Concetti Chiave
- Walter Scott, born in Edinburgh, is known as the father of the historical novel, blending fiction with real historical settings.
- He favored the Middle Ages for its lack of precise documentation, allowing creative freedom in depicting events and characters.
- Scott's writing features a mix of common speech and elevated language, using archaism to evoke historical authenticity.
- His novels often follow a circular pattern, with characters leaving and returning to their ethnic groups enriched by new experiences.
- Scott's work, including the famous "Ivanhoe," influenced writers like Manzoni, though Manzoni focused more on historical precision and character depth.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was born in Edimburgh, the capitol of Scotland: he studied to became a lawyer and deeply studied and analyzed Scottish history making expeditions into the Highlands. He started writing as a poet, but when Byron’s fame overcame his one, he turned into prose, and he is now considered the father of historical novel. The main characteristic of his novels is that he mixes up history and fiction, inventing the main characters and letting them act and move on a real historical background, with real historical characters.
Most of his novels are settled in the Middle Ages: Scott chose this period because it is a distant past, without precise information and documentation about it, so he could describe situations and places freely, often inventing some particulars, without being denied. He uses a language close to the common speech, but elevated in tone and with some archaism in order to create an illusion of the past. In his novels, there is often a circular pattern: a man who leaves his ethnic group, joins a new one, acquires its habits and then comes back to the old group with new experiences to share. However, his novels are based on positive ideals and the characters live fantastic experiences. One of his most famous novels is Ivanhoe, a very traditional story settled in the Middle Ages, in particular during the period of Richard the Lionheart, full of knights, dames, balls, heroes and fights, which are all the typical ingredients of a Romantic story.It is said that Scott’s novels have influenced Manzoni’s way of writing: both of them were conscious of the importance of the common and poor people, but Manzoni was more precise in describing historical events, analyzed the characters more deeply and had a strong sense of Providence.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è la caratteristica principale dei romanzi di Walter Scott?
- Perché Walter Scott ha scelto il Medioevo come ambientazione per molti dei suoi romanzi?
- In che modo i romanzi di Scott hanno influenzato Manzoni?
La caratteristica principale dei romanzi di Walter Scott è la fusione tra storia e finzione, con personaggi inventati che si muovono in un contesto storico reale.
Scott ha scelto il Medioevo perché è un passato lontano con poche informazioni precise, permettendogli di descrivere liberamente situazioni e luoghi, spesso inventando particolari.
I romanzi di Scott hanno influenzato Manzoni nel riconoscere l'importanza della gente comune, sebbene Manzoni fosse più preciso nella descrizione degli eventi storici e avesse un forte senso della Provvidenza.
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