Scott's Fiction and the Union of 1707
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2007 Scott's fiction and the Union of 1707 Dale K Griffith University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Griffith, Dale K, "Scott's fiction and the Union of 1707" (2007). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2740. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/rnat-e9ai This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SCOTT’S FICTION AND THE UNION OF 1707 By Dale K. Griffith Candidatus Theologiae Institut de Théologie Orthodoxe (S Serge), Paris, France Master of Arts History University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1988 Master of Arts English University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1996 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English Department of English College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3282003 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3282003 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced witfi permission of tfie copyrigfit owner. Furtfier reproduction profiibited witfiout permission. Dissertation Approval uNiy The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 11 07 _,20. The Dissertation prepared by Dale Kevin G riffith Entitled Scott's Fiction and the Union of 1707 is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Exemination Committee Member uW / ^aurn) kCraduate College Eacuity Representative U Cuuv \jucujfu— -------------- Graduate College Eaculty Representative 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Scott’s Fiction and the Union of 1707 by Dale K. Griffith Dr. Mark Weinstein, Examination Committee Chair Distinguished Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas This dissertation focuses on several of Sir Walter Scotf s historical novels that deal with the question of the 1707 Act of Union that united Scotland with England. The following novels were studied: Old Mortality, The Bride o f Lammermoor, The Heart o f Mid-Lothian, Waverley, Redgauntlet, and The Antiquarian. The novels were considered for this dissertation in their chronological order within historical timelines and not according to their publication dates. In all of the novels it is evident that Seott was a strong supporter of the Union and the commercial empowerment that it offered to Scotland; for him the Union represented moderation in government and liberalism in religion. All of the novels presented in this thesis have as their heroes or heroines those who espouse moderation in interpreting the main political and religious issues of their day. The novels deal with a traditional society vexed by religious and political fanaticism. It is obvious from the novels that Scott believed very much in the Enlightenment concepts of moderation and toleration in all things. It is also obvious that he strongly believed in the ideal of social and economic progress; that history was the study of the triumph of progress over barbarism. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Scott has often been considered as an early contributor to the Romantic Movement, but his political and social ideals are in contradiction to this tradition. The Romantics tended to reject the labored moderation that was the hallmark of the Enlightenment. Romanticism embraced an exhalation of individual passions; it also tended, in its more Gothic representations, to idealize the past and to see the present as lacking a more natural humanism that was closer to the soil. Scott, on the other hand, is very studied in his rejection of passion as a motivation in human development. For Scott it is not unbridled passion that should inspire a hero to be emulated. Scott instead upheld the hero of moderation; the proper, ideal gentleman that was so much a part of the 18* century concept of political improvement, progress, and liberality who points to the future. This is Scott’s ideal. In truth, Scott considered the romantic hero who is motivated by passions to be dangerous. In the novels that deal with Scottish history and the Union, those who embrace passion are also motivated mostly by hatred and bigotry; it is the man of moderation who prospers. Romanticism also had a love for the middle-ages, both in art, architecture, as well a political theory. Scott will have none of it; he fully embraces the modem world and the progress of individual freedom under the constitutional monarchy that replaced royal absolutism. For Scott moderation in religion and politics, coupled with economic progress, are the true gifts of the 1707 Act of Union. In all of the novels studied those who most closely resemble the romantic concept of hero or heroine either dies, or retires to a monastic enclosure. They are perceived as sterile and old fashioned. Their ideas of romantic glory are simply antiquated. It is the upholders of constitutional government and commercial interests who survive and IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. prosper; those who are willing and able to enter into the modem world. For Scott, his native land needed to be lead by a progressive leadership that had escaped the snare of the historical forces of fanaticism, both religious and political. It was religious and political passions that had lead Scotland into years of civil wars and rebellion. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................... viii CHRONOLOGY OF SCOTTISH HISTORY.......................................................................ix CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT............................................ xv SCOTT’S NOVELS............................................................................................................xxiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 THE UNION.................................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER 3 THE TALE OF OLD MORTALITY: THE RELUCTANT HERO.............44 CHAPTER 4 THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR: THE FAILURE OF UNION...........102 CHAPTER 5 THE HEART OF MID-LOTHIAN: THE RISING LOWER CLASSES.. 135 CHAPTER 6 Wv4 VERLEY: THE TRUIMPH OF MODERATION............................... 171 CHAPTER 7 REDGA UNTLET AND THE ANTIQUARIAN: NATIONAL UNITY... .228 CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION............................................................................................252 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................259 VITA...................................................................................................................................... 270 VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all of those who helped me persevere in finishing this work, but most especially Dr. Mark Weinstein my committee chair. Without his guidance and direction, not to mention prodding, this work would never have been completed. Dr. Weinstein gave much needed advice and encouragement over a long period of time, and it was he who first proposed the subject matter for this dissertation. His knowledge and expertise in the area was a guiding light throughout the whole process. I would also like to thank Dr. Sue Fawn Chung who has given guidance and direction to me throughout my academic studies at the University of Nevada. Dr. Chung’s humor, intelligence,