Discuss Bacon’s Prose Style with Reference to His Essays
Of Studies is a notable literary work by Francis Bacon. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Of Studies.
Answer
Discuss Bacon’s prose style with reference to his essays.
Or discuss Francis Bacon’s aphoristic style.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) made an untold contribution to developing English prose. He is most remarkable as a prose writer for two reasons: the subject matter and style. The key features of his prose style are limned here in a very conspicuous way regarding his essays.
Selection of the Title: This is really a superb feature of Bacon’s prose style. No other essayist in the history of English literature is comparable to Francis Bacon concerning selecting the title. He has shown uniqueness as his essays’ titles start in the same manner and tradition as, for example- “Of Studies, Of Marriage and Single Life, Of Truth, Of Revenge,” etc. Therefore, the title is a landmark style of Bacon’s prose.
Rich Vocabulary: Bacon possesses command over versatile languages, that is why his use of language is very rich. He has a good command of Latin and Greek languages, from which he has taken different phrases and words to make his essay affluent. “Abeunt studia in mores” is a Latin phrase which means that studies are a part of one’s character and habit or studies form a man’s character. Hence, the readers should have some knowledge of Latin and Greek language to understand Francis Bacon.
Witty Thought: Bacon is unparalleled because his thoughts are witty. Almost all the sentences of his essays can be developed even as an essay or at least as a paragraph because of his outstanding witty thoughts.
“Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men’s nurses.”
From this single sentence of the essay “Of Marriage and Single Life,” three essays can be produced. So, it is neat and clear that Bacon’s essays became popular due to his witty prose style.
Misquotation: Bacon has used quotations in his essays from the Bible, history, schoolmen of the Middle, Latin, or Greek literature, and sometimes from his memory. As a result, it is very tough to identify whether he uses quotations or misquotations.Unlock this study guide now