English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century

Stephen, Leslie, 1832-1904Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
272K words
Chapters
28

Tags

English Originals Foreign Literature Historical ReappraisalLiterary GiantsSocial CritiqueWestern ThoughtAcademic StudyIntellectual CommentaryPopular ExplanationCultural ChangeSocial ObservationVictorian Era

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century by Leslie StephenAuthor: Stephen, Leslie, 1832-1904,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 17, 2007

Editor's review

English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century is a critical work by Leslie Stephen on the relationship between literature and society in eighteenth-century England. Stephen was a major Victorian critic and biographer, and this book examines the interplay between literary taste, readership, and the spirit of the age from a social-history perspective rather than merely cataloguing authors and works. Its value lies in placing literature back in the context of coffeehouses, periodicals, class change, and the rise of public opinion, helping readers understand the conditions of literary production in eighteenth-century England. The style is that of late Victorian critical essays: clear in argument but marked by the assumptions of its time, and readers should approach it with a critical eye. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, it works well as supplementary reading for courses in English literary history and for readers interested in eighteenth-century society and culture. It does not aim for the detailed annotation of modern scholarship, so it suits readers with some background knowledge better than complete beginners.

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Reading tips

  1. First learn the basic background of eighteenth-century English periodicals and coffeehouse culture; the main text will then read more smoothly.
  2. After each chapter, summarize the author's core judgments in your own words to help identify the assumptions of his time.
  3. Read alongside excerpts from eighteenth-century authors to avoid staying at the level of abstract claims.
  4. When taking notes, distinguish factual statements from the author's evaluations to develop critical reading habits.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28

FAQ

Is this book an anthology of literary works? No. It is Leslie Stephen's critical work on the relationship between literature and society in eighteenth-century England, focusing on taste, readership, and the spirit of the age from a social-history perspective rather than collecting literary excerpts or plot guides.
What background knowledge is needed to read this book? Basic knowledge of English literary history is recommended, including the rise of eighteenth-century periodicals, coffeehouses, and public opinion. The book provides no modern scholarly annotation, so readers with some foundation will find it easier to follow the author's line of argument.
What should readers note about the book's stance? The book was written in the late Victorian period and carries the author's own assumptions and evaluative standards. Readers should distinguish factual statements from value judgments and read critically rather than treating it as a settled conclusion under modern scholarly standards.

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About the author

Stephen, Leslie, 1832-1904 Author

Leslie Stephen (1832–1904) was a Victorian-era English author and literary critic; details of his life and education are limited in publicly available sources. Twelve of his works are held here, spanning literary criticism and intellectual history. The three volumes of Hours in a Library discuss books and reading in an essayistic style that is unhurried yet incisive, while his biographical studies Samuel Johnson and Alexander Pope combine accounts of the subjects' lives with analysis of their writings. The two volumes of The English Utilitarians trace the development of British utilitarian thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century examines changes in literary taste and fashion against their social background. His writing is known for solid scholarship and clear prose, and is often grouped among inspirational and personal-growth titles; it has had some influence on later English literary criticism and intellectual history.