The Vicar of Wakefield and The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith

1466 Words3 Pages

Oliver Goldsmith attained many professions such as a poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist and eccentric. His way with words was so gracefully fluent that it deserted him in society. His language was too advanced and his thoughts were so wise. Goldsmith wrote with confidence, which resulted in him being an excellent writer. His exceptional work is vividly shown in his two poems, The Vicar of Wakefield and The Deserted Village. These poems illustrate the theme of domestic tragedy and joy. Goldsmith was “born on 29 November 1731” according to the Library of Congress authority file (1465). Goldsmith had actually forgotten which year he was born in. He was confused between 1730 and 1731. He used to live in London and was enjoying life “He worked as a writer and was friends with the artistic and literary luminaries of the time” (1465). Goldsmith made good connections in London which helped him later shape his career. They say perfection comes with practice, “Goldsmith became a prolific writer during the last fifteen years of his life” (1466). His hard work throughout his life paid off. He has reached new heights of flawlessness. People think that only individuals who have a serious attitude towards their life and work can achieve what Goldsmith has. Goldsmith had a bold personality, “He was certainly the master comedian of his age” (1467). This validates not only was Goldsmith great at what he does, but he also knew how to have the time of his life.
In the time of Goldsmith, there was poetry written in Classicism and Romanticism. Poets took attention of their audience in various ways, “poets viewed themselves primarily in relation to their audience (1467)”. Eighteenth century poets took advantage of in what manner and how their audience...

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... daughter’s suitors. Also, this theme of domestic tragedy was also present in The Deserted Village when the peacefulness of the village was overtaken by money and taxes. Goldsmith has presented these ideas with judgment based on setting and events using his five senses instead of using aspects of Romanticism.

Works Cited

Garbett, Ann D. The Vicar of Wakefield. Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web 2 Mar. 2014
Hall. Richard A. Spurgeon. Oliver Goldsmith, Critical Survet of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition, pp 1-4, Literary Reference Center, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 March 2014.
Oliver Goldsmith. Ed. Hans Enzensberger and Gernard hipskin. California: Salem Press, Inc., 2003. 1465-1465. Print.
Theodore, Terry. “Oliver Goldsmith” Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition (2009): 1-5. Literary Reference Center. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.

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