Walter Scott as a master of introducing romantic images in real circumstances
An important stage in the development of English literature was the work of Walter Scott, in which there is a transition from romanticism to realism.
Scott's novels are characterized by a rather complex style and way of construction. On the one hand, he considered Fielding as his teacher and the platform for his work was those heights reached by writers of the 18th century. With all this, his life passed at another time, and his literary work ultimately became a new word in the genre of the novel.
Scott did not concede to his teachers in the art of creating an artistic image. At the same time, he surpassed them by applying an improved method of constructing the novel and describing its characters. Well-marked realistic trends in his work are combined with a romantic tradition. It can be said that he introduced romantic images into real circumstances.
Walter Scott gained fame as a writer who created a historical novel. Due to his ability to mentally deepen in different historical periods, Scott managed to study how the changes in the social order were taking place.
Before his eyes, bourgeois society came to replace the feudal one. After the change of the social formation, new ideological structures appeared, from which new genres of art and literature grew. These transitional processes, witnessed by Scott, aroused interest in the past epochs, the study of which could show where the further development of the bourgeois formation will lead.
Scott's merit was the fact that he enriched the genre of the novel with a historical panorama and a philosophical view of the social processes that took place in the past.
Carefully considering the bygone era, he finds in it problems that are of great importance for the current moment. At the same time, he highlights some important aspects of public morality.
An excellent example of Scott`s historical novel is Ivanhoe (1820). In the world literature, it stands out both because of the scale of the problems posed in it and the thoroughness with which the author has highlighted their different facets.
Based on folk tales, Scott portrayed Robin Hood as a true national defender who was ready to challenge injustice. Scenes from archery the author created, relying on the traditions of English folklore. Scott also managed to show expressive images of the brave Robin Hood warriors, for example, cheerful Friar Tuck.
