Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Montagu, Hogarth, and Johnson

 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu taught herself Latin and grew up wealthy.  She feuded a lot with Alexander Pope, politically.  She didn’t like Jonathan Swift because he was friends with Pope.  She also “pioneered in introducing the small pox inoculation to England.”  She was one of greatest writers of letter pieces and poems.  Women and people from her own social circle read her work.  She reveals the mind of a woman who is not willing accept stereotypes imposed on her by men.

 William Hogarth‘s father was teacher and unsuccessful writer.    Hogarth himself was an engraver and a painter.  He inspired a copyright law called “Hogarth’s Act.”  He was successful in art and writing.  Charles Lamb compared him to William Shakespeare.  He love to write satires and about art.  His writing was “a feast of interpretation that draws the reader in.”  He was considered “a writer of comedy with a pencil.”

Samuel Johnson was famous as a talker and a “great generalizer.”  He wrote poetry to earn money, until he received a pension.  He didn’t feel the need to write anymore.  He grew up in poverty and wrote about the facts of being poor, so people with a similar background would have read his work.  He wrote about the power of wishful thinking and desires that let to false expectations.  His wit is “timeless,” because it deals with human experiences anyone can relate to.

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