English Literature, Considered as an Interpreter of English History

Coppée, Henry, 1821-1895Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
903K words
Chapters
91

Tags

English Originals World HistoryForeign Literature Historical ReappraisalSocial ObservationLiterary GiantsWestern ThoughtAcademic StudyIntellectual Commentary19th CenturyCultural ChangeCross-Cultural View

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, Considered as an Interpreter of English History by Henry CoppéeAuthor: Coppée, Henry, 1821-1895,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 26, 2005

Editor's review

This book sets the history of English literature and the history of English politics side by side on the same table, arguing that literary works are not merely aesthetic products but also recorders and interpreters of the historical mood. In essay-style chapters the author links writers and works from the early period to modern times, attending to how times of upheaval and institutional change left their marks on style, subject matter, and character portrayal. Its value lies not in offering a complete literary chronology but in demonstrating a way of reading: discerning history in the text, and viewing the text anew through history. The prose carries the temper of nineteenth-century humanistic essays, with argument outweighing documentation, and suits use as a supplementary introduction to literary history. Read it alongside specific writers and works rather than page by page; begin with a period that interests you. For readers already familiar with the basic outlines of English history and literature, it offers many threads for further thought.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Start with the table of contents, begin with a writer or period you know, then return to other chapters.
  2. As you read each chapter, compare it with the historical events of that period and trace how text and context correspond.
  3. Treat it as a supplementary volume and read it alongside a standard history of English literature, letting the two confirm each other.

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
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91

FAQ

Is this book a textbook of English literary history? No. It is closer to a set of critical essays that use literature to explain history, organized around writers and periods, without a textbook's complete framework or detailed chronology. It suits use as supplementary reading to add a perspective, not as a replacement for a systematic literary history.
Can I read it without a background in English history? You can, but it will be demanding. The author assumes some knowledge of English political history and often refers directly to events and figures. It is best to have secondary-school-level general history first, or to look up the relevant background as you read; the experience will be much smoother.
What should I keep in mind when reading the e-book edition? This book comes from a public-domain e-book project, so the layout is plain and the notes and index may be incomplete. Use reading software that supports dictionary lookup and annotation, look up unfamiliar writers and historical events as you go, and keep your own reading notes to make up for the gaps.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Coppée, Henry, 1821-1895 Author · American · 1821–1895

Henry Coppée (1821–1895) was an American soldier, educator, and writer who served as the first president of Lehigh University. His career spanned military and educational work, and he is known in later life for his writing and university administration. Coppée's works concern the relationship between English history and literature. His representative book, English Literature, Considered as an Interpreter of English History, treats English literature as a mirror for understanding English history, examining how literary works reflect and explain historical developments. This approach, linking literature and history, shows his attention to the value of literary sources and offers readers a path into history through literature. Public information about the details of his life is limited, and his works are not widely circulated, yet he holds a place in nineteenth-century American literary and historical education and writing.