(1821) is the second of Sir Walter Scott’s novels to treat of English rather than Scottish history (the first is
Ivanhoe). Chronologically it followed Scott’s composition of
The Abbot(1820), which features Mary, Queen of Scots, one of Scott’s most memorable and moving tragic figures. It was Scott’s Edinburgh publisher, Archibald Constable, who suggested a novel about Elizabeth, proposing the Armada as a suitably celebratory subject for 1820, the year of George IV’s coronation. Scott agreed that a novel about Elizabeth would be successful and set to work at the task from September to December 1820. However, despite including elaborate set pieces of pageantry and Elizabeth’s royal progresses, the novel he eventually wrote is one of just three tragedies…
2060 words
Citation: Ragaz, Sharon Anne. "Kenilworth". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4250, accessed 23 November 2024.]
