Behold the hero : General Wolfe and the arts in the eighteenth century
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Bibliographic Information
Behold the hero : General Wolfe and the arts in the eighteenth century
Liverpool University Press, 1997
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Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
General James Wolfe's death on 13 September 1759 at the moment of British victory over the French on the plains of Abraham in New France instantly elevated him to the pantheon of British heroes. His courage, his glorious death, and his ability to lead the English and their American colonial brethren in their pursuit of liberty was celebrated in sermons, poetry, drama, music, sculpture, prints, paintings and decorative arts. Exploring the reasons behind Wolfe's posthumous popularity, McNairn analyses representations of Wolfe in both popular culture and high art, from mass-produced ceramics to Benjamin West's famous painting of the General's death, from popular songs to the writings of Oliver Goldsmith, Horace Walpole, Tobias Smollett, Thomas Godfrey, Benjamin Franklin and William Cowper. McNairn argues that Wolfe became the embodiment of British patriotism and the superiority of the British way of life, and that the multitude of literary and visual works about Wolfe, which focus primarily on his death, were created in an environment in which legends of inspiring, politically persuasive heroics were much in demand.
Table of Contents
Figures
Preface
1. Up, Up, with Roast Beef
2. Sorrow Turned into Joy
3. The Glorious Catastrophe
4. Too Short Was His Life, But Immortal His Deeds
5. They Vote a Monument of Lasting Fame
6. A Coat and Waistcoat Subject
7. Ardent for Fame
8. A Revolution in Art
9. It Was He Who Had Immortalized Wolfe
10. Lively and Impressive Instruction
11. The Front Face IS No Likeness at All
12. Wolfe Now Detached and Bent on Bolder Deeds
13. Postscript: The Realism Was Overpowering
Appendix: Birth and Death Dates of Individuals Discussed in the Text
Notes
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
