The criticism of Tobias Smollett's novels from 1748 to 1821
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Description
This dissertation attempts to collect all the published and epistolary criticism on Tobias Smollett's novels from 1748 to 1821. The more than 465 references to Smollett's fictions reflect the eighteenth and early nineteenth-century attitudes toward his reputation as a novelist and his influence on and contribution to the novel. The survey begins with a brief reference to Smollett's first novel by a minor eighteenth-century personality, Mrs. Catherine Talbot. It ends with an extensive analysis of Smollett and his novels by a major nineteenth-century novelist and critic, Sir Walter Scott. Of the five novels he publishes, The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) establishes his reputation as a novelist and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) confirms it. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), though a popular novel, is repeatedly censured for its immorality by detractors and admirers alike. The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), revived briefly in the era of Gothic fiction, soon resumes its place among second-rate novels. The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1762), never able to emerge from the shadow of Don Quixote, sinks into the oblivion of third-rate imitations. From the beginning, critics recognize Smollett as a novelist of genius and talent and consider his novels along with Fielding's works, as literary standards. Some commentators consider Smollett's works superior to Fielding's, others inferior. But most frequently Smollett is viewed equal in merit though different in art. Certainly, his contribution to and influence on the novel are as extensive as his literary counterparts. The many imitations of his humor, seamen, caricatures, and novels, both in part and as a whole, attest to his literary impact on the genre. As a delineator of men and manners, he extends Fielding's fictional realism with his descriptions of life in the navy and with his portraits of prostitutes and profligates. Though censured for his immorality and mislabeled as a comic novelist, Smollett's novels have outlived their critics and survived the test of time