Life in eighteenth century England as reflected in the novels of Dr. Tobias George Smollet, 1721-1771

Date
1940
DOI
Authors
Crediford, John William
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
Chapter I, Introduction, began with the following quotation: "I take up a volume of Dr. Smollett, or a volume of the Spectator, and say that fiction carries a greater amount of truth in solution than the volume which purports to be all true. Out of the fictitious book I get the expression of the life of the time; of the manners, of the movement, the dress, the pleasures, the laughter, the ridicules of society--the old times live again, and I travel in the old country of England. Can the heaviest historian do more for me?" This thesis was written with this quotation in mind throughout. The chapter headings were selected from four of the list mentioned by Thackerary that were paramount in Smollett. They were "of the life of the times," "of the manners, "of the movement," and "of the pleasures." Each quotation taken from Smollett to show these was supported by a similar selection from a contemporary eighteenth century writer wherever possible. Chapter I closed with a statement to the effect that usually it was the situation not the facts pertaining to the social life that were exaggerated by Smollett.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1940
License
Based on investigation of the BU Libraries' staff, this work is free of known copyright restrictions