitter, although he received from time to time a cold beef bone, showed signs of growing anxiety.
In the absence of the owner, Maida quickly became enraged, and a muzzle appeared. In the end, the dog resolutely refused to pose, and the mere sight of brushes and a palette made him get up and dejectedly leave the room. But he could not prevent the master "write off" from himself two invented dogs - Rosval in "The Talisman" and Beavis from "Woodstock".
At the end of 1799, Walter Scott became Chief Justice of Selkirshire, a position he held until his death. In the same year, he published a translation of Goethe's drama "Götz von Berlichingen", and soon his first original work, a romantic ballad "Ivan's Evening"(1800), known to us in the translation of Zhukovsky as "Castle Smalholm".
Walter Scott continues to collect ballads. “Wandering the wilds of Liddesdale and Ethric Forest in search of additional material for Frontier Songs”, he wrote already in April 1801.
A poem published in 1805 called "Song of the Last Minstrel" was very popular not only in Scotland, but also in England, in years and years it was reread, recited by heart passages.
A number of other poems, as well as published in 1806 by collection of lyrical poems and ballads allowed Scott to join the glorious cohort of British romantics. With some of them, in particular, with Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott knew personally and was on friendly terms. He became fashionable, but such a reputation was rather painful for him. However, thanks to "fashion for Scott" readers developed an interest in Scottish history and folklore, and this became especially noticeable when the writer began to publish novels.
Of the 26 works of this genre, only one, "Saint Ronan Waters" covered contemporary events, while the rest describe mainly the past of Scotland.
The first novel, titled "Waverley" was printed in 1814 with a circulation of only 1000 copies, and the author chose to hide his name, which he did for more than 10 years, for which the public nicknamed him the Great Incognito.
In 1820, George IV awarded Walter Scott the title of baronet. During the 20-30s. He not only wrote novels "Ivanhoe", "Quentin Dorward", "Robert, Count of Paris"), but also undertook a number of studies of a historical nature (two volumes published in 1829-1830 "History of Scotland" nine volumes "Life of Napoleon" (1831-1832)).
The novel Ivanhoe (1819) brought Scott a truly sensational success - the first 10,000 copies were sold out in two weeks. These were incredible sales for early XIX century!
In RussiaWalter Scott has been well known since the 1920s. Having created a historical novel, the writer established the laws of a new genre and brilliantly put them into practice. The work of Scott the novelist had a huge impact on the historical prose of Russian writers, including Pushkin, Gogol, and others. This genre became one of the most popular in the era of romanticism.
Pushkin wrote to his wife from Boldin: "I read Walter Scott and the Bible." The influence of the Bible on Pushkin is undeniable. But the influence on him is also undeniable. "Scottish Wizard" as Pushkin himself called Scott. After all " Captain's daughter"Written not just in the historical genre, but in an adventure vein. But it was Scott who first began to perceive history "at home"(also an expression of Pushkin in a note about Scott), without unnecessary "importance" and solemnity. As we dive into Scott's novels, we don't feel like we're being "loaded" with History. We experience it as interesting adventures with interesting living people.
Scott's novels were very popular in Russia among the reading public, and therefore were translated into Russian relatively quickly. Yes, romance "Karl the Bold, or Anna of Geierstein, the Maiden of Gloom", published for the first time in Great Britain in 1829, already in 1830 it was published in St. Petersburg, in the Printing House of the Headquarters of a separate corps of internal guards.
Walter Scott made the distant and long-standing close, the unknown - known and understandable. Reading Walter Scott meant making a journey, as we now say, in time and space - into the past and to distant lands, primarily to old Scotland, the native land for "Scottish bard".
Literary creativity brought Walter Scott a lot of money. However, because of the publisher and printer, he went bankrupt; being forced to pay large debts, he worked at the limit of intellectual and physical capabilities. The novels of the last years of his life were written by a sick and incredibly tired person, which was reflected in their artistic merits. However, the best works of this genre became classics of world literature and determined the vector for the further development of the European novel of the 19th century, having a noticeable impact on the work of such major writers as Balzac, Hugo, Stendhal and others.
As a result of the first apoplexy in 1830, Walter Scott was paralyzed right hand followed by two more blows. On September 21, 1832, he died of a heart attack in Abbotsford, Scotland; Dryburg became the burial place.
Today in Edinburgh on Princes Street, as evidence of the great love and gratitude of compatriots, there is a sixty-meter monument dedicated to the writer. It rushes up like a Gothic cathedral. Inside, through the arches, a white marble statue of the writer is visible: he is depicted sitting in an armchair with a book on his lap. At his feet lies a dog, This is the faithful Maida, who will never part with his master again. In the niches of each floor there are statues depicting the heroes of the writer's works.
· Walter Scott's "Magical Fiction" is, according to one patient researcher, a vast world inhabited by 2,836 characters, including 37 horses and 33 named dogs.
· The term "freelancer" (lit. "free spearman") was first used by Walter Scott in the novel "Ivanhoe" to describe "medieval mercenary warrior".
· The famous writer-historical novelist Ivan Lazhechnikov (1790-1869) was called "Russian Walter Scott".
· In 1826, the well-meaning magazine published the following anecdote by A.E. Izmailov: “In the presence of an elderly lover of literature, they talked about the novels of Walter Scott and very often mentioned his name. “Have mercy, fathers,” she said, “Voltér, of course, is a great freethinker, but you really cannot call him cattle.” This venerable old woman was a great hunter of books, especially novels.
Famous quotes from Walter Scott:
The trouble with those who write quickly is that they cannot write concisely.
Nothing in life is better than your own experience.
Time and tide never wait.
Long tongues... sow enmity between neighbors and between peoples.
The bad consequences of crimes live longer than the crimes themselves.
If people do not learn to help each other, then the human race will disappear from the face of the earth.
The fewer words you say, the sooner you get the job done.
We will never be able to feel and respect our real vocation and purpose if we do not learn to regard everything as a mirage in comparison with the education of the heart.
Do not keep your ear to the well, otherwise you will just hear an unkind rumor about yourself.
It is simply amazing what purposefulness, courage and willpower awaken from the confidence that we are doing our duty.
