Lecture The 19th century literature. Romanticism

Walter Scott

One of the most popular novelists during the Romantic period was Sir Walter Scott ['wɔ:tə 'skɒt] (1771–1832). He is often called the father of the English historical novel. He realized that it was the ordinary people who were the makers of history and the past was not cut off from the present but influenced it. This romantic love of the past made him create rich historical canvases with landscape and nature descriptions, as well as picturesque details of past ages. His descriptions of the life, customs and habits of the people are realistic. Scott's novel-writing career reached its peak with Ivanhoe ['aivənhəu]. His popularity in England and abroad did much to form the modern stereotype of Scottish culture. 45

At this time in America the prolific and popular novelist James Fenimore Cooper ['dʒeimz 'fenimɔ: 'ku:pə] (1789–1851) began publishing his historical romances of Indian life, to create a unique form of American literature. Cooper is best remembered for his numerous sea-stories and the novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).