Book contents
- Defoe’s Tour and Early Modern Britain
- Frontispiece
- Defoe’s Tour and Early Modern Britain
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- Introduction
- Part 1 Form and Function
- Chapter 1 The Identity of Britain
- Chapter 2 Embedding and Embodying the Nation
- Chapter 3 The Epic Strain
- Chapter 4 The Shape of the Nation
- Part 2 Time
- Part 3 Place
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- General Index
- Index of Places
Chapter 3 - The Epic Strain
from Part 1 - Form and Function
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2022
- Defoe’s Tour and Early Modern Britain
- Frontispiece
- Defoe’s Tour and Early Modern Britain
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- Introduction
- Part 1 Form and Function
- Chapter 1 The Identity of Britain
- Chapter 2 Embedding and Embodying the Nation
- Chapter 3 The Epic Strain
- Chapter 4 The Shape of the Nation
- Part 2 Time
- Part 3 Place
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- General Index
- Index of Places
Summary
The topic considered in Chapter 3 is an epic strain in the Tour, following the model first suggested by E.M.W. Tillyard. It attempts to show how the work fulfils the requirements of the genre, as defined by Tillyard, which include high seriousness, amplitude, a predetermined organization, and a choric quality, through which the author is able to “express the feelings of a large group of people living in or near his own time.” The chapter identifies a number of features in the Tour that mimic epic properties, among them the opening statement of a running theme; the motif of a journey comparable in particular ways to a heroic quest; a descent into the underworld; catalogues of past deeds; episodes which the traveler encounters natural winders; discussion of local myths; and the use of sententiae. It is argued that the nation becomes the hero of a narrative designed to aggrandise the future glories of Britain.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Defoe's Tour and Early Modern BritainPanorama of the Nation, pp. 67 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022