![]() The following lesson will briefly explore each of these areas. political and religious disruption from the 1790s is part of the plot.inspired in part by Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther, it involves intense emotion and a suicide.the novel belongs to the 18th-century “sentimental fiction” tradition.To make sense of what’s going on, it will help to understand a few contextual elements. ![]() In the next few weeks we’ll slow down and read Brown’s somewhat bizarre gothic novel Wieland, published in 1798. Up to that point in the North American colonies, it wasn’t conceivable to make a living as a poet or novelist. And Brown wanted to be seen primarily as a literary writer, a novelist even. Brown began his literary career in the 1790s, just as the newly formed United States was entering a somewhat awkward stage. Franklin died just a few months later and was honored as a scientist, man of letters, and statesman. He was born to a Quaker family in Philadelphia and admired Franklin, even publishing a poem dedicated to him in 1789. Franklin’s Autobiography offered a program that any citizen should follow in order to make their way in the thirteen colonies.Ĭharles Brockden Brown belonged to a slightly younger generation. ![]() ![]() Wheatley’s poetry made a powerful argument for the legitimacy of black citizens in the emerging nation. 75 Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland, and Gothic Fictionįigures such as Benjamin Franklin and Phillis Wheatley represent the height of the revolutionary period. ![]()
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