British Culture - User contributions [en]

William Godwin

2010-01-26T13:13:04Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of [[John Godwin]], a dissenting minister, and [[Anne Godwin]], daughter of ship owner [[Richard Hull]]. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by [[Samuel Newton]], who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist [[Robert Sandeman]].

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach]] and [[Claude Adrien Helvetius]], which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. At the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel ''The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham'' was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when [[Andrew Kippis]] asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the ''[[New Annual Register]]''. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal ''[[Political Herald]]''. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher [[George Robinson]] to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as ''[[An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel ''[[Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' was published the following year and was also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later [[Mary Shelley]]). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was ''[[Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women]]'', another his Gothic novel ''[[St. Leon]]'' (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married [[Mary Jane Clairmont]].

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym Edward Baldwin.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

== Political Ideas ==

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of [[Utilitarianism]], but also as a proponent of [[Anarchism]].

His political thinking is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his or her life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (''An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'', Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Godwin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

== Works ==

1783 ''[[History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham]]'' (novel)

1784 ''[[Imogen. A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British]]'' (novel)

1793 ''[[An Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' (political philosophical treatise, 2 vols.)

1794 ''[[Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1797 ''[[The Enquirer, Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature]]'' (essays)

1798 ''[[Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]''

1799 ''[[St. Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1800 ''[[Antonio]]'' (play)

1804 ''[[Life Of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Early English Poet]]'' (biography, 4 vols.)

1805 ''[[Fleetwood. or The New Man of Feeling]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1807 ''[[Faulkener]]'' (play)

1815 ''[[Lives of Edward and John Philips. Nephews and Pupils of Milton. Including Various Particulars of the Literary and Political History of their times]]'' (biography)

1817 ''[[Mandeville, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1824-1828 ''[[History of the Commonwealth of England from its commencement to its restoration]]'' (4 vols.)

1831 ''[[Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries]]'' (philosophical treatise)

== Works Cited ==

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. ''William Godwin''. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

2010-01-23T14:38:37Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of [[John Godwin]], a dissenting minister, and [[Anne Godwin]], daughter of ship owner [[Richard Hull]]. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by [[Samuel Newton]], who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist [[Robert Sandeman]].

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach]] and [[Claude Adrien Helvetius]], which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. And the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel ''The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham'' was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when [[Andrew Kippis]] asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the ''[[New Annual Register]]''. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal ''[[Political herald]]''. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher [[George Robinson]] to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as ''[[An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel ''[[Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' was published the following and also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later [[Mary Shelley]]). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was ''[[Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women]]'', another his Gothic novel ''[[St. Leon]]'' (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married [[Mary Jane Clairmont]].

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym ''Edward Baldwin''.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

== Political Ideas ==

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of [[Utilitarianism]], but also as a proponent of [[Anarchism]].

His political thining is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (''An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'', Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Gowdin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

== Works ==

1783 ''[[History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham]]'' (novel)

1784 ''[[Imogen. A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British]]'' (novel)

1793 ''[[An Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' (political philosophical treatise, 2 vols.)

1794 ''[[Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1797 ''[[The Enquirer, Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature]]'' (essays)

1798 ''[[Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]''

1799 ''[[St. Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1800 ''[[Antonio]]'' (play)

1804 ''[[Life Of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Early English Poet]]'' (biography, 4 vols.)

1805 ''[[Fleetwood. or The New Man of Feeling]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1807 ''[[Faulkener]]'' (play)

1815 ''[[Lives of Edward and John Philips. Nephews and Pupils of Milton. Including Various Particulars of the Literary and Political History of their times]]'' (biography)

1817 ''[[Mandeville, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1824-1828 ''[[History of the Commonwealth of England from its commencement to its restoration]]'' (4 vols.)

1831 ''[[Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries]]'' (philosophical treatise)

== Works Cited ==

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. ''William Godwin''. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

2010-01-23T14:34:06Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of [[John Godwin]], a dissenting minister, and [[Anne Godwin]], daughter of ship owner [[Richard Hull]]. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by [[Samuel Newton]], who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist [[Robert Sandeman]].

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Holbach]] and [[Helvetius]], which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. And the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel ''The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham'' was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when [[Andrew Kippis]] asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the ''[[New Annual Register]]''. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal ''[[Political herald]]''. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher [[George Robinson]] to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as ''[[An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel ''[[Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' was published the following and also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later [[Mary Shelley]]). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was ''[[Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women]]'', another his Gothic novel ''[[St. Leon]]'' (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married [[Mary Jane Clairmont]].

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym ''Edward Baldwin''.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

== Political Ideas ==

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of [[Utilitarianism]], but also as a proponent of [[Anarchism]].

His political thining is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (''An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'', Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Gowdin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

== Works ==

1783 ''[[History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham]]'' (novel)

1784 ''[[Imogen. A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British]]'' (novel)

1793 ''[[An Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' (political philosophical treatise, 2 vols.)

1794 ''[[Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1797 ''[[The Enquirer, Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature]]'' (essays)

1798 ''[[Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]''

1799 ''[[St. Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1800 ''[[Antonio]]'' (play)

1804 ''[[Life Of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Early English Poet]]'' (biography, 4 vols.)

1805 ''[[Fleetwood. or The New Man of Feeling]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1807 ''[[Faulkener]]'' (play)

1815 ''[[Lives of Edward and John Philips. Nephews and Pupils of Milton. Including Various Particulars of the Literary and Political History of their times]]'' (biography)

1817 ''[[Mandeville, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1824-1828 ''[[History of the Commonwealth of England from its commencement to its restoration]]'' (4 vols.)

1831 ''[[Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries]]'' (philosophical treatise)

== Works Cited ==

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. ''William Godwin''. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

2010-01-23T14:33:22Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of [[John Godwin]], a dissenting minister, and [[Anne Godwin]], daughter of ship owner [[Richard Hull]]. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by [[Samuel Newton]], who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist [[Robert Sandeman]].

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Holbach]] and [[Helvetius]], which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. And the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel ''The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham'' was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when [[Andrew Kippis]] asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the ''[[New Annual Register]]''. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal ''[[Political herald]]''. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher [[George Robinson]] to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as ''[[An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel ''[[Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' was published the following and also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later [[Mary Shelley]]). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was ''[[Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women]]'', another his Gothic novel ''[[St. Leon]]'' (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married [[Mary Jane Clairmont]].

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym ''Edward Baldwin''.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

== Political Ideas ==

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of [[Utilitarianism]], but also as a proponent of [[Anarchism]].

His political thining is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (''An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'', Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Gowdin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

== Works ==

1783 ''[[History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham]]'' (novel)

1784 ''[[Imogen. A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British]]'' (novel)

1793 ''[[An Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' (political philosophical treatise, 2 vols.)

1794 ''[[Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1797 ''[[The Enquirer, Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature]]'' (essays)

1798 ''[[Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]''

1799 ''[[St. Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1800 ''[[Antonio]]'' (play)

1804 ''[[Life Of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Early English Poet]]'' (biography)

1805 ''[[Fleetwood. or The New Man of Feeling]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1807 ''[[Faulkener]]'' (play)

1815 ''[[Lives of Edward and John Philips. Nephews and Pupils of Milton. Including Various Particulars of the Literary and Political History of their times]]'' (biography)

1817 ''[[Mandeville, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1824-1828 ''[[History of the Commonwealth of England from its commencement to its restoration]]'' (4 vols.)

1831 ''[[Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries]]'' (philosophical treatise)

== Works Cited ==

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. ''William Godwin''. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

2010-01-23T14:31:54Z

William Langland: /* Fictional Writings */

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of [[John Godwin]], a dissenting minister, and [[Anne Godwin]], daughter of ship owner [[Richard Hull]]. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by [[Samuel Newton]], who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist [[Robert Sandeman]].

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Holbach]] and [[Helvetius]], which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. And the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel ''The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham'' was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when [[Andrew Kippis]] asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the ''[[New Annual Register]]''. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal ''[[Political herald]]''. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher [[George Robinson]] to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as ''[[An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel ''[[Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' was published the following and also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later [[Mary Shelley]]). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was ''[[Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women]]'', another his Gothic novel ''[[St. Leon]]'' (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married [[Mary Jane Clairmont]].

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym ''Edward Baldwin''.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

== Political Ideas ==

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of [[Utilitarianism]], but also as a proponent of [[Anarchism]].

His political thining is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (''An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'', Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Gowdin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

== Works ==

1783 ''[[History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham]]'' (novel)

1784 ''[[Imogen. A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British]]'' (novel]

1793 ''[[An Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' (political philosophical treatise, 2 vols.)

1794 ''[[Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1797 ''[[The Enquirer, Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature]]'' (essays)

1798 ''[[Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]''

1799 ''[[St. Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1800 ''[[Antonio]]'' (play)

1805 ''[[Fleetwood. or The New Man of Feeling]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1807 ''[[Faulkener]]'' (play)

1815 ''[[Lives of Edward and John Philips. Nephews and Pupils of Milton. Including Various Particulars of the Literary and Political History of their times]]'' (biography)

1817 ''[[Mandeville, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England]]'' (novel, 3 vols.)

1824-1828 ''[[History of the Commonwealth of England from its commencement to its restoration]]'' (4 vols.)

1831 ''[[Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries]]'' (philosophical treatise)

== Works Cited ==

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. ''William Godwin''. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

2010-01-23T14:16:50Z

William Langland: /* Political Ideas */

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of [[John Godwin]], a dissenting minister, and [[Anne Godwin]], daughter of ship owner [[Richard Hull]]. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by [[Samuel Newton]], who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist [[Robert Sandeman]].

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Holbach]] and [[Helvetius]], which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. And the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel ''The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham'' was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when [[Andrew Kippis]] asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the ''[[New Annual Register]]''. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal ''[[Political herald]]''. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher [[George Robinson]] to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as ''[[An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness]]'' in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel ''[[Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams]]'' was published the following and also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later [[Mary Shelley]]). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was ''[[Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women]]'', another his Gothic novel ''[[St. Leon]]'' (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married [[Mary Jane Clairmont]].

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym ''Edward Baldwin''.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

== Political Ideas ==

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of [[Utilitarianism]], but also as a proponent of [[Anarchism]].

His political thining is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (''An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'', Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Gowdin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

== Fictional Writings ==

== Works Cited ==

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. ''William Godwin''. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/

William Godwin

2010-01-23T13:47:43Z

William Langland: /* Works Cited */

William Godwin

2010-01-23T13:45:23Z

William Langland: /* Life */

William Godwin

2010-01-23T13:22:16Z

William Langland: /* Life */

William Godwin

2010-01-23T13:09:59Z

William Langland: /* Life */

William Godwin

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William Langland: /* Life */

William Godwin

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William Langland: Created page with '1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian. == Life == == Political Ideas == == Fictional Writings == == Works Cited =='

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

== Life ==

== Political Ideas ==

== Fictional Writings ==

== Works Cited ==

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:30:33Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==
Henry Fielding's works were often very satirical and humoristic, influenced by writers like [[Molière]], [[Cervantes]] and [[Jonathan Swift]]. He even signed some of his early works with "Scriblerus Secundus" in reference to the [[Scriblerus Club]] of Swift and [[Alexander Pope]]. Episodes form the Bible and the Classics also played an important part, especially in terms of plot.
Fielding's first novel, ''Shamela'', was written as a reply to [[Samuel Richardson]]'s ''[[Pamela]]''.

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from [[Molière]])

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:27:52Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==
Henry Fielding's works were often very satirical and humoristic, influenced by writers like [[Molière]], [[Cervantes]] and [[Jonathan Swift]]. He even signed some of his early works with "Scriblerus Secundus" in reference to the [[Scriblerus Club]] of Swift and [[Alexander Pope]]. Episodes form the Bible and the Classics also played an important part, especially in terms of plot.

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from [[Molière]])

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:26:29Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==
Henry Fielding's works were often very satirical and humoristic, influenced by writers like [[Molière]], [[Cervantes]] and [[Jonathan Swift]]. He even signed some of his early works with "Scriblerus Secundus" in reference to the [[Scriblerus Club]] of Swift and [[Alexander Pope]].

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from [[Molière]])

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:25:40Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==
Henry Fielding's works were often very satirical and humoristic, influenced by writers like [[Molière]], [[Cervantes]] and [[Jonathan Swift]]. He even signed some of his early works with "Scriblerus Secundus" in reference to the [[Scriblerus Club]] of Swift and [[Alexander Pope]].

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:25:28Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==
Henry Fielding's works were often very satirical and humoristic, influenced by writers like [[Molière]], [[Cervantes]] and [[Jonathan Swift]]. He even signed some of his early works with "Scriblerus Secundus" in reference to the [[Scriblerus Club]] of Swift and [[Pope]].

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:23:28Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==
Henry Fielding's works were often very satirical and humoristic, influenced by writers like [[Molière]], [[Cervantes]] and [[Jonathan Swift]]. He even signed some of his early works with "Scriblerus Secundus" in reference to the [[Scriblerus Club]] of Swift and Pope.

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:20:48Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. Meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-11T12:20:34Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding. meanwhile, he started experimenting with prose fiction.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T15:02:40Z

William Langland: /* Sources */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Battestin, Martin C./Battestin, Ruthe R. ''Henry Fielding. A Life''. London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:58:25Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

Fielding's health, which had been poor for years, suffered severely from the strains of his job as Justice of the Peace, and in 1753, he was hardly able to work anymore. After an extraordinarily hard winter, he left England for the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on 14 October 1754.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:52:07Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism. Besides, he published ''[[The Covent-Garden Journal]]'' periodically in 1752.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:48:42Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex. Both were known as quite lucrative in terms of bribes, but Fielding apparently refused to accept any and rather went about doing proper police work, if not always without errors and criticism.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:46:43Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of [[Justice of the Peace]] for Westminster and Middlesex.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:44:06Z

William Langland: /* Works */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of Justice of the Peace for Westminster and Middlesex.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]'' (mixed works; 3 vols.)

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:42:39Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[George Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of Justice of the Peace for Westminster and Middlesex.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:42:16Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when [[george Lyttleton]], an old friend from Eton, helped him to the positions of Justice of the Peace for Westminster and Middlesex.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:40:09Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

The year 1748 finally brought relief to Fielding's inconvenient condition, when

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:35:58Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work. In 1744, Charlotte died, and in 1747, Fielding married her maid [[Mary Daniel]], who was already pregnant at the time of the wedding.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:21:37Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country in search of work.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:20:04Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740. For the next eight years, he travelled across the country looking for work.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T14:00:31Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty, decided to train as a lawyer and qualified in 1740.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T13:58:38Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself. Deprived of his income and financially burdened, Fielding then, at the age of thirty,

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T13:54:27Z

William Langland: /* Life */

1707-1754. One of the major 18th-century British playwrights and an important novelist.

== Life ==

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury, Somerset, the estate of his grandfather [[Sir Henry Gould]], one of the most distinguished lawyers of the time, on 22 April 1707. His father was Edmund Fielding, a successful army officer, his mother Sarah was the daughter of Sir Henry. After Henry, his parents had six more children, five of them girls, over the following nine years.

In 1710, the family moved to a farm in the village of East Stour, Dorset, where the children spent most of the time with their mother, father Edmund being frequently away on active service or pleasure trips. Henry's mother died in 1718, and his father found a new wife within less than a year, who was already pregnant when the two of them returned to East Stour. From this moment on, life changed profoundly for Henry and his siblings. They were neglected, if not even abused, by Edmund and his new wife, which caused Henry's grandmother, the widow of Sir Henry Gould, to sue her son-in-law for the income of the farm as well as the custody of the children. After two years of court procedures, Lady Gould won the case and took the children to her new home in Salisbury. Henry, however, only visited his grandmother during his school holidays, because he had been sent to Eton in 1719.

Henry's time at Eton ended in 1724. Although he had made some upper class friends there, his decision what to do for a living was not what one might have expected. The obvious thing would have been to start a career either in the army, as his father and paternal uncle, or as a lawyer, a profession common in his mother's branch of the family. Instead, Henry chose to become a writer.

His first known attempt on literature was a pamphlet containing two poems, published in 1727, but he soon turned towards drama - and successfully so. His first play, ''Love in Several Masks'', was performed in [[Drury Lane]] in 1728, directed by [[Colley Cibber]], at that time the most important figure in London theatre. The play was performed only four times, which made it not much of a success, but at least brought Henry some money (the playwright got the profits from the third performance) and the script was published.

Instead of trying to advance his career in London after this promising start, Fielding went abroad to study the classics at the university of Leyden the same year. In 1729, however, he already abandoned his studies and returned to England after being charged with failing to pay his debts to several creditors. He brought with him the drafts for new plays and, although he soon fell out with Cibber, became the most successful British dramatist for the years to follow. In 1734, Fielding married [[Charlotte Cradock]]. She brought a considerable dowry and an inheritance from her mother a year later, and Henry earned well enough with his plays, but still he managed to spend even more money than came in.

What is more, in 1737 Fielding's career as a playwright was ended by the [[Stage Licensing Act]]. In many of his comedies, he had more or less explicitly satirized and ridiculed [[Robert Walpole]] and his government. The Act required all plays to be approved of by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before being performed and is sometimes regarded as a direct response to and personal attack on Fielding himself.

== Works ==

1728 ''[[Love in Several Masques]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Temple Beau]]'' (play)

1730 ''[[The Author's Farce]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Tragedy of Tragedies]]'' (play)

1731 ''[[The Grub-Street Opera]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Modern Husband]]'' (play)

1732 ''[[The Covent-Garden Tragedy]]'' (play)

1733 ''[[The Miser]]'' (play; adapted from ''[[Molière]]'')

1734 ''[[Don Quixote in England]]'' (play)

1736 ''[[Pasquin]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[The Historical Register for the Year 1736]]'' (play)

1737 ''[[Eurydice Hiss'd]]'' (play)

1741 ''[[Shamela]]'' (novel)

1742 ''[[Joseph Andrews]]'' (novel)

1743 ''[[Miscellanies]]''

1749 ''[[Tom Jones]]'' (novel)

1751 ''[[Amelia]]'' (novel)

1753 ''[[A proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor]]'' (pamphlet)

1755 ''[[The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon]]'' (published posthumously)

== Sources ==
Rawson, Claude (ed.). ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding''. Cambridge: CUP, 2007.

Uglow, Jenny. ''Henry Fielding''. Plymouth: Northcote House, 1995.

Henry Fielding

2009-12-08T13:50:15Z

William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Works */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Works */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Life */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Works */

Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Works */

Henry Fielding

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Henry Fielding

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William Langland: /* Works */