Published in 1824

was the last of Walter Scott's great novels about the ill-fated Jacobite cause. For ten years Scott had represented that cause as a noble futility, not because its supporters lacked courage, skill, or just grievance, but because their leaders, the Stuart dynasty, were representatives of a bygone feudal age that, by 1688, the world had left behind. When Dutch William replaced the James Stuart on the throne he stayed there because his qualities of pragmatism and efficiency were better suited to the modern world order and, when the last great Jacobite revolt of 1745 unravelled, the writing was on the wall. Scott was genuinely nostalgic for the lost world and mourned its passing as a tragic loss. The representatives of the feudal world were noble figures and, if…

2078 words

Citation: Uglow, Nathan. "Redgauntlet". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2441, accessed 27 November 2024.]