Riassunto
Riassunto di I saggi di Sir Roger de Coverley
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love gentle humour, character studies and the daily life of eighteenth-century England. It also rewards anyone curious about the roots of the English essay and the novel.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers are a group of essays taken from The Spectator, the daily paper that Joseph Addison and Richard Steele published in London from March 1711 to December 1712. Steele began the series by inventing a fictional club of men who meet to talk over the news and manners of the town. Addison did most of the work of shaping them, and Eustace Budgell added a few pieces. The best loved member of the club is Sir Roger de Coverley, an old baronet from Worcestershire.
The essays were never meant as a novel, yet read together they follow a gentle story. We visit Sir Roger in his country house, sit beside him in church, and follow him to London. You get a lively picture of English life in the age of Queen Anne, drawn with humour and warmth. You also get a lesson in how to laugh at a person's faults without losing affection for him. The paper's aim was to bring good sense and good manners into coffee houses and homes. Let us begin with the club itself and the quiet man who watches it.
In questo riassunto
- 1A silent observer founds a clubFree
- 2Life at the country house
- 3The knight among his neighbours
- 4The old knight visits London
- 5What the papers are really about
- 6How the essays are put together
Punto chiave 1 di 6
A silent observer founds a club
The series opens with Mr. Spectator, the imagined author of the whole paper. He tells us that he is a man who has seen much of the world and says little in it. He sits in coffee houses and public places, listens, and then writes down what he has noticed. He is a kind of eye, and his silence lets everyone else speak.
He then introduces the club to which he belongs. Its members are chosen to stand for different parts of English society, so that between them they can talk about nearly anything. There is a country landowner, a lawyer, a soldier, a merchant and a clergyman. There is also a fashionable man about town. Each has his own habits, and none of them is a villain.
The first member named is Sir Roger de Coverley, a baronet of Worcestershire. Steele draws him as a man of ancient family, good sense and odd ways. The paper jokes that his great grandfather invented the country dance that bears the family name. Sir Roger is unmarried, and we learn that he was crossed in love by a cruel and beautiful widow. Since then he has lived with a mix of cheerfulness and peculiarity that the other members find both comic and lovable.
Around him gather the others. The Templar is a young law student who would rather go to the theatre than read his law books. Sir Andrew Freeport is a rich merchant who believes in trade, thrift and hard work. Captain Sentry is a soldier of modest manner who has risen by merit and who is related to Sir Roger. Will Honeycomb is a gallant who knows all the gossip about women and fashion. The clergyman is a good and thoughtful man in poor health, who seldom comes to the club. Together they give the writers a small stage on which the whole age can be seen.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about I saggi di Sir Roger de Coverley
What is The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers about?
It is a set of essays from The Spectator about a fictional club of Londoners, especially Sir Roger, a kind and odd country baronet. The essays show his life at home and in London, with gentle humour.
Who is Sir Roger de Coverley?
He is an old, unmarried baronet of Worcestershire in the Spectator Club. He is generous and loved by his servants and neighbours, though he has odd habits and an old sorrow.
Who wrote the Sir Roger de Coverley papers?
Richard Steele created the club and Sir Roger in 1711, and Joseph Addison wrote most of the essays that follow. Eustace Budgell contributed a few.
Is Sir Roger de Coverley a real person?
No. He is an invented character, though he is drawn from the types of country gentlemen the writers knew. The essays were published in the daily paper The Spectator in 1711 and 1712.
Is it hard to read The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers?
It is not hard. The essays are short and the prose is clear and easy, and each essay stands alone, so you can read one over breakfast.