‘I do not give his words but merely the sense attired in the garb that I conceive fittest’: James Hogg’s (1770-1835) influence on the works of the Brontës (1816-1855)

Pyle, Hannah Maria Catherine (2018) ‘I do not give his words but merely the sense attired in the garb that I conceive fittest’: James Hogg’s (1770-1835) influence on the works of the Brontës (1816-1855). MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis investigates the influence that James Hogg (1770-1835) had over the works of the Brontës. There has been an understanding amongst scholars since the early twentieth century that Hogg’s poetry, novels and periodical contributions had been read and discussed within the Brontë household. However, despite references to this relationship between Hogg and the literary education of the young Brontës, there has been no comprehensive study which fully examines the ways in which Hogg’s works were transposed into the juvenilia, and eventually into the published works. This study aims to examine the specific mechanisms that establish the foundational presence of Hogg within the Brontë canon. By initially exploring Hogg’s situation within the early nineteenth-century literary marketplace, the thesis presents an examination of the variety of personas which the Brontë children consumed and digested during their early reading, and specifically through their dedication to Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine. Through understanding the ways in which Hogg was constructed and manipulated during his literary career, we can further understand how the Brontës understood, acquired and developed the writerly methods of Hogg as a way of establishing their own distinct literary voices. The three most prominent examples of consciously transposing Hogg’s literary techniques into their own understanding and conception of the literary marketplace are Charlotte (1816-55), (Patrick) Branwell (1817-48), and Emily (1818-48). This study will ultimately reveal the importance of Hogg not only in relation to the Brontës, but to the nineteenth-century publishing industry as a whole.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: James Hogg, Brontes, Romanticism, Scottish Romanticism, Nineteenth Century, Reception, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Bronte Canon.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General); P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History; P Language and Literature > PR English literature
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Scottish Literature
• Supervisor's Name: McCue, Professor Kirsteen and Brown, Dr. Rhona
• Date of Award: 2018
• Depositing User: Miss Hannah Pyle
• Unique ID: glathesis:2018-9130
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2018 11:55
• Last Modified: 19 Jun 2018 12:51
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/9130