Walter Scott is considered to be the founder of the historical novel in English literature.

WALTER SCOTT 1771 - 1832

Walter Scott is considered to be the founder of the historical novel in English literature.

He was born in Edinburgh. His father was a lawyer. His ancestors were Scottish noblemen. The name "Walter" came from father to son. But when Walter was born his family was poor and his grandfather was just a farmer. His mother was a daughter of professor Reserford who was a famous doctor in Edinburgh. She taught young W. to love legends and ballads and his father was indifferent to the world of magic.

In his early childhood W. was very ill and he was lame all his life. He was sent to his grandfather's house to recover from the illness. Fresh air and walking - everything was useful to the boy in the country-side. He walked and played a lot and of course he heard a lot of ballads, legends, songs and fairy-tales of the past. He learnt to read and write very early. When he was seven he had already several notebooks with his notes. He became stronger, he could walk 30 miles a day, he loved climbing.

Later he studied law and passed successfully the exams to enter Edinburgh University and gotten a layer's degree. He started working in his father's office. He coped well with everything and took an active part in discussions in several clubs, he made many reports on literature. He learnt German. Apart from his professional work, he found time for wide miscellaneous reading and for long rambles in the Highland and Border Country, thus storing his mind with antiquarian knowledge and legendary lore.

He traveled along Scotland and learnt more about history and folklore of his Motherland. In 1797 he married Charlotte Charpantie. She was French. They lived happily for 30 years and they had 4 children. In 1799 he received the office of Sheriff of Selkirkshire, and, in 1806, that of a principal clerk of the Court of Session (the supreme civil court of Scotland), both of which he retained till within two years of his death.

W.S. began his literary career with translations from the German of Burger and Goethe. In 1802 he published the first two volumes of "Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border" (Поэзия шотландского порубежья) with the songs he heard from local farmers, cowboys and other common people. The third part was published a year later. It made him one of the famous poets in Scotland. In 1805 "The Lay Of The Last Minstrel" (Песнь последнего менестреля) was published which was devoted to Scottish past too. He became rich. In 18012 he bought a piece of land. His dream was to build a castle to keep his antique collections. He employed several servants and the erections of an old castle began. He called it "Abbot's Ford" (Монашеский брод). He brought there 24 carts with weapons, plates and dishes that were in his collection. The castle was built in 12 years.

His first novel "Waverly or 'Tis Sixty Years Since"(Уэверли) was written in 1805 but after he read a couple of chapters to his friend who told him that it wasn't good enough he gave up the idea of writing novels. Later the novel was finished and published in 1814 and his authorship was kept in a secret. The novel was a great success. It was about the revolt to support the Stewards' family when they were overthrown in Scotland in 1745. The reason why he kept in a secret his authorship was that he was afraid for his reputation of a famous poet. After the success of his first novel he could sign all his novels with his real name but he didn't want to. For more than 10 years he signed his novels with "The author of Waverly". The identity of the author was not acknowledged till 1827. "Waverly" was the first of 29 prose tales generally known under the name of the "Waverly Novels". The favorite scene of Scott's earlier romances - "Waverly"(1814), "Guy Mannering"(1815), "The Antiquary"(1816), "Old Mortality"(1816), "Rob Roy" (1818), "The Heart Of Midlothian"(1818), "The Bride Of Lammermoore"(1819) - is the Scotland of the 17-18th centuries. Later he extended his province also to English history - "Ivanhoe"(1819), "Kenilworth"(1821), "Woodstock"(1826), Elizabethan and medieval Scotland - "The Monastery" and "The Abbot"(1820), and the continent - "Quentin Durward"(1823). In 1820 he was created a baronet.

In addition to his poems and novels Scott produced a great bulk of critical, historical, biographical and miscellaneous work. He led a happy life. He got up at 6 and he finished writing at 12. All the time in the afternoon he could spend with his family and friends. But in 1826, however, his prosperous career was suddenly stopped; for unfortunately he had at an early period, secretly entered into partnership with his publishers, and their failure, during the great crisis of 1825, involved Scott's ruin. He could sell the castle but he didn't do that. He promised to pay all the debts till 1830. His wife died. He started working hard, he wrote new novels nights and days. But the nervous strain on him was too great, and his health broke down. He suffered 3 strokes and the doctors advised him to go to Italy. He saw Brullov's famous painting "The last day of Pompey" there and he admired this masterpiece a lot. He said that he could write a novel about this tragedy but he didn't have much time left.

W.S. was very interested in Russia and Russian culture. He was the witness of Napoleon's invasion and he clearly saw the great role of Russian army in the defeat of French army. In 1815 he saw the parade of Russian army in Paris, he talked to Alexander I. In his bedroom there was a portrait of Denis Davydov. Later they started exchanging letters and W.S. sent his portrait to Davydov.

He died in 1832 of apoplexy in his Abbotsford.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04