Sir Walter Scott

Was born on 1771 in Edinburgh’s old town

ScotlandThe capital city

The essence of North

The Athens of North

The old reeky

Scott’s Early Life

His father Writer to the Signet(an attorney)

They thought of Walter Following his father

When 18 months old contracted polio

Got a withered leg Books, his recreation

Attended Edinburgh Univ. Home of Englightenment

Edinburgh’s University

• In The past: • Right now:

Scotland Map

Back then: Right now:

Kilts

Tartans

Monarch George IV

Mel Gibson

Brave Heart

Marital Life

Secured sinecures in Scottish legal system

Married to the illegitimate daughter of a prominent English peer

Named Charlotte Carpenter in 1797

They went on to have 5 children

Scott’s Career

Scott was a Tory, Whigs were out of power

Enabled his Tory friends to provide him help

Friends established him a lifelong security

Enabled him to focus on his love Literature!

His First Major Work

Traveled into borderland, BW Scot & Eng

Collected & recorded lots of ballads

Put together an anthology of ballads

Named Minstrelsy of Scottish Border

The Making of Himself

Became involved in book trade

Investing as a silent partner in publishing firm

Had involved in unlucky premarital affairs

Became captain of yeomanry for a while

Facial Features and Some works:

PlumpSweet-facedExtraordinary personalityWonderful memory

Fame came to him 1805By “The Lay of the Last Minstrel”

Marmion in 1805

The Lady of the Lake 1810

Scott’s Style1st author showing

interest in medieval period

Unraveled the past of 6 cent.

OptimismActionTruthFeelingBreathingFlesh-and-blood

Scott and Historical Fiction

He took Scotland as subject matter

Scotland; country built on contradictions

A rebellion happened in 1745

Scotland had seemingly changed “overnight”

From Elizabethan era to current age

Scott and Historical Fiction

Waverly in 1814Edward Waverly, who apparently waversFirst as an English officer posted to low landsServes Hanoverian monarchsFalls in love with RoseDispatched to low landsFalls in with rebels 1745Fraternal relationship with FergusFalls in love with Flora; Fergus’s sister

Waverly and the Big Question

• Is he a Jacobite fighting for Prince Charles who is trying to conquer England or is he a Hanoverian fighting against rebels?

!

Last Years of Life and a Sad Death

Lived the life of a Scotch Laired at Abbotsford

Mansion on banks of Tweed River

Stocked with antiques

A huge trade crash in England 1825

Left him bankrupted

Died trying to write his way out

Sir Walter, Mansion of Abbotsford

Sir Walter’s Monument, Edinburgh, Scotland

Scott and some novels

Ivanhoe

Kenilworth

Rob Roy

The Heart of Midlothian

Quentin Durward

Ivanhoe

Theme of Duty

Theme of Family

Theme of Identity

Theme of Justice and Judgment

Theme of Patriotism

Theme of Principles

Theme of Society and Class

Thank you for your attention and tolerance!