Indecorum, compromised authority and the sovereign body politic in “The Fortunes of Nigel” and “The Heart of Mid-Lothian”

Q1 Arts and Humanities Journal of English Studies Pub Date : 2018-12-18 DOI:10.18172/JES.3321
A. Cousins, Dani Napton
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In “The Fortunes of Nigel” (1822) and “The Heart of Mid-Lothian” (1818), Walter Scott’s respective characterizations of both James I and Caroline, George II’s regent, enable him to create the duality of a historically recognizable and deeply qualified representation of the sovereign as natural body and as body politic. He considers how each monarch sought to establish, consolidate and legitimate their respective authorities in the dynamic politico-religious environments they presided over. To do so, Scott positions James’ and Caroline’s monarchical authority as inherently compromised and achieves this using three stratagems. First, he positions them both as either personally or politically indecorous, displaying actions unbefitting sovereignty. Second, he demonstrates how each monarch’s perceived or actual lack of masculinity reduces the authority each wields. Finally, he shows that the justice and social harmony sought by the protagonists of each novel is effected, yet emphasizes that this is not due solely to the monarch’s involvement, but to others better positioned to assist the respective hero and heroine at an individual level (and thus the sovereign at a macrocosmic level) to achieve that lasting form of justice and societal harmony. As such, Scott is able simultaneously to affirm the positive nature of both Stuart and Hanoverian monarchical rule yet maintain a qualified, wary and less than wholehearted appreciation of these two specific monarchs.
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《奈杰尔的财富》和《中洛锡安之心》中的独立、妥协的权威和主权政治体
在《奈杰尔的财富》(1822年)和《中洛锡安之心》(1818年)中,沃尔特·斯科特分别对詹姆斯一世和乔治二世的摄政王卡罗琳进行了刻画,使他能够创造出一种历史上公认的、非常合格的主权者自然体和政治体的双重性。他考虑了每一位君主如何在他们所主持的充满活力的政治和宗教环境中寻求建立、巩固和合法化各自的权威。为此,斯科特将詹姆斯和卡罗琳的君主权威定位为内在妥协,并通过三种策略实现了这一点。首先,他将他们都定位为个人或政治上的不雅,表现出不符合主权的行为。其次,他展示了每一位君主所感知或实际缺乏的男子气概如何削弱了他们的权威。最后,他表明,每部小说的主人公所寻求的正义和社会和谐都受到了影响,但他强调,这不仅仅是因为君主的参与,而是因为其他人能够在个人层面(从而在宏观层面)更好地帮助各自的英雄和女英雄,以实现这种持久的正义与社会和谐。因此,斯科特能够同时肯定斯图亚特和汉诺威君主统治的积极性质,但对这两位特定的君主保持着合格、谨慎和不那么全心全意的赞赏。
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来源期刊
Journal of English Studies
Journal of English Studies Arts and Humanities-Literature and Literary Theory
CiteScore
0.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
审稿时长
50 weeks
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