The Last of the Race: The Growth of a Myth from Milton to DarwinThis is an innovative and wide-ranging study of the myth of 'The Last of the Race' as it develops in a selection of literary and non-literary texts from the late seventeenth to late nineteenth centuries. The perennial fascination with the end of the world has given rise to many 'last men', from the ancient myths of Noah and Deucalion to contemporary stories of nuclear holocaust. Endangered peoples such as the Maasai or Bush People continue to attract intense interest. Fiona J. Stafford begins with Milton and ends with Darwin, exploring the myth-making of their texts in the light of contemporary literary, scientific, political, and religious views. Chapters on Milton, Burnet, Defoe, Macpherson, Cowper, Wordsworth, Byron, Mary Shelley, Fenimore Cooper, Bulwer-Lytton, and Darwin combine to form an important account of the traces of this most resonant of cultural preoccupations, providing a distinguished contribution to cultural history as well as to literary studies. |
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Page 86
... ancient language , dress , furniture , and superstitions ; several customs among them still speak their original ; and , in some respect , Caesar's description of the Ancient Britons is applicable to these . Although the tone suggests ...
... ancient language , dress , furniture , and superstitions ; several customs among them still speak their original ; and , in some respect , Caesar's description of the Ancient Britons is applicable to these . Although the tone suggests ...
Page 101
... Ancient Poetry , Collected in the Highlands of Scotland . The startling success of the Fragments led the ' translator ' , James Macpherson , to produce the much more substantial sequels : Fingal , an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books ...
... Ancient Poetry , Collected in the Highlands of Scotland . The startling success of the Fragments led the ' translator ' , James Macpherson , to produce the much more substantial sequels : Fingal , an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books ...
Page 102
... ancient , of those who are celebrated in tradition for their poetical genius ' ( Fingal , Preface ) . Like Gray's Bard , Ossian was to be seen as the climax of his heroic race , now vanished irretrievably . While the modern editor could ...
... ancient , of those who are celebrated in tradition for their poetical genius ' ( Fingal , Preface ) . Like Gray's Bard , Ossian was to be seen as the climax of his heroic race , now vanished irretrievably . While the modern editor could ...
Contents
List of Illustrations X | 1 |
The First Last Man? Thomas Burnet and the Revolution | 34 |
Robinson Crusoe as Sole Survivor | 56 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Adam ancient Apocalyptic appears attitude become Beddoes belief biblical Britain Bulwer Burnet Byron character Christian contemporary Cooper Creation Crusoe's Daniel Defoe dark Darwin death decline Defoe Despite destruction earth eighteenth-century emerges emphasis English Essay eternal Eternal Return extinction father feelings fiction Fingal future grief human idea imaginative Indian individual influence inspired isolation James Fenimore Cooper last bard last-of-the-race myth linear literature London loss Lyell Lyrical Ballads Macpherson's mankind Mary Shelley's millenarian Milton modern Mohicans narrative natural Newstead Abbey nineteenth century notion novel Omegarus original Ossian Oxford Paradise Lost past poem poet poetry political Pompeii Prisoner of Chillon progress psychological race reader Revolution Robinson Crusoe Romantic ruin rural seems seen sense Shelley significant society sole survivor species suggests survival symbol theory Thomas Thomas Burnet Thomas Lovell Beddoes traditional universal vanished vision vols William Wordsworth Wordsworth Yardley Oak