CRITICISM

Braverman, Richard. “Spectator 495: Addison and “the Race of People called Jews.” SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 34, No. 3 (Summer 1994): 537-52.

Critiques how Addison wrote about Jews in this issue of the Spectator and other writings. The critic also discusses how Jews were perceived in English society at the time.

Evans, James E. “Mr. Review of the ‘Glorious’ Tatler and the ‘Inimitable’ Spectator.” Journal of Newspaper and Periodical History 3, No. 1 (Winter 1986): 2-9.

Discusses Daniel Defoe's remarks on the Tatler and the Spectator, observing that Defoe's mingled respect for and envy of these publications accounts for his contradictory commentary.

Ketcham, Michael G. Transparent Designs: Reading, Performance, and Form in the Spectator Papers. The University of Georgia Press, 1985, 216 p.

Book-length study of the Spectator,including discussions of its rhetoric, internal structure, and images of society.

Milic, Louis T. “The Reputation of Richard Steele: What Happened?” Eighteenth-Century Life 1, No. 4 (June 1975): 81-7.

Argues that Steele's contributions to the Tatler and the Spectator have been overshadowed by Addison's importance to critics. The critic describes how responsibility for the journals was divided and emphasizes Steele's role.

Ramsey, Roger. “The Ambivalent Spectator.” Papers on Language and Literature 9, No. 1 (Winter 1973): 81-84.

Argues that the ambivalence of Mr. Spectator in the Spectator regarding “presenting himself to be seen and at the same time declaring his fear of being observed” is “a fine stroke of characterization” rather than an inconsistency.

Stephens, Jr., John C. “Addison as Social Critic.” Emory University Quarterly 21, No. 3 (Fall 1965): 157-72.

Argues that Addison's essays in the Tatler, the Spectator, and the Guardian demonstrate that his “assumptions about society were almost completely those of his age.”