Washington Irving. English Writers on America (1819)

Washington Irving: “English Writers on America” (1819)

Elena Guerreira Labrador Academic year 2020-2021

Romanticismo inglés y norteamericano [G5061444] Grado en Lengua y Literatura Inglesas Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Table of Contents

• Washington Irving’s biography

• The Sketch Book & “English Writers on America” (1819)

• Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• Final questions

Washington Irving’s biography

Washington Irving’s biography

• Under the pseudonym of Jonathan Oldstyle, Washington Irving wrote a series of nine “letters” that appeared publicly between November 1802 and April 1803. These essays depicted New York’s society and, above all, the theatre.

• 1804: Washington Irving as one of the first American tourists in Europe. Visited France and Italy, and spent some time in Paris.

• May 1805: arrival in Paris.

• September 1805: departure to Brussels and London —trips to Oxford, Bath and Bristol.

• No interest whatsoever in ideology, but identified as a federalist because of social prestige.

• The Sketch Book — appeared periodically in New York during the year 1819, whilst he was living in England.

• “Knickerbockers”: combination of neoclassical elements with romantic traits. Ecclecticism, also characteristic of Irving himself.

• Polished style so that it could be accepted both in Europe and in America.

• Criticised because he was seen as European, rejected by Americans because of his lack of patriotism.

The Sketch Book & “English Writers on America” (1819)

The Sketch Book & “English Writers on America” (1819)

• Softly nag and correct the negative vision of the United States among the English population — no severe critique to British society, yet he showed a defense for his true nation.

• Critique of the tone of superiority and haughty attitude of the British population when comparing themselves to the United States.

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• “It has also been the peculiar lot of our country to be visited by the worst kind of English travellers. While men of philosophical spirit and cultivated minds have been sent from England to ransack the poles, to penetrate the deserts, and to study the manners and customs of barbarous nations, with which she can have no permanent intercourse of profit or pleasure; it has been left to the broken-down tradesman, the scheming adventurer, the wandering mechanic, the Manchester and Birmingham agent, to be her oracles respecting America. From such sources she is content to receive her information respecting a country in a singular state of moral and physical development; a country in which one of the greatest political experiments in the history of the world is now performing; and which presents the most profound and momentous studies to the statesman and the philosopher” (Irving 2-3).

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• “The national character is yet in a state of fermentation” (Irving 3).

• “They may have pictured America to themselves an El Dorado, where gold and silver abounded, and the natives were lacking in sagacity; and where they were to become strangely and suddenly rich, in some unforeseen, but easy manner” (Irving 3).

• “[...] underrate a society where there are no artificial distinctions” (Irving 4).

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• “All the writers of England united, if we could for a moment suppose their great minds stooping to so unworthy a combination, could not conceal our rapidly-growing importance, and matchless prosperity. They could not conceal that these are owing, not merely to physical and local, but also to moral causes- to the political liberty, the general diffusion of knowledge, the prevalence of sound moral and religious principles, which give force and sustained energy to the character of a people; and which, in fact, have been the acknowledged and wonderful supporters of their own national power and glory” (Irving 4-5).

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• “Every one knows the all-pervading influence of literature at the present day, and how much the opinions and passions of mankind are under its control. The mere contests of the sword are temporary; their wounds are but in the flesh, and it is the pride of the generous to forgive and forget them; but the slanders of the pen pierce to the heart; they rankle longest in the noblest spirits; they dwell ever present in the mind, and render it morbidly sensitive to the most trifling collision” (Irving 5).

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• “Throughout the country there was something of enthusiasm connected with the idea of England. We looked to it with a hallowed feeling of tenderness and veneration, as the land of our forefathers- the august repository of the monuments and antiquities of our race- the birthplace and mausoleum of the sages and heroes of our paternal history. After our own country, there was none in whose glory we more delighted- none whose good opinion we were more anxious to possess- none towards which our hearts yearned with such throbbings of warm consanguinity. Even during the late war, whenever there was the least opportunity for kind feelings to spring forth, it was the delight of the generous spirits of our country to show that, in the midst of hostilities, they still kept alive the sparks of future friendship” (Irving 6).

Selected quotations from “English Writers on America”

• “But above all let us not be influenced by any angry feelings, so far as to shut our eyes to the perception of what is really excellent and amiable in the English character. We are a young people, necessarily an imitative one, and must take our examples and models, in a great degree, from the existing nations of Europe. There is no country more worthy of our study than England. The spirit of her constitution is most analogous to ours. The manners of her people- their intellectual activity- their freedom of opinion- their habits of thinking on those subjects which concern the dearest interests and most sacred charities of private life, are all congenial to the American character” (Irving 8).

Final questions

Final questions

• Do English people have a positive opinion of the United States of America, according to Irving in “English Writers on America”? Why or why not?

• What is the overall tone of the essay?

• Explain the role of Washington Irving as a person who creates a link between both English and American cultures.

• Give specific examples from the text to illustrate the interrelation between England and the United States.