And here, he went on to say, he proposed to remain as long as he lived. These last twenty-seven years were filled with honors. He had already received the gold medal from the Royal Society of Literature and the degree of Doctor of Laws from Oxford University. Now he was to have the refusal of a whole succession of public offices and the leadership of a whole school of writers. Diedrich Knickerbocker had become a household word which was applied to the Knickerbocker School of Irving's followers and used in the christening of the Knickerbocker Magazine (1833-1865). Irving was in truth a connecting link between the century of his birth and the century of his achievements. He carried over the spirit and the manners of Addison and Goldsmith into the New World and into the age of steam. With him it was a natural mode of thought and way of expression, but with his imitators it was affected and superficialso much so that the Knickerbocker School declined and the Knickerbocker Magazine went out of existence shortly after Irving's death. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY AND CLASS DISCUSSION 1. What significant difference was there between the atmosphere of New York and that of Boston in 1783 as regards the preparation of a youth for his life work? 2. How and why did Irving benefit from travel? 3. What is an international point of view? Compare Irving, Crèvecœur, and Franklin in this respect. Can you name distinguished characters who possess this point of view to a marked degree today? 4. Had Oliver Goldsmith an international point of view? Where is it revealed? What do the table of contents of the "Citizen "of the World," portions of "The Traveller," and "The Deserted Village" tell you on this question? 5. What was the "Knickerbocker's History of New York"? 6. Following the writing of "Knickerbocker's History," how was Irving's time occupied ? 7. What changes from his earlier manner took place in the second period of literary productivity and its output? forcible first, and elegant as a secondary matter; and its words and sentences must be chosen and put together as a challenge to a reader in the midst of a restless, driving, twentiethcentury world. There are too few writers today who care for beauty as well as vividness of style. With these facts in mind one may say, if he will, that Washington Irving was formal, but he should say this as marking a difference and not a necessary inferiority in Irving. Last years and the Knickerbocker School. Irving lived until 1859, but the richly fruitful part of his life was from 1819 to 1832, the year of his return from abroad. In this period he published ten books and all the best known of his works but the lives of Goldsmith and Washington. When he came back after seventeen years' absence, he was known and admired in England, France, and Germany, and was the most popular of American authors. Irving was one of the first to profit, American fashion, by a European reputation reflected and redoubled at home. At the dinner of welcome tendered him soon after his arrival he showed how absence had made the heart grow fonder: WASHINGTON IRVING A later portrait I come from gloomier climes to one of brilliant sunshine and inspiring purity. I come from countries lowering with doubt and danger, where the rich man trembles and the poor man frowns— where all repine at the present and dread the future. I come from these to a country where all is life and animation; where I hear on every side the sound of exultation; where everyone speaks of the past with triumph, the present with delight, the future with growing and confident anticipation. And here, he went on to say, he proposed to remain as long as he lived. These last twenty-seven years were filled with honors. He had already received the gold medal from the Royal Society of Literature and the degree of Doctor of Laws from Oxford University. Now he was to have the refusal of a whole succession of public offices and the leadership of a whole school of writers. Diedrich Knickerbocker had become a household word which was applied to the Knickerbocker School of Irving's followers and used in the christening of the Knickerbocker Magazine (1833–1865). Irving was in truth a connecting link between the century of his birth and the century of his achievements. He carried over the spirit and the manners of Addison and Goldsmith into the New World and into the age of steam. With him it was a natural mode of thought and way of expression, but with his imitators it was affected and superficialso much so that the Knickerbocker School declined and the Knickerbocker Magazine went out of existence shortly after Irving's death. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY AND CLASS DISCUSSION 1. What significant difference was there between the atmosphere of New York and that of Boston in 1783 as regards the preparation of a youth for his life work? 2. How and why did Irving benefit from travel? 3. What is an international point of view? Compare Irving, Crèvecœur, and Franklin in this respect. Can you name distinguished characters who possess this point of view to a marked degree today? 4. Had Oliver Goldsmith an international point of view? Where is it revealed? What do the table of contents of the "Citizen of the World," portions of "The Traveller," and "The Deserted Village" tell you on this question? 5. What was the "Knickerbocker's History of New York"? 6. Following the writing of "Knickerbocker's History," how was Irving's time occupied? 7. What changes from his earlier manner took place in the second period of literary productivity and its output? 8. Tell briefly of the later years of Irving's life, their political and literary activity. 9. What were the circumstances attending publication of the "Sketch Book"? 10. Classify the different types of essay, sketch, and story in the "Sketch Book" according to the groupings mentioned on page III. 11. Read the introductory chapter in Wells's "Future in America" or in Bennett's "Your United States," and compare the tone of their comments with that of English writers in Irving's day. 12. What is the literary significance of "Rip Van Winkle"? 13. What may be said of Irving's literary style? 14. Compare and contrast some other excerpt from the "Sketch Book" with that quoted from "Crowds." 15. Select a brief passage from Irving and another from some accepted writer of today, and compare them as the passages from Irving and Lee are compared in the text. 16. How is Irving's influence shown in the reading-public he secured, the honors he earned, and the school of writers who followed him? 17. For assistance in answering the following questions see the Chronological Outlines at the close of Chapter XII, and Chronological Chart No. II, p. 381: a. When did the "Salmagundi Papers" appear? When did the "Citizen of the World" appear? How long was the interval? b. What authors on the other side of the water were writing at this time? Which one of these tried to assist Irving in connection with a certain publication of his? What publication was it? c. How many other authors mentioned in the Outlines or Charts began writing after the Revolution before Irving began? After what war was the "Sketch Book" published? d. Between what years was his most fruitful period of authorship? Make a list of his publications in book form during these years, and characterize each. e. Substantiate as far as you can from the Outlines the next to the last sentence in the text, that the period of Irving's life was the "age of steam." f. How are his birth and death dates related to the Revolution and the Civil War? g. In the decade in which Irving's productive period ends, what new names appear in the list of English writers? CHAPTER X JAMES FENIMORE COOPER (1789-1851) SUGGESTED READINGS Since "The Last of the Mohicans" is discussed at length in this chapter, it may be more interesting to read one of the other Leatherstocking Tales, preferably "The Deerslayer" (an inexpensive edition, abridged, is published by Ginn and Company) or "The Pathfinder" (published in Everyman's Library edition). See also the passages in Boynton's "Milestones in American Literature," Ginn and Company. The questions that follow apply equally to any of the three, and different members of the class may profitably read different novels. A novel taken up by a school or college student should be read as the author intended it to be read, at a reasonable speed, for the pleasure to be found in it. If necessary, it should be looked over again after the first whole impression is gained. It will help toward a clear understanding of Cooper, however, if the reader will think of the following points in advance and have them in the back of his mind as he reads: What is the plot in briefest terms? (For example, "Ivanhoe" is the story of a returned crusader, who comes back to England in disguise, distinguishes himself in tournaments, rescues a beautiful Jewess from death, foils his bitterest enemies, wins his bride, and assists Richard of the Lion Heart to overcome the conspiracy against him.) What episodes can you cite as presenting the savage side of the Indians in any one of Cooper's novels? What passages seem to you to idealize them? Does the character of the native American hero in the one of Cooper's novels you have read seem natural or self-contradictory? Have you ever known anyone like him? Answer the same questions with reference to one or more of the women in one of his novels. About how much time passes between beginning and end of a specified novel of Cooper? How much of this does he skip in connecting passages, and how much does he narrate in detail? Does he give more attention to action or to what was going on in the characters' minds? |