On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in HistoryUniversity of California Press, 1993 M06 7 - 622 pages In his 1840 lectures on heroes, Thomas Carlyle, Victorian essayist and social critic, championed the importance of the individual in history. Published the following year and eventually translated into fifteen languages, this imaginative work of history, comparative religion, and literature is the most influential statement of a man who came to be thought of as a secular prophet and the "undoubted head of English letters" (Emerson). His vivid portraits of Muhammad, Dante, Luther, Napoleon—just a few of the individuals Carlyle celebrated for changing the course of world history—made On Heroes a challenge to the anonymous social forces threatening to control life during the Industrial Revolution. In eight volumes, The Strouse Edition will provide the texts of Carlyle's major works edited for the first time to contemporary scholarly standards. For the general reader, its detailed introductions and annotations will offer insight into the author's thought and a reconstruction of the diverse and often arcane Carlylean sources. |
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Page ix
... criticism , a starting point for the student of Carlyle and his influence . By providing a full critical and explanatory annotation , the editors hope to assist the contempo- rary reader in negotiating Carlyle's densely referential ...
... criticism , a starting point for the student of Carlyle and his influence . By providing a full critical and explanatory annotation , the editors hope to assist the contempo- rary reader in negotiating Carlyle's densely referential ...
Page xxxv
... critics a great man , a Luther for example , they begin to what they call ' account ' for him . . . . He was the ... critic could have done too ! " 105 He shared Coleridge's belief that " all the great ... things that have been achieved ...
... critics a great man , a Luther for example , they begin to what they call ' account ' for him . . . . He was the ... critic could have done too ! " 105 He shared Coleridge's belief that " all the great ... things that have been achieved ...
Page xxxvi
... critic's job to construe the character of that " national physiognomy " and trace the record of its expression through history.120 ... This bias in favor of dramatic portraiture and a belief in its signifi- cance for grasping historical ...
... critic's job to construe the character of that " national physiognomy " and trace the record of its expression through history.120 ... This bias in favor of dramatic portraiture and a belief in its signifi- cance for grasping historical ...
Page l
... critics have discerned the same tendency . Wellek suggests that if we " read Carlyle on Jean Paul we feel as if he were speaking of himself , " Watt finds a good 203 proude ) Life in London 1 : 130 . 204 Letters 9 : 109 , TC to Jean ...
... critics have discerned the same tendency . Wellek suggests that if we " read Carlyle on Jean Paul we feel as if he were speaking of himself , " Watt finds a good 203 proude ) Life in London 1 : 130 . 204 Letters 9 : 109 , TC to Jean ...
Page lv
... critics , who contend that as Cromwell is not a " modern hero , " his " presence in the final lecture 235 Cited in Wilson , Carlyle on Cromwell , 86 . 236 " Parliamentary History of the French Revolution ” ( 1837 ) , Essays 4 : 3 . 237 ...
... critics , who contend that as Cromwell is not a " modern hero , " his " presence in the final lecture 235 Cited in Wilson , Carlyle on Cromwell , 86 . 236 " Parliamentary History of the French Revolution ” ( 1837 ) , Essays 4 : 3 . 237 ...
Contents
vii | |
ix | |
xv | |
xxi | |
Note on the Text | lxxxi |
On Heroes HeroWorship and the Heroic in History | 1 |
Notes | 227 |
Works Cited | 393 |
Textual Apparatus | 419 |
Index | 487 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alexander Carlyle American edition Arab beautiful believe Books Boswell Boswell's British Burns Carlyle wrote Carlyle's century Christian copy-text Cromwell Cromwell's Dante Dante's death earnest Earth Edda Emerson England English Essays Etin Euphuisms eyes fact false falsehood French Revolution Froude genuine German Gibbon God's Goethe heart Heaven Heimskringla Hero as Divinity Hero as Poet Hero-worship heroic heroism History of Literature human Inferno Johnson Joseph Neuberg Jötuns kind King Knox Korán lecture Letters Literary live London look Luther Macaulay Mahomet Mirabeau modern Muḥammad Napoleon Nature noble Norse Novalis Odin Old Norse Paganism Parliament Poetic Edda poor portrait Priest Prose Edda Protestantism Puritan Qur'an Reformation religion Rousseau rude Sartor Scepticism Scotland Shakspeare silent sincere soul speak speech spiritual struggle TC to John things Thomas Carlyle Thor thought tion true truth University variants Voltaire whole wild withal word worship writing