Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Revival of Medieval Sentiments
Both Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns's Scottish lyrical ballads and poems illustrate a revival in medieval sentiments and chivalrous tradition. In a time of industrial growth and political upheaval across Europe, it would seem almost inherent that writers like Scott and Burns would turn to traditional stories about romance, valiant knights, and chivalrous relations between men and women. In Scott's excerpt from Marmion, he describes the young knight Lochinvar as "so faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,/there never was knight like the young Lochinvar" (29-30). Here Scott isolates two key characteristics of a chivalrous knight: love and war. These romantic tales of valiancy and romance were undoubtedly popular among a wide audience. In a time of political upheaval and social change, a literary reverence towards historically inspired narratives provided a sense of comfort.
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I agree that the political climate of Europe created as a receptive environment for traditional Scottish literature during this time period. One reason I think these works were so popular was because they promoted Scottish pride at a time when Scots needed it most. As Scotland was united with powerful England under a single King, these songs and poems must have served as a way for the Scots to assert their native culture when many must have felt it was under attack. During the mid 18th century, Scots had participated in many uprisings against the throne and were met with defeat and repression as well as the Highland Clearances, or forced displacements of the people of the Scottish Highlands as part of the enclose movement. In addition, I could also see how these works would be well received in England among revolutionaries. Though they often feature Scottish knights and nobility, common Scots like Robert Burns served as the guardians and propagators of these works, which were composed in the natural language of the common man like much of the works of the Romantic era in England.
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