The Betrothed

Scott, Walter, 1771-1832Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 756K words
Chapters: 76

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.The Betrothed by Walter ScottAuthor: Scott, Walter, 1771-1832,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Betrothed is one of Walter Scott's historical novels, set on the medieval Welsh border and centering on a marriage contract, family feuds, and political loyalties. Scott excelled at embedding individual fates within broad historical processes; this book continues his practice of richly rendering local customs and landscapes and shaping character through dialogue. The plot unfolds at a measured pace, and the novel is useful for understanding the narrative tradition of early nineteenth-century historical fiction. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and compare, making it suitable as a selected text for Scott in English literature courses. Read slowly and pay attention to the narrator's descriptions of customs and landscape, which are key to Scott's construction of a sense of historical immediacy. Readers accustomed to fast-paced plots may find the early exposition heavy; consider reading an introduction or background material before the main text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature students studying historical fiction of the British Romantic period
Readers interested in the medieval Welsh border and its relations with England
Literature enthusiasts who want to read Scott's works systematically
Researchers who need public-domain English source texts for textual analysis

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking tight suspense and strong plot reversals
Beginners not yet proficient in English reading who need modern annotations
Casual readers impatient with nineteenth-century long-sentence narration

Reading tips

First understand the overall outline of Scott's Waverley series, then locate this book within it.
After each chapter, sort out the character relationships and the marriage-contract线索 to avoid confusion from dense names.
Use a map to look up Welsh border place names to enhance understanding of the spatial narrative.
Consult a Chinese translation or relevant literary history chapters to help grasp the historical background.

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.

FAQ

Is this book the same work as Manzoni's The Betrothed?

No. This is a novel by Walter Scott set against English history. Although the Chinese translated title is similar to that of the Italian writer Manzoni's The Betrothed, the author, language, and subject matter are all different. When looking it up, rely on the author's name and the original English title to avoid confusion.

What are the practical features of the Project Gutenberg e-book?

The Project Gutenberg edition provides a free public-domain English electronic text, convenient for full-text search, copying and citation, and reading across devices, but it usually contains no modern scholarly annotations or introduction. For research, pair it with an authoritative print or scholarly edition.

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Scott?

Yes. The story is relatively self-contained and does not depend on earlier plots. However, Scott's narrative style and historical background pose some barriers; reading a brief introduction to the author and the work before the main text will make things smoother.

Comments

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About the author

Scott, Walter, 1771-1832 Author

Walter Scott (Scott, Walter, 1771-1832) was a British writer known for his historical novels and narrative poetry. The library holds 94 of his works, including the representative Ivanhoe and Waverley Or ‘Tis Sixty Years Since — Complete, as well as The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2. His historical novels often draw on the history of Scotland and England, weaving real historical events into the fates of fictional characters, with unhurried plotting and vivid characterization; they exercised a profound influence on the development of the European historical novel. Ivanhoe, set in medieval England, is among his most widely read works. Publicly available information on his nationality, dates of birth and death, and other biographical details is limited, so no speculation is offered here.