DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/KQA7-T588
Defense Date
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Rivka Swenson
Abstract
This project highlights aspects of Hester Piozzi’s approach to biography in Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson LL. D. During the Last Twenty Years of His Life in order to analyze her use of accumulated cultural and social capital. I highlight similarities between Anecdotes and Samuel Johnson’s model for biography given in Rambler #60 and show how Piozzi adheres to his advice as she characterizes Johnson as a pious genius, intolerantly opinionated, and self-indulgent, yet unwilling to accept those qualities in others. I analyze how her editorial choices characterize her as a reliable source of information and a blameless victim of Johnson’s need for attention. This study proves Anecdotes and the corresponding entries in Thraliana are important because her deliberate revisioning of her history speaks to her ability to manipulate social expectations in order to revive her literary career and actively contribute to eighteenth-century British economy, culture, and society.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
May 2013