Thomas Hood's literary reading as shown in his works

Abstract

The following thesis is an account of Thomas Hood's literary reading, arranged according to the nationality and chronology of the works read. Thus, after an Introduction, chapter 1 deals with classical literature, chapter II with foreign literature, especially the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Don Quixote, the Divine Comedy, and the Decameron, also French literature, particularly Rabelais, and American literature. There is a brief section on the Bible. German literature, particularly the work of Goethe and Schiller, is dealt with separately in chapter III. Chapter IV deals with English literature to the age of Shakespeare., particularly the work of Spenser and Marlowe and Chapman's 'Hero and Leander'. Chapter VI deals with English prose of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with a concluding section on the drama. Chapter VII deals with English poetry of this period. Chapter VIII deals with contemporary English prose, the novel between Scott and Dickens, periodical literature, particularly the work of the writers of the London Magazine, and miscellaneous writing, particularly travel works. There is again a final section on the drama. Chapter IX deals with contemporary English poetry, particularly the work of the greater and lesser romantics. The Conclusion is an attempt to evaluate Hood's work in the light of his reading. This is followed by a bibliography of uncollected Hood items. In accordance with the regulations concerning the Ph. D. degree I am submitting as subsidiary matter a printed contribution to the advancement of my subject, an article, 'Taylor and Hessey: aspects of their conduct of the London Magazine,' which is bound in at the back of this thesis.