On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Carlyle
- First Published: 1841
- Type of Work: Social criticism
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History
- Subjects: Power, personal or social, Christianity, Heroes or heroism, Romanticism, Puritans or Puritanism, Shakespeare, William, or Shakespearean plays, Protestantism or Protestant churches, Heads of state
Critical Evaluation:
Although difficult to read today, Thomas Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History is the best repository in English of that development in late Romanticism that has been called “heroic vitalism.” Consisting of a series of six lectures that Carlyle delivered to London audiences in 1840, it represents not so much any soundly based ideas about the making of history as it does Carlyle’s view of what the world would be if powerful and inspired people were to have the power he thought they deserved. It thus becomes England’s...
[The entire page is 1930 words long]
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