Scott, Sir Walter
s Scott, Sir Walter (1771–1832),Scottish poet and novelist. The series of historical novels produced by Scott from 1814 as ‘The Author of Waverley’ established him in contemporary opinion as ‘the Shakespeare of novelists’ (Hazlitt famously dissenting). This was prompted by the sheer volume of his output, the extraordinary range of his characters (and their modes of speech), his interest in national history, and his teasingly obscure authorial persona as ‘The Great Unknown’. Making extensive and pointed use of Shakespearian epigraph and allusion, the novels also frequently deploy the romance of the lost heir characteristic of the last plays.
Nicola Watson
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