Walter Scott short biography. Walter Scott - Biography - life and creative path

The novel is written by the world famous Scottish writer Walter Scott. His biography is a chronology of the life of a worker who is both in love with his homeland and values ​​the history and unity of Britain.

His fellow countrymen appreciate him for being the first to present Scottish culture and identity to the world in his books. The writer warned the champions of English great power that an attempt to “unscottish” his fellow tribesmen was doomed to a resounding failure. He respected the customs of his native land and revered the head of his clan. However, he was always a champion of the rule of law and British statehood. Therefore, the writer quite consciously accepted the court title of baronet granted by the king.

Childhood

Sir Walter Scott was born in the capital of Scotland - Edinburgh. The biography of this strong-willed and extraordinary person began with a test. At the age of one, he suffered from infantile paralysis, and therefore was marked by a limp for life, losing the mobility of his right leg. He was the ninth child in the family of a famous Edinburgh lawyer. However, only three children survived. Twice the parents treated the child’s illness at mineral springs, which weakened the symptoms of the disease. Before starting his studies, little Walter Scott was a frequent visitor as a nephew to the farms of relatives in the Scottish province.

His childhood was imbued with the simple life of the Scottish countryside, folk tales, and songs. The unassuming hilly landscape of his homeland with numerous lakes and ancient mysterious buildings was close to his soul.

Education

From the age of eight, Walter Scott studied at Edinburgh School, and at the age of 14 he entered Edinburgh College. Among his peers, he was distinguished by his phenomenal memory and innate intelligence. His comrades considered him an unsurpassed storyteller. From childhood until the end of his days, the future writer worked independently on his education; he delved deeply into ancient and European (especially German) literature, receiving encyclopedic knowledge recognized by all.

In his youth, having become interested in mountaineering, the future classic became physically stronger, and his illness began to manifest itself to a lesser extent.

Family, career

Walter Scott (1771-1832) was an amazingly harmonious and holistic person; the writer achieved genuine public respect, having received a solid lawyer's education and a respected profession. His first feeling was unhappy. A twenty-year-old young man falls in love with the daughter of his father's friend, Villamina Belches, and courtes her for five years, but she does not reciprocate his feelings and marries someone else.

However, he was destined for a harmonious and happy family life. When twenty-five years of age he married Miss Margaret Carpenter. The couple first has a son, and two years later a daughter. Moving up the career ladder, in 1806 he was appointed clerk of the court.

Good husband and father

According to the surviving records of contemporaries, Sir Walter Scott was an exemplary father and head of the family. His biography testifies that he gave his children a proper education, and the writer, in love with Scotland, rebuilt his Abbotsford estate at his own discretion into an ancient castle, albeit a convenient and comfortable one. The place of the armory and servants' rooms in the classic's house was taken by library halls and an office. Despite his rather frequent illnesses, he was a pleasant and hospitable host, the life of the party.

He was a kind and fair man, a sanguine person, who communicated equally easily and kindly with nobles and ordinary people. His professional activities always followed the golden rule of the presumption of innocence. In the political battles between British liberals and Tories, each of whom tried to win the famous writer to their side, he did not follow either side, preferring the common-sense position of a statist.

Poetic creativity

Walter Scott wrote his first literary works at the age of 25. The biography of the famous novelist began with poetic creativity. The Scot translated the mystical ballads of Gottfried Bürger “The Wild Hunter” and “Lenora”, as well as Johann Goethe’s knightly tragedy “Götz von Berlichingen”. Soon the young author begins to write works based on Scottish folklore. The poet wrote his first work in 1800, it was the mystical knightly ballad “Midsummer’s Evening.”

Inspired by the folk epic, the poet begins to develop this fertile theme, publishing a two-volume collection of his poems entitled “Songs of the Scottish Border”. He was a success. The creation of the third volume of “Songs” was already eagerly awaited by the reading public in Britain. Walter Scott became widely famous for his innovative romantic poetry. His books of poetry were a success among his compatriots. Among them, the ballads “Marmion”, “Rokeby”, “Maid of the Lake”, “Song of the Last Minstrel” deserve special recognition.

Social novels

The famous novelist began writing prose ten years later. His first work was published anonymously in 1814 under the title Waverley, or 60 Years Ago. Walter Scott, who was ill quite often, worked surprisingly fruitfully. His books (meaning novels) were written on average two per year. Until 1827, his prose was published under the signature “Author Waverley.” In total, over the thirty years of his work, 28 novels and a large number of stories were published from the writer’s pen. His literary research went beyond the canonical romances of chivalry, and he became disillusioned with mysticism.

He created a new style in literature, masterfully mixing the history of his native land, which he knew brilliantly, with highly artistic fiction, while creating surprisingly vivid characters beloved by readers. For him, real historical events are only a canvas against which the lives of his characters take place. Walter Scott's work before 1819 tends to describe events and conflicts that were fateful for Britain. The most striking novels of that period are Rob Roy (1818), which tells the story of a Scottish rebel and bandit, and The Puritans (1816), which deals with a rebellion against the royal dynasty. In addition to the two above-mentioned books, the reader's attention is drawn to The Antiquary, Guy Mannering, and The Legend of Montrose.

Romance books

After 1819, Walter Scott slightly changed the themes of his works. Romanticism in his novels intensifies, and the intensity of class confrontation decreases. Now the writer’s attention is focused on all of Britain, and not just on his native Scotland. The master's palette becomes more diverse. The novel “Ivanhoe” (1819), which tells about England in the 12th century, becomes a kind of Rubicon in his work. He was followed by writing the books “The Abbot”, “The Monastery”, “Kenilworth”, “Quentin Dorward”, “The Beauty of Perth”. He also creates biographical works: “The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte”, “The Death of Lord Byron”.

Financial adversity

However, the literary work that Walter Scott was engaged in was not so simple. Interesting facts from the writer’s life indicate that in 1825, while he was working on “The Fate of Napoleon,” the capital of the publisher and printer collaborating with him (Constable and the late James Ballantyne), combined with his capital, burned out on speculative operations of the company managing it, Hurst, Robinson and Co.

The British then looked with sympathy at the ruin of their favorite. According to the recollections of contemporaries, when the ruined Sir Walter Scott, as a court secretary, appeared at his meeting, he behaved with dignity and meekness. When his colleagues offered to lend him enough money to improve his financial condition, the writer refused. He thanked me for your participation and replied: “My right hand will help me.” These words conveyed both high human dignity and purely Scottish pride.

Death of a classic

The writer almost managed to pay off the debt of 120,000 pounds resulting from the depreciation of bills with the proceeds from his new novels. However, nervous tension and constant irregular writing work affected his health. Between 1830 and 1831, the writer experienced three strokes of apoplexy, and on September 21, 1832, Sir Walter Scott died of a heart attack on his Abbotsford estate. The remaining debt was repaid fifteen years later, thanks to the sale of copyright rights.

It should be noted that not only readers of books know Walter Scott. The film adaptation of the classic works is familiar to millions of television viewers. The film “The Legend of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe” is very famous, as well as a film mix based on the works of the classic “The Arrows of Robin Hood”. Fans of his work are familiar with the films “Rob Roy” and “The Adventures of Quentin Dorward.”

Conclusion

Having written novels read in Britain and around the world, Sir Walter Scott was a highly respected author. He stood at the origins of the creation of the genre of historical novel. Classic was a very harmonious personality and very successfully combined creative and legal activities.

He comprehended the science of wisdom: living with people and for people, having his own point of view, but at the same time having no enemies. It is noteworthy that Walter Scott was a true patriot of Scotland. His biography is an example of creative literary work.

The premature death of this most talented person, caused by hard, irregular work and poor health, is regrettable.

WALTER SCOTT
(1771 — 1832)

Walter Scott was born on August 15, 1771 in the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, into the family of a Scottish baronet, a wealthy lawyer. He was the ninth child in a family of twelve children. In January 1772, Scott suffered from infantile paralysis, losing the use of his right leg and becoming permanently lame. Twice (in 1775 and 1777) little Scott was treated in the resort towns of Bath and Prestonpans. In 1778 Scott returned to Edinburgh. From 1779 he studied at Edinburgh school, and in 1785 he entered Edinburgh College.

The year 1792 became important for Scott: at the University of Edinburgh he passed the bar exam. From that time on, Walter Scott became a respected person with a prestigious profession and had his own legal practice. On December 24, 1796, Scott married Margaret Carpenter and had a son in 1801 and a daughter in 1803. From 1799 he became sheriff of Selkirk County, and from 1806 - clerk of the court.

W. Scott’s first literary appearances occurred at the end of the 90s: in 1796, translations of two ballads of the German poet G. Bürger “Lenore” and “The Wild Hunter” were published, and in 1799 - a translation of J. V. Goethe’s drama “Goetz von Burlichingham." The young poet’s first original work was the romantic ballad “Midsummer’s Evening” (1800). It was from this year that Scott began to actively collect Scottish folklore and, as a result, in 1802 he published the two-volume collection “Songs of the Scottish Border”. The collection includes several original ballads and many well-researched southern Scottish legends. The third volume of the collection was published in 1803.

Walter Scott, in poor health, had a phenomenal productivity: as a rule, he published at least two novels a year. Over the course of more than thirty years of literary activity, the writer created twenty-eight novels, nine poems, many stories, literary critical articles, and historical works.

Romantic poems of 1805-1817 brought him fame as an outstanding poet, made the genre of lyric-epic poem popular, combining the dramatic plot of the Middle Ages with picturesque landscapes and lyrical songs in the style of ballads: “The Song of the Last Minstrel” (1805), “Marmion” (1808), “The Maiden of the Lake” (1810), “Rokeby” (1813), etc. Scott became the founder of the genre of historical poem.

At the age of forty-two, the writer first presented his historical novels to readers. Like his predecessors in this field, Scott called numerous authors of “Gothic” and “antique” novels, and he was especially fascinated by the work of Mary Edgeworth, whose work reflects Irish history. But Scott was looking for his own path. “Gothic novels” did not satisfy him with excessive mysticism, “antique” ones - with incomprehensibility for the modern reader.

After much research, Scott created a universal structure for the historical novel, redistributing the real and the fictional in such a way as to show that it is not the lives of historical figures, but the constant movement of history that no outstanding personality can stop, that is the real object worthy of the artist's attention. Scott's view on the development of human society is called providentialist (from the Latin Providence - God's will). Here Scott follows Shakespeare. Shakespeare's historical chronicles comprehended national history, but at the level of the “history of kings.” Scott transferred historical figures to the background, and brought fictional characters to the forefront of events, whose share is influenced by the change of eras. Thus, Scott showed that the driving force of history is the people; people's life is the main object of Scott's artistic research. Its antiquity is never vague, foggy, or fantastic; Scott is absolutely accurate in depicting historical realities, therefore it is believed that he developed the phenomenon of Historical Color, that is, he masterfully showed the originality of a certain era. Scott's predecessors depicted history for history's sake, demonstrated their extraordinary knowledge and thus enriched the knowledge of readers, but for the sake of knowledge itself. This is not the case with Scott: he knows the historical era in detail, but always connects it with modern problems, showing how similar problems found their solution in the past. So, Scott is the creator of the historical novel genre; the first of them, Waverley (1814), appeared anonymously (the following novels until 1827 were published as works by the “author of Waverley”).

Scott's novels center on events related to significant socio-historical conflicts. Among them are Scott's "Scottish" novels (written on the basis of Scottish history) - Guy Mannering (1815), The Antiquary (1816), The Puritans (1816), Rob Roy (1818), The Legend of Montrose "(1819). The most successful among them are “The Puritans” and “Rob Roy”. The first depicts the rebellion of 1679, which was directed against the restored Stuart dynasty in 1660; the hero of "Rob Roy" is the people's avenger, the "Scottish Robin Hood."

In 1818, a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica appeared with Scott's article “Chivalry.” After 1819, contradictions in the writer’s worldview intensified. Scott no longer dares to raise issues of class struggle as sharply as before. However, the themes of his historical novels became noticeably broader. Going beyond Scotland, the writer turns to the ancient times of the history of England and France. Events of English history are depicted in the novels “Ivanhoe” (1820), “The Monastery” (1820), “The Abbot” (1820), “Kenilworth” (1821), “Woodstock” (1826), “The Beauty of Perth” (1828). The novel Quentin Dorward (1823) is dedicated to events in France during the reign of Louis XI. The setting of the novel “The Talisman” (1825) is the eastern Mediterranean. If we summarize the events of Scott's novels, we will see a special, unique world of events and feelings, a gigantic panorama of the life of England, Scotland and France over several centuries, from the end of the 11th to the beginning of the 19th century.

In Scott's work of the 20s, while maintaining a realistic basis, the presence and significant influence of romanticism increases over time (especially in Ivanhoe, a novel from the late Middle Ages). A special place in it is occupied by a novel from modern life, “St. Ronan's Waters” (1824). The bourgeoisification of the nobility is shown in critical tones, and the titled nobility is satirically depicted. In the 20s, a number of works by Walter Scott on historical and historical-literary topics were published: “The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” (1827), “The History of Scotland” (1829 - 1830), “The Death of Lord Byron” (1824).

Having suffered a financial collapse in the late 20s, Scott earned so much in a few years that he almost completely paid off his debts, which exceeded one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling. In life he was an exemplary family man, a man of kind, sensitive, tactical will; loved his Abbotsford estate, which he rebuilt into a small castle; He loved trees, pets, and a good meal with his family. He died of a heart attack on September 21, 1832.

By creating a historical novel, Scott established the laws of a new genre and brilliantly put them into practice. He even connected family and everyday conflicts with the fate of the nation and state, with the development of public life. Scott's work significantly influenced European and American literature. It was Scott who enriched the social novel of the 19th century with the principle of a historical approach to events. In many European countries, his works formed the basis of the national historical novel.

(Walter Scott) - famous British writer, poet, historian, lawyer of Scottish origin. He is considered the founder of the historical novel genre.

Was born 15 August 1771 in Edinburgh, in the family of a wealthy lawyer. In a family of 13 children, six survived.

Since childhood, the writer suffered from paralysis, as a result of which he remained lame for the rest of his life. He was often taken to resorts for treatment. Despite his physical handicap, already at an early age he amazed those around him with his lively mind and phenomenal memory, and read a lot.

In 1778 he returned to Edinburgh. From 1779 he studied at Edinburgh school, and in 1785 he entered Edinburgh College. In college, he became interested in mountaineering, became physically stronger, and gained popularity among his peers as an excellent storyteller.

Together with his friends, he organized the Poetry Society at college and studied German.

In 1792 he took the bar exam at the University of Edinburgh. After that, he actively practiced law and traveled extensively throughout the country. Along the way, he collected folk tales and legends about the country's heroes.

He became interested in translating German poetry and anonymously published his translations of Bürger's ballad "Lenora".

In 1791, he fell in love for the first time, but Villamina Belches chose someone else over him. This was a huge blow for young Walter, and he more than once used the image of a girl in his works. W. Scott married Charlotte Carpenter in 1797 and was an exemplary family man; loved his Abbotsford estate, which he rebuilt into a small castle.

In 1830 he suffered his first stroke of apoplexy, which paralyzed his right arm. In 1830-1831, Scott experienced two more apoplexy.

Scott's work is conventionally divided into two groups: novels dedicated to the recent past of Scotland and novels dedicated to the past of England, as well as continental countries in the Middle Ages. The poet's first serious work appeared in 1800. It was a romantic ballad "Midsummer's Evening". The events of Scottish history are most clearly depicted in such novels as Guy Mannering, Rob Roy, etc. Moving away from Scotland, the writer depicted the historical events of England and neighboring countries in the novels Ivanhoe and Woodstock.

Walter Scott; Scotland, Edinburgh; 08/15/1771 – 09/21/1832

Walter Scott is considered one of the greatest Scottish and English writers of all time. He is considered one of the founders of the historical novel genre, which was admired by his contemporaries and followers. So it was Scott’s novels that encouraged him to try himself in the genre of historical novel. After all, this English writer was no less popular in Russia than at home. His novels were translated literally within a year (which was unusually fast for that time) and enjoyed enormous popularity. V. Scott's novels have not lost their appeal for the modern reader. So “Ivanhoe” is a novel that is extremely popular, which allowed it to take a high place in our ranking.

Biography of Walter Scott

Walter Scott was born into the family of a professor of medical sciences at the University of Edinburgh. In total, there were 13 children in the family, but only 6 survived. Walter also suffered a serious illness, which left him lame forever. The boy spent his childhood on his grandfather's farm, where, despite his physical disabilities, he amazed everyone with his phenomenal memory. At the age of eight, Walter entered Edinburgh school, and after 6 years he entered college. In college, he enjoys mountain climbing and reads a lot. Playing sports made it possible to strengthen the body and practically hide the limp. At the same time, self-education combined with a phenomenal memory allowed the author to study history in great detail.

At the age of 21, Walter Scott successfully passed the exams at the University of Edinburgh and became a practicing barrister with his own legal practice. In the same year, he met Villamina Belches, whose hand he sought for more than 5 years, but who ultimately preferred a wealthy banker. Perhaps this unrequited love inspired Walter Scott to write poetry. It was in 1796 that Scott's first translation of the German writer's ballads was published.

Despite unrequited love, which remained for a long time in the images of the heroines of Scott’s novels, a year later the young writer married Charlotte Carpenter. Their marriage lasted until the death of his wife and was quite strong. After all, Walter turned out to be a decent family man and a good business executive. Meanwhile, in the literary field, he conquered all of England with his novels in verse, which made him a famous poet.

However, in 1814, Walter Scott decided to try his hand at prose. His debut novel, Waverley, or Sixty Years Ago, was very well received by the literary community. The unusual combination of fictional characters with real historical events and a very detailed description of the era appealed to the reader. This allowed Scott to write more and more actively in the genre of historical novel. In the time before the author's death in 1832 from a heart attack, Walter Scott managed to write 28 novels, 9 poems and many short stories.

Novels by Scott on the Top Books website

Scott's novel "Ivanhoe" was included in our rating. This novel, although not considered the best among the author’s works, received well-deserved love from readers back in 1814. At that time, more than 10 thousand copies of the novel had been sold. These were truly sky-high numbers. Thanks to the presence of Ivanhoe’s novel in the curriculum of some institutions, the popularity of the work is still quite high. This suggests the presence of Scott’s novel “Ivanhoe” in subsequent ratings on our site.

All books by Walter Scott

Poetry:

1. Vision of Don Roderick
2. Lord of the Isles
3. Maiden of the Lake
4. Marmion
5. Songs of the Scottish Borders
6. Song of the Last Minstrel
7. Field of Waterloo
8. Rokeby

Novels:

1. Abbot
2. Antique dealer
3. Highlander's Widow
4. Woodstock, or Cavalier
5. Guy Mannering, or Astrologer
6. Count Robert of Paris
7. Two drovers
8. The castle is dangerous
9. Charles the Bold, or Anna of Geierstein, the Maid of Darkness
10. Quentin Dorward
11. Kenilworth
12. Bride of Lammermoor
13. The Legend of Montrose
14. Monastery
15. Engaged
16. Siege of Malta
17. Peveril Peak
18. Perth Beauty, or Valentine's Day
19. Pirate
20. The Adventures of Nigel
21. Puritans
22. Redgauntlet
23. Rob Roy
24. St Ronan's Waters
25. Mascot
26. Waverley, or Sixty Years Ago
27. Black dwarf
28. Edinburgh Dungeon

Historical works:

1. Grandfather's stories
2. Lives of novelists
3. Life of Napoleon Bonaparte
4. History of Scotland
5. Stories from the history of France
6. Death of Lord Byron

Sir Walter Scott- world famous English writer, poet and historian, Scottish by birth. He is considered the founder of the historical novel genre. He had a phenomenal memory.

Biography

Born in Edinburgh to the lawyer Walter Scott (1729-1799), his mother, Anne Rutherford, was the daughter of a professor of medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In a family of 12 children, six survived; Walter was the 9th child. At an early age he suffered from infantile paralysis, which led to atrophy of the muscles of his right leg and lifelong lameness. Despite his physical handicap, already at an early age he amazed those around him with his lively mind and phenomenal memory. Scott's childhood was closely associated with the Scottish Borders, where he spent time on his grandfather's farm in Sandinow, as well as at his uncle's house near Kelso.

In college, Scott became interested in mountaineering, became physically stronger, and gained popularity among his peers as an excellent storyteller. He read a lot, including ancient authors, was fond of novels and poetry, and especially emphasized the traditional ballads and tales of Scotland. In 1786, Walter Scott entered his father's office as an apprentice, and from 1789 to 1792. studied law in preparation to become a lawyer. Together with his friends, he organized a “Poetry Society” at college, studied German and became acquainted with the work of German poets.

In the first years of independent legal practice, Walter Scott traveled around the country, along the way collecting folk legends and ballads about Scottish heroes of the past. He became interested in translating German poetry and anonymously published his translations of Bürger's ballad "Lenora". In 1791, he met his first love, Williamina Belches, the daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer. Scott tried for five years to achieve Williamina's reciprocity, but the girl kept him in uncertainty and in the end chose William Forbes, the son of a wealthy banker, whom she married in 1796. Unrequited love became a severe blow for the young man; Pieces of Villamina’s image subsequently appeared more than once in the heroines of the writer’s novels.

Scott's novels fall into two main groups. The first is devoted to the recent past of Scotland, the period of the civil war: from the Puritan revolution of the 16th century. before the defeat of the highland clans in the middle of the 18th century, - and partly at a later time ["Waverley", "Guy Mannering" (Gay Mannering, 1815), "Edinburgh Prison" (The Heart of Midlothian, 1818), "Scottish Puritans" (Old mortality, 1816), “The bride of Lammermoor” (1819), “Rob Roy” (1817), “The Monastery” (1820). “The Abbot” (The Abbot, 1820), “Waters of St. Ronan” (St. Ronan’s Well, 1823), “The Antiquary” (1816), etc.]. In these novels, Scott develops an unusually rich realistic type. This is a whole gallery of Scottish types of the most diverse social strata, but mainly types of the petty bourgeoisie, peasantry and declassed poor. Vividly concrete, speaking a rich and varied vernacular, they form a background that can only be compared with Shakespeare's “Falstaffian background.” In this background there is a lot of bright comedy, but next to the comic figures, many plebeian characters are artistically equal with heroes from the upper classes. In some novels they are the main characters; in Edinburgh Prison the heroine is the daughter of a small peasant tenant. Scott compared to the “sentimental” literature of the 18th century. takes a further step towards democratizing the novel and at the same time provides more vivid images. But more often than not, the main characters are conventionally idealized young people from the upper classes, devoid of much vitality.

Scott's second main group of novels deals with the past of England and continental countries, mainly the Middle Ages and the 16th century. (“Ivanhoe” (Ivanhoe, 1819), “Quentin Durward” (Quentin Durward, 1823), “Kenilworth” (Kenilworth, 1821), “Anne of Geierstein” (Anne of Geierstein, 1829), etc.). There is not that intimate, almost personal acquaintance with a still living legend; the realistic background is not so rich. But it is here that Scott especially develops his exceptional flair for past eras, which forced Auguste Thierry to call him “the greatest master of historical divination of all time.” Scott's historicism is, first of all, external historicism, the resurrection of the atmosphere and color of the era. This side, based on solid knowledge, especially amazed Scott’s contemporaries, who were not accustomed to anything like this. The picture he gave of the “classical” Middle Ages (“Ivanhoe” - “Ivanhoe”, 1819) is now very outdated. But such a picture, at the same time thoroughly plausible and revealing a reality so different from modern times, has never existed in literature. This was a real discovery of a new world. But Scott's historicism is not limited to this external, sensory side. Each of his novels is based on a specific concept of the historical process at a given time. Thus, “Quentin Dorward” provides not only a vivid artistic image of Louis XI and his entourage, but also reveals the essence of his policy as a stage in the struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The “Ivanhoe” concept, where the central fact for England at the end of the 12th century. The national struggle of the Saxons with the Normans was put forward, which turned out to be unusually fruitful for the science of history - it was the impetus for the famous French historian Auguste Thierry. When assessing Scott, we must remember that his novels generally preceded the works of many historians of his time. In 1830 he suffered his first stroke of apoplexy, which paralyzed his right arm. And in 1832, unable to recover from the fourth blow, Walter Scott died.

Currently, Scott's Abbotsford estate houses a museum for the famous writer.