John Ruskin

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 457.

Thomas Babington Macavlay

- model Victorian man believes in industry, middle class, development, “power of England was always made by middle class”, government, queen should not interfere; optimistic, liberal

- writes a book as a polemic with Robert's Southey book in which Southey claimed that Romantic England was better than the Victorian one

- clear, simple style of writing

Thomas Carlyle (opposite to T. B. Macavlay)

- orthodox, pessimistic, believes that what people want is sex& nothing more, if they are left alone they do not manage

- very critical of the Victorian England, ideas, “happiness makes people lazy and stupid”

- philosopher & historian (study of French revolution)

- very critical of democracy; if the masses are to rule, their decisions are wrong; people need special strong person to lead them (e.g. Olivier Cromwell)

- influenced by German- difficult to read

- some of his essays are purely rhetorical

- “Sartor Resartus”- one of his essays, metaphor of the state of England (all need reclothing, replacing)

younger generation:

- Historian, Oxford professor, study of Renaissance

- “Modern Painters”

- works on gothic cathedral

- extremely critical of Victorian era

- mechanical repeating of the same architecture motifsà cause ugliness (& people do this for money)

- writes about society, organization of society- is very critical