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Harrison Ainsworth Rookwood An - College Essay

Harrison Ainsworth Rookwood An

In the early nineteenth century, an interest in criminals and the common highwayman
arose in Europe. Many magazines in London, such as Bentley’s Miscellany, Fraser’s
Magazine, and The Athenaeum featured sections that were reserved for stories about
highwayman and their numerous adventures. The growing interest in the subject inspired
many authors to write about the various exploits of popular criminals and highwayman.
Some prominent examples of this type of novel were Edward Bulwer’s Paul Clifford
(1830) and Eugene Aram (1832); Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1838-39) and Barnaby
Rudge (1841); and William Harrison Ainsworth Rookwood (1834) and Jack ...

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of Gothic stories for various
magazines. Gothic elements are included in Ainsworth’s novel: the ancient hall, the
family vaults, macabre burial vaults, secret marriage, and so forth (John, 1998, p. 30).
Rookwood is a story about two half-brothers in a conflict over the family inheritance.
The English criminal who Ainsworth decides to entangle in Rookwood was Dick Turpin,
a highwayman executed in 1739. However, echoing Bulwer, Ainsworth’s explanation for
his interest in Dick Turpin (like Bulwer’s explanation in his choice of Eugene Aram as a
subject) is personal and familial (John, 1998, p. 31). Though the basis of the novels seem
similar, Ainsworth treated Dick Turpin in a different way than Bulwer treated Eugene
Aram. Ainsworth romanticizes history, but basically sticks to the facts (as far as he knew
them). Perhaps more importantly, Ainsworth does not pretend that the Turpin he invents
is the real Dick Turpin, nor does he attempt to elevate ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 8/9/2008 05:43:07 PM
Category: English
Type: Free Paper
Words: 1186
Pages: 5

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