What discontent of the Irish people into rebellion by attacking in some pamphlets the prerogatives of the Crown. Swift was a very unhappy, selfish man, who spent the latter half of his life in gloomy melancholy. He died mad. -L: Well, Swift had returned to Ireland for good, when he wrote his Gulliver. How many chapters of his Travels does your wonderful storybook contain? How many chapters has the original work? Why have the third and fourth chapters been left out? Sum up what you have read about Gulliver in Lilliput ?— What does the author ridicule in Lilliput? Tell us in a few words what happens to Gulliver in Brobdingnag? is here the deep ironical meaning underlying the fun? What does the third chapter describe? - Whom does he mock at in Laputa? Give the contents of Book IV. Here he satirizes the viciousness of humanity. What conclusion are we to draw at the end? men are lower than the brutes. By writing this bitter satire on mankind, the author wanted to expose the foolishness and vanity of civilization. Take out your Exercise-books and put down: Swift's literary fame chiefly rests on Gulliver's Travels which are still widely read in extract by youthful readers, to whose minds they are a fascinating story of adventures. Grown up people cannot but discover the bitter satire on humanity, which is hidden under the purity and naturalness of the story. In the tiny islanders of Lilliput Swift ridicules the contemptible pettiness of men. In the giants of Brobdingnag, he satirizes men's monstrous pride and stupidity. In the flying island of Laputa he laughs at the follies and eccentricities of the men of science. In the land of the Houyhnhnms or philosophic horses he makes fun of the viciousness of men showing them to be lower than the brutes. Swift was a kind of Mephistophiles, whose grim humour had no love in it. His disgusting selfishness and gloomy misanthropy (pessimism) made him speak daggers. You had to write the contents of the second chapter of Part I of Gulliver's Travels. Open your books. The summaries which I see are too long. You cannot get away from the details. I'll read you mine: The Emperor of Lilliput and his court come to look at Gulliver, who is quite a giant for the pygmies. Then, the people crowd about him as near as possible, and he obliges them very much by sparing the lives of six little rascals who have been delivered up to him for shooting at his eyes. Gulliver would have been killed by the court but for his kindness to these criminals. His friendly manners made such a favourable impression on His Majesty that he provided him with food, clothes, and servants and asked the greatest scholars to teach him the language of the people. Wishing to be set free, Gulliver swears a peace with the emperor and suffers himself to be searched by two of his officers. 4. The Essay on Manners. 1. Stunde. I have already said that the way for Richardson's novel of middle-class life was paved by the character sketches or sketches on manners contained in the didactic journals, den moralischen Wochenschriften. This new kind of literature came in, sprang up, originated at a time when poets had no higher ambition than to write for the court and society as men of the world full of wit and sarcasm. It was started with a view to forming a reading public and improving the low moral tone and artificial taste prevailing in the upper classes. Defoe, the butcher's son, who was more far-sighted in every way than the public men of his day, proved to be the first social educator by devoting one part of his political journal, The Review, to poetry and morals. The work for the social education or regeneration: reform of England was carried on and expanded by Steele and Addison, who edited a periodical, called The Tatler, which after two years they continued under the name of The Spectator, gradually putting politics and news aside and filling the paper with short essays on literature, art, science and morals. Steele, introducing the Tatler, said, "The general purpose of this paper is to expose the false arts of life, and to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our discourse and our behaviour." And Steele's bosom friend Addison, who was the chief contributor to the Spectator, declared, "The great and only end of these my speculations is to banish vice and ignorance out of the territories of Great Britain." I must not forget to mention Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, the imaginary character, by whom the Tatler was supposed to be written, because he is the forefather of Punch, the famous London weekly comic paper, so-called after the grotesque humpbacked figure in the puppet-show, we say Kasperletheater. The then public knew Bickerstaff as the originator of every folly. Swift had invented this comic mask to hide his sarcasms. While the editor of the Tatler had chosen this popular comic figure as a pseudonym, the authors of the Spectator made people believe that this paper was written by the members of a literary club. Who were the members of this imaginary Spectator Club? First, there is a young gentleman, who calls himself the Spectator. He says about himself that he was a very sullen gloomy-tempered, unsociable, ill-humoured youth, but always a favourite of his schoolmasters, who used to say that he was clever and would get on well. At the university he distinguished himself by a most profound silence and devoted himself to his studies with so much diligence that there were very few celebrated books, classic or modern, which he had not read. His thirst after knowledge carried him into all countries of Europe and to Egypt. He has spent his latter years in London, where he is often seen in most public places, though there are scarcely six of his best friends that know him. He regularly appears at the coffee-houses, where politicians, scholars, literary-men, artists, ex-officers, city-merchants gather in the afternoon. In the morning he is seen at the Exchange, and at night in the theatres. He tells us that he lives in the world rather as a spectator of mankind than as one of the species i. e. the human race. Thus, he has made himself a theoretical1) or amateur statesman, soldier, merchant, artisan, one who meditates on all the problems of life, without taking an active part in life. He has always acted in his life as a mere looker-on. Now open your "English Authors" and let us sum up what we have read about the other members of the Spectator Club. Who is the most conspicuous figure of that society? Has anyone translated the paragraph on Sir Roger de Coverley? You, B., then come and read your translation. Der Klub der Beobachter. Das Haupt unserer Gesellschaft ist ein Edelmann aus der Grafschaft Worcester, ein Baronet und aus uraltem Hause; Sir Roger de Coverley ist sein Name. Sein Urgroßvater erfand jenen 1),,speculative (= spekulativ) läßt sich kaum in dem Sinn gebrauchen, wie Sie meinen. Ich würde sagen... Na, was würde ich sagen? So was gibts leider nicht mehr bei uns; (alle unsere Staatsmänner sind nur zu tätig).“ so beliebten Ländler, der nach ihm genannt wird. Alle, die die Grafschaft kennen, sind mit Sir Rogers Fähigkeiten und Verdiensten wohl vertraut. Er ist seltsam, komisch in seinem Wesen, aber diese sonderbare Art ist in seinem gesunden Menschenverstand begründet und widerspricht nur deshalb den Sitten der Welt, weil er überzeugt ist, daß diese falsch sind. Diese Gemütsart schafft ihm aber keine Feinde, weil er nichts verdrießlich oder gezwungen tut, und gerade weil er sich um Moden und Formen so wenig kümmert, ist er gegen alle die, die ihn kennen, erst recht liebenswürdig und hilfsbereit. Wenn er in der Stadt ist, wohnt er in Soho Square. Man erzählt sich, daß er Junggeselle geblieben ist, weil er mit seiner Liebe zu einer schönen, aber überspannten Witwe aus der benachbarten Grafschaft hereingefallen ist (kein Glück gehabt hat). Vor dieser Enttäuschung war Sir Roger ein vollendeter Kavalier: hatte oft mit Lord Rochester und Sir George Etherege soupiert, gleich bei seiner ersten Anwesenheit in der Stadt ein Duell gehabt ⚫und Dawson dem Raufbold in einem öffentlichen Kaffeehause einen Tritt versetzt, weil er ihn einen Gelbschnabel genannt hatte. Nachdem er aber die üble Erfahrung mit der oben erwähnten Witwe gemacht hatte, war er anderthalb Jahr lang sehr ernsthaft, und obgleich er es schließlich überwand, da er von Natur heiteren Gemüts war, wurde er gleichgültig gegen sein Äußeres und machte sich später niemals mehr fein. Er trägt noch immer Rock und Wams nach dem Schnitt, der modern war zur Zeit, da er den Korb kriegte, und der, wie er uns in seiner lustigen Laune versichert, zwölf mal in Mode und zwölf mal außer Mode gekommen ist, seitdem er ihn zum erstenmal trug. Jetzt ist er schon 56 Jahre alt, aber immer heiter, fröhlich und voll Herzlichkeit; er führt ein gutes Haus (d. h. einen guten Tisch) in der Stadt und auf dem Lande und ist ein großer Menschenfreund; in seinem Wesen ist etwas so Fröhliches, daß er mehr geliebt als geachtet wird. Seine Pächter werden reich, seine Diener sehen zufrieden aus, alle junge Mädchen lieben ihn, und die jungen Männer freuen sich über seine Gesellschaft. Tritt er in ein Haus ein, dann nennt er die Diener beim Namen und spricht mit ihnen die ganze Treppe hinauf, bis er oben im Besuchszimmer ist. Auch darf ich nicht vergessen, zu erzählen, daß Sir Roger Friedensrichter ist und daß er sein Amt in der Quartalssitzung mit großem Geschick verwaltet und so vor drei Monaten durch seine Auslegung eines Paragraphen des Jagdgesetzes allgemeinen Beifall erntete. Sum up what we have heard. Sch: Sir Roger is a fine old country-gentleman. He is always cheerful and gay. He keeps a good house, and he is very kind to his tenants and servants. He loves humanity in spite of its follies. Crossed in love, he has remained a bachelor and has grown careless of himself, of modes and forms. His jovial manners please and charm all who know him, and he is looked upon as a very able Justice of the Peace. L: Speak about the gentleman next in esteem and authority among the members of the club. Sch: He is a law-student. He is a fine scholar, but to his law-books he prefers the writings of the ancients. His familiarity with the ancient Greeks and Romans makes of him a very delicate observer of the world round him, and an excellent critic, whose hour of business is the time of the play. L: What about Sir Andrew Freeport, the city-merchant? Sch: He is a rich man, who has made his fortune himself by working hard for years from morn till night. His favourite maxim is, "A penny saved is a penny got", which shows him to be frugal and parsimonious. In his opinion it is a stupid and barbarous way to extend dominion by arms. True power, he says, is to be got by arts and industry, and diligence makes more lasting acquisitions than valour. L: I'll read the paragraph about Captain Sentry in a fine translation which one of my best pupils did a dozen years ago. An Sir Andrews Seite im Versammlungszimmer sitzt Hauptmann Sentrey, der bei seinem großen Mute und seinem klaren Verstande eine außerordentliche Bescheidenheit sein eigen nennen kann. Er ist einer von denen, die sich scheuen, ihre großen Verdienste ihren Vorgesetzten unter die Nase zu reiben. Einige Jahre diente er als Hauptmann und zeichnete sich bei einigen Treffen und Belagerungen aus; da er sich eines kleinen Besitztums erfreute und außerdem Sir Rogers nächster Erbe war, gab er seine militärische Laufbahn auf, die, seiner Meinung nach, Leuten, die nicht zugleich Hofmann und Soldat sind, in ihrem Vorwärtskommen stark behindert. Oft beklagte er, daß bei einem Soldaten, dessen Taten sich vor aller Augen abspielen, so oft Unverschämtheit die Bescheidenheit zu Boden tritt und über sie triumphiert. Wenn er hierüber sprach, kam nie eine bittere Bemerkung aus seinem Munde, vielmehr gestand er offen ein, daß er sich von der Welt zurückgezogen habe, nur, weil er sich nicht in sie schicken konnte. Strenge Ehrlichkeit und ein vollkommen korrektes Benehmen stehen an sich schon einem Manne im Wege, der sich durch die Menge der Nebenbuhler hindurcharbeiten muß, die sich gleich ihm um die Gunst eines Vorgesetzten bewerben. Trotzdem weiß er die Generale zu entschuldigen, die sich ihre Leute nicht nach ihrem Verdienst aussuchen noch sich bemühen, das Verdienst aufzuspüren; denn, meint er, der Wille des großen Mannes mich |