Romantic Elements in Sir Walter Scott's novel, Kenilworth
Scott's romanticism lies in his rejection of the
18th century polite tradition and his attempt to write literature of
and for far broader sections of the people. In contrast to the Gothic
novelists, Scott does not write exclusively from the point of view
of the ruling class. There is an
escapist, romantic elements in almost all his books but in his
best novels, Old Mortality, The Antiquary, The Heart of Midlothian, he makes a
serious attempt to capture
realistically the strains and tensions of a experiences of the Scottish people.
Kenilworth is a history; but it is a romance also.
In action, in treatment of events and characters, in its setting and background
it imitates the models of romances.
The novel begins with the romantic
secrecy. The opening immediately reminds one of the fables where a few
gallants proceed on an expedition of searching a lost lady, or
a lover leaves home in search of his lady-love. In Kenilworth
also, a lover goes out for the search of this beloved; and in the inn it
appears that two gallants, Michael Lambourne and Tressilian take a journey for
solving the mystery in the Cumnor Hall.
Kenilworth is filigree. It is embroidered with silver and gold
– love and romance. Scott tries to
romanticize everything with the help of imagination and poetic faculties which
he received as the al gifts from the Muses. He changes history according to his
own requirements: he can replace places; dates are of little significance for
him. It matters little whether Amy died in 1560 or in 1575: but Scott's
interest is in showing how she died at a particular period and this how
and why is solved by him with exquisite charm and dramatic turns.
The novel contains some aspects of the fable. Amy's
episode is a romance; the tricks of Alasco and Wayland Smith are also on the
line of the fables. There are duels and fightings, and there are attempts of
violence. Poisons are taken and given; elopements take place, and the villains
also try to rape girls. A gallant like Walter Raleigh appears, and throws down
his cloak in mud to facilitate the way for a beautiful lady so much renowned as
Queen Elizabeth. The way in which the Earl of Leicester proposes for the hand
of the Queen; and the way in which Wayland seeks his entry into the Cumnor Hall
are also on the tradition of romances.
In design and pattern too, Kenilworth is fashioned on the fable. The events take place with a dramatic thud. Rich colours are there; and there are also high contrasts. The story gains
its momentum not at the hand of history, but at the hand of romance. It is not
queen and kings, nobles and courtiers, wars and fightings that draw the
reader's attention so much as the lovers and beloved, their love-making and
efforts of winning one another.
Although Scott does not exploit the supernatural in
the ordinary connotation, that is, he does not produce ghost and witches. But
he tries to give his novel a mysterious atmosphere by his device of secrecy and intrigue. The role of Wayland
Smith and Alasco are good substitutes for the supernatural of the table.
The element
of romance can also be found in
Scott's descriptions of the various places where his main scenes take place.
He chooses spots of considerable interests. The lonely and antique grandeur of
Cumnor Place, the bustling life of Black Bear Inn, the magnificence of
Kenilworth Castle, and the grandeur of Say's Court Cumnor Place has been described
with the passion of romance.
Similarly, Wayland's lodging
is a mean place, yet it has a supernatural charm. The Castle of Kenilworth has
been coated with heavy descriptions. It has an ample porch, the battlements
placed with the gigantic warders, with clubs, battle-axes; and other implements
of ancient court life. The vizards and buskins can be seen there. The pageants,
the tower, the small rooms, the gates are all imbued with a spirit of
imagination. The inanimate things become animate for the time being.
The romantic pathos in the novel occupies a sizable space. Amy Robsart is the hub of this kind of thing. Her civil imprisonment in the Cumnor Place, and the denial of the open acknowledgement as a wife by Leicester are the obvious cause of the same. The romantic pathos makes the figure of Amy sweetly pathetic. Though she does not shed tears over her predicament, yet she is keenly aware of her lamentable fate. There is, however, nothing cloying about the quality of the romantic pathos in the novel.
Like all the Romantic
writers, he loathed the new capitalism, seeing the Industrial Revolution as
destroying the old social ties which made in the old society if not for
equality at least for certain kindliness in human relationship. “To Scott, as
to Carlyle,” Professor Grierson has said in his admirable biography, "the
main source of the evil was the divorce of any tie between the employer and the
labourer but the cash nexus."
However, Scott's romanticism is not airy. It is coloured by a strong realistic sense. He is always led by the realism of the historian, but he also uses the imagination of a writer of the romances.
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