Title: WASHINGTON%20IRVING%20(1783-1859)
1WASHINGTON IRVING(1783-1859)
2- He was born (April 3, 1783) in the city
of York, in the family of a prosperous merchant
who came to America from Scotland. He was brought
in an easy carefree atmosphere.
3- Washington, the youngest of eleven
children, being sickly in childhood, was not sent
to school. His English-born mother had him
educated at home.
4 He was well-read in Chaucer Spencer, the
18th century English literature
5He was wandering around the country-side he
made himself familiar with places famous in
history legends.
6When he grew older, he longed to travel. Tales of
voyages became his passion.
7 At 15 he tried his hands at writing but his
father wanted him to be a lawyer. At 17 he was
sent to study law. But Irving avoided a college
education, but studied law himself, mostly in the
office of Mr. Hoffman, with whose daughter he
soon fell in love.
8- In 1802 Irving produced a number of
satirical essays under the signature of Jonathan
Oldstyle, Gent. for the Morning Chronicle, made
several trips up the Hudson, another into Canada
for his health.
9In 1804, a journey to Europe undertaken for the
sake of his health, stimulated his interesting
foreign culture He visited many European
countries.
10In England he loved to wander among ruined
castles old abbeys.
11FRANCE
12In Paris he studied science at the university.
13SWEDEN HOLLAND
14ITALY
15(No Transcript)
16- After 2 years of travelling he returned
to the USA started a humorous periodical. The
paper was popular for its good humour.
17He wrote A History of New York by Diedrich
Knickerbocker, a satire of the Dutch regime in
New York. The publication of this book was the
first step on the road to Romanticism. Later
Knickerbocker became a by-name for restaurants,
omnibuses, manufactured goods newspapers.
18This name was adopted for the first American
school of writers, the Knickerbocker Group,
with Irving as a leader.
19The 1st period of writing was humorous
satirical.
- A History of New York by Diedrich
Knickerbocker.
20The grief over a sudden death of Matilda Hoffman
in April 1809 traumatized him.
21In 1815, after his mothers death, Irving went to
Liverpool to attend to the interests of his
brothers hardware firm.
22- It was during the European period of his
life that Irving wrote books which brought him
international acclaim. They were romances
essays.
23The 2nd period. The European period of
his life includes essays romances
- Tales of a traveller
- The Devil Tom Walker
- Rip Van Winkle
24With the help of Walter Scott he published the
first collection of his writings
- The Sketch Book in 1819.
- Bracebridge Hall in 1822.
- Tales of a traveller in 1824.
- Rip Van Winkle ends this collection it
- is considered to be the first American short
story .
25RIP VAN WINKLE
- The title character goes to sleep after a
game of bowling much drinking in the mountains
with a band of dwarves. He awakes 20 years later,
an old man.
26-
- Back home, Rip finds that the world
he knew has completely changed his wife is dead,
his daughter is married, the American
Revolution has taken place.
27The Statue of Rip Van Winkle
28The Legend of a Sleepy Hollow
-
- Its central character, Ichabod Crane, is a
vain cowardly teacher the rival in love of
Brom Bones. Bones terrorizes Crane by disguising
himself as a legendary headless horseman.
29The Devil Tom Walker
- Its a story
from the book Tales of a traveller. Its based
on an old German legend about a man who has sold
his soul to the devil. Other writers had used it
in their works, among them the great German poet
writer Goethe, who used this legend for his
Faust.
30In 1826, he accepted an invitation to join the
American diplomatic mission in Spain.
31Irvings other works of his European period were
written in Spain. He wrote Columbus, the
conquest of Canada.
- These works were notable achievements as
popular history written in fine prose.
32THE 3rd PERIOD OF WRITING
33After 17 years abroad, Irving returned to
America with a desire to portray his country.
34In A Tour of the Prairies he shows sympathy for
the Indians.
35Irving made his home at Sunnyside, a place in
his beloved valley of the Hudson River, in his
declining years wrote a biography of Oliver
Goldsmith Life of George Washington.
,
36- A Tour of the Prairies
- A Biography of Oliver Goldsmith
-
- The Life of George Washington
37He died in 1859.
38He introduced Romanticism as a literary trend in
America pointing out the way for Cooper later
Longfellow.
F.Cooper
H.Longfellow
39Both home abroad Washington Irving is
considered the truly American whose stories
entered school university curricula during his
lifetime.
40- Irving entered American literature
mostly for his splendid short plots. The imagined
presence of an audience outlines the spirit
imagery of the story. -
41He was famous for his quotations.
- A sharp tongue is the only edged tool
that grows keener with constant use. - Little minds are tamed subdued by
misfortunate but great minds rise above it.
42W. Thackeray called Irving the first literary
envoy from the New World into the Old Europe.
43His best known first American short stories
The legend of a Sleeping Hollow Rap Van
Winkle are still among the favourite classics.