Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott - Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt - William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge - English Literature Writers

Jane Austen

Jane Austen brought good sense and balance to the English Novel which had been lost during the Romantic Period. Novel in the hands of Richardson and Fielding gave a faithful record of life and of the working heart and imagination became in the later years of the eighteenth century the literature of crime, insanity, and terror. So the novel needed reformation which was provided by Jane Austen. She did for English Novels exactly what the Lake Poets did for English Poetry; she refined and simplified it. She only published six novels which have now placed her anong the front row of English Novelists. She was such a humble writer that she never let her name be published on the title of her own novels. She is the sincerest example in English Literature of Art for Art's sake.

Following are the names of her novels:

Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. Of all these novels Pride and Prejudice is the best-known and worth reading again and again. She was a daughter of a clergyman and lived her life in a village. Though she was a humble person, her power of observation made her a great writer. She made the people of her village subjects of her novel. Their chief duties were of the household and their chief pleasures were in public gatherings and in matrimony. She did not get much attention when she was alive, but her works have been admired by future generations; she died in her forties, and of all her contemporaries Sir Walter Scott was the only one who admired her. He remarked: "What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!".

Sir Walter Scott:

Sir Walter Scott's qualities as a writer were completely different from those of Jane Austen. She was precise and clear in the writings, whereas he was digressive and diffusive. During the first five or six years of his novel- writing, he confined himself to familiar characters and scenes. The novels which have a local colour and are based on personal observations are Guy Mannering, The Antiquary, The Old Mortality and The Heart of Midlothian. His first attempt at a historical novel was Ivanhoe (1819) followed by Kenilworth (1821), Quentin Durward (1823), and The Talisman (1825). He returned to Scottish antiquity from time to time as in The Monastery (1820) and in St. Ronan's Well (1823). 

The novels of Scott betray the same imaginative joy in the recreation of the past as his poetry. However, novels offered him a more adoptable and wider field than narrative poetry. It gave him a better opportunity to portray his talent which he was known for. From his antiquarian knowledge to his observation of life and character, from his delight in courtly and popular scenes to rich humour. These qualities have made him stand apart from other writers and made him famous. Furthermore, he was the first English writer of the historical novel, and he made great contributions to it in England as well as in Europe. He was also the first writer in Europe who made the scene an essential element in action. 

William Wordsworth 

William Wordsworth from 1770 to 1850 is celebrated to be the greatest poet of the Romantic period. In fact, he is credited with starting the Romantic period. Wordsworth is also remembered for introducing his own way to do poetry. He went against the poets and their conventions like Dryden, Pope, and Johnson. According to Worthsworth "A poet is a man endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness. He has a greater knowledge of human nature and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind. So in the eyes of Wordsworth a poet is someone who understands human beings better than others, and he has the ability to convey human emotions and desires in his lines. He wrote a number of sonnets, odes, and poems. Wordsworth describes poetry as "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings". His sonnets include: To Milton, Westminster Bridge, and World is too much with us. His odes include: Ode to Duty, and Ode on the intimations of immortality. Wordsworth's poems include: Resolution and Independence, Lines composed a jew miles above Tintern Abbey, Yew Trees, and The Simplon Pass. Wordsworth is popular for his short descriptive poem, but his longer poems are prosy and uninteresting. His greater part of work: The Prelude and The Excursion was supposed to be part of a longer poem The Recluse. 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge from 1772 to 1834 was just as equally talented as William Wordsworth. They are both remembered with good words when poets of the Romantic period are discussed. Coleridge is famous for writing about supernatural things. In his youth, he was influenced by the French Revolution, and he had sympathy for the oppressed people of the society and dreamed about their freedom. However, his thoughts changed after the excesses of the French Revolution, and this is evident from his poem France: an Ode (1798) which he calls his "recantation". Coleridge was a genius poet, but his addiction to opium and lack of will power prevented him from accomplishing much. His most famous works include: The Ancient Mariner, Christabel, and Kubla Khan. In Ancient Mariner, he sketched an imaginary world where he introduced a phantom ship with a dead crew, the curse of albatross, the polar spirit, and the magic breeze. The way he tells the story he manages to bring these imaginary things to life. 

Christabel, which is a fragment, seems to be a story of a pure young girl who falls under the spell of a wizard disguised as a woman named Geraldine. Kubla khan is another imaginary based story. The whole story came to Coleridge in a dream and after waking up he started writing it down, but he only managed to write fifty-four lines and it was never finished. 

Conclusion: It can be concluded that both Wordsworth and Coleridge were brilliant writers. On one hand Wordsworth was the poet of naturalism and Coleridge was the poet of supernaturalism.

Charles Lamb 

Charles Lamb is considered to be one of the most cherished and loveable English writers of all time. He was a down to earth man, and spent his life in sacrifices. He spent his life in the care of his mentally ill sister Mary, who was ten years older than him, she was a subject to mental fits and in one of her fits she wounded her mother. Charles Lamb wrote a number of essays out of which the two were Essays of Elia (1823) and Last Essays (1833). In these essays he talks about his life experience and the sacrifices that he made against misfortunes. If we talk about his style, his works give signs of some of his favourite writers from the 16th and 17th centuries like Milton, Dr Thomas Browne, Fuller, Burton, and Issac Walton. Charles Lamb gave essays a new taste with his unique style of writing. His essays contained criticism or appreciation of the life of his era. His essays also reflected his personality and humanity and lived up to the definition of Johnson "a loose sally of the mind". Undoubtedly, he took essays to a whole new level embellished with not just humour, but lessons as well. These qualities have made his name and his works eternal and evergreen, and earned him the title, "Prince among all the English Essayists."

William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt was just opposite to Charles Lamb in every way. He was a man of high temper and had strong likes and dislikes. He was honest about his views and thoughts about others. He considered Napoleon his hero which put him into trouble and all his friends left him on this account, but Lamb stood by. If we take a look at his works, he produced essays of great merit out of which the most praise worthy is The Spirit of the Age (1825). In this essay he criticises his contemporaries something only William Hazlitt was capable of doing, considering his nature. William Hazlitt's works had unique force and individuality. This was because of his behaviour towards everything. He read a lot of books and used words and phrases of other writers to flavour his works. By and large, these bold qualities are the reason why his works are not insipid and entertain readers in many ways.