The Vicar of Wakefield and Benevolence

概要

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In this paper, I examine the intention of Oliver Goldsmith in writing The Vicar of Wakefield. Sometimes assessed as a failure in an attempt to write a fiction, it conveys a positive message toward eighteenth-century fashion in literature. The emphasis in my reading is on Goldsmith's attempt to describe a benevolent manly hero who is without the sentimental tears. Considering the vogues in mid-eighteenth century, Goldsmith tries to resist the feminization of heroes, and furthermore resist the feminization of virtues by creating a composed hero who writes about his own sufferings in the first-person narrative, making parallel with such celebrated heroines as Pamela and Clarissa. Though thwarted ambitions represent his life, this ambition in literature has achieved success to a certain extent.
静岡大学の論文
2001-07-31