The Rise of English : Quotations
The Rise of English is a notable literary work by Terry Eagleton. 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 The Rise of English.
Quotations
Quotes
“Literature, in the meaning of the word we have inherited, is an ideology.”
(Explanation: Literature is not neutral. It often carries hidden beliefs and values of society.)
“If one were asked to provide a single explanation for the growth of English studies… one could do worse than reply: ‘the failure of religion.’”
(Explanation: When religion lost influence, English studies grew. Literature took the place of religion as a moral guide.)
“English was literally the poor man’s Classics.”
(Explanation: English was taught to working-class people as an easier version of Greek and Latin studies.)
“The whole Scrutiny project was at once hair-raisingly radical and really rather absurd.”
(Explanation: The Scrutiny movement was both bold and serious but also unrealistic and narrow in vision.)
“In literature, and perhaps in literature alone, a vital feel for the creative uses of language was still manifest.”
(Explanation: Literature kept the power of language alive. It showed creativity when other fields did not.)
“The rise of English is more or less concomitant with an historic shift in the very meaning of the term ‘moral’.”
(Explanation: As English studies grew, the meaning of “moral” changed. Morality became linked to culture and literature.)
“It is not until the time of William Morris… that the gap between poetic vision and political practice was significantly narrowed.”
(Explanation: William Morris connected poetry with real political action. Before him, poetry and politics were far apart.)
“English Literature rode to power on the back of wartime nationalism; but it also represented a search for spiritual solutions.”
(Explanation: English studies grew stronger during wartime. It gave people hope and spiritual comfort in hard times.)
“Like religion, literature works primarily by emotion and experience, and so was admirably well-fitted to carry through the ideological task which religion left off.”
(Explanation: Literature influences people through feelings, just like religion. It took over religion’s role of shaping values and beliefs.)
