Aphoristic style of Bacon December 19, 2010 Introduction: Bacon’s fame as a writer depends most of all on the fact that he is the father of modern English prose. He evolved a prose style that proved for the first time that English could also be used to express the subtleties of thought, in clear and uninvolved sentences. The critics have noticed that there is a marked difference between Bacon’s earlier and later essays. Macaulay, contrasting extracts from of Studies (1597) and Of Adversity (1625) illustrates what he calls the two styles of Bacon. It is true that there is a vast difference between the styles of Bacon. But it is rather questionable whether this difference could be attributed to the fact that Bacon had gained a maturity of mind and intellect. Bacon wrote in more than one style. The stately movement of The Advancement of Learning and Of Adversity has been achieved in 1605 itself. Does that mean that Bacon had achieved maturity of mind and imagination in eight years? This is not convincing. The explanation lies in the fact that Bacon’s very conception of the essay underwent a change. Bacon described his essays as “Dispersed Meditations”. The first collection of essays is fully illustrative of Bacon’s definition of the essay as dispersed meditations set down significantly rather than curiously. The original idea was to make the essays into a sort of diary in which significant observations on various topics of practical importance. His essays were jotted down in a terse and pithy and concise
language. His first essays were a mere skeleton of thought, grouped around central themes with suitable titles. There was no attempt polishing the style or clothing the statements with literary beauty or imaginative grace. When, however, Bacon saw that his essays had gained an unexpected popularity, he thought that it was worth while polishing them and making them richer. These essays are very brief in length. The ideas have not been developed. The sentences are all crisp, short and sententious. Each sentence stands by itself. There is so much of condensation that each sentence can easily be expanded into a paragraph. That is to say that one single sentence does the job of a paragraph. Essays not quite dispersed meditations: It would, however, be a mistake to call all the essays of Bacon “Dispersed Meditations”. There are some which have received at his hand, a rather detailed treatment and which cannot be termed as “Sketchy”. In these essays, Bacon finds room for conjunctions and connective clauses. Ideas are not left underdeveloped and transitions from one thought to another are not so abrupt. In Of Friendship, there is a logical approach in the enumeration of the principle fruits of friendship. Each advantage is properly handled and ideas are developed smoothly. There is not that abrupt transition of thought that characterized some of Bacon’s other essays. Of Empire can be said to contain almost exhaustive treatment of the dangers that beset a king in those days. In Of Seditions and Troubles, there is a quite closely reasoned and connected account of the causes and remedies of discontentment and agitation that may
fester and burst out into trouble for the country. Aphoristic sentences are found in these essays too, but attention has been given to other factors as well. Aphoristic style of Bacon: An aphoristic style means a compact, condensed and epigrammatic style of writing. Bacon’s writing has been admired for various reasons. Some have admired them for dazzling rhetoric, others his grace. In Bacon we find a style which is distinct and at the same time characteristic of his age. His style includes various qualities. Firstly, he remains the best aphoristic, so he stands the most quotable writer. There is terseness of expression and epigrammatic brevity, in the essays of Bacon. His sentences are brief and rapid, but they are also forceful. As Dean Church says, “They come down like the strokes of a hammer.” The force of aphoristic style depends on other stylistic qualities which supplement it. He weighs the pros and cons of a statement and immediately counter-balances it. (Give examples from the above the extracts). A Rhetorician: Bacon’s style is definitely rhetorical. In this connection, Saintsbury has remarked that no one, “knows better than —- (Bacon) how to leave a single word to produce all its effects by using it in some slightly uncommon sense. He has great powers of attracting and persuading his readers even though he may not convince them. In prose rhetoric, in the use, that is to say, of language to dazzle and persuade, not to convince. He has few rivals and no superiors in English.” There is a constant use of imagery and analogy in Bacon’s essays. The apt and extensive use of metaphors, images, similitudes and analogies is in keeping with the view of the
rhetoricians of the ancient as well as of the Renaissance. Bacon draws his imagery from the familiar objects o nature, or from the facts of every day life. His Allusions and Quotations: The essay bear witness to Bacon’s learned mind in the extensive use of quotations and allusions drawn from various sources, classical fables, the Bible, History, the ancient Greek and the Roman writers. Of Truth includes Pilate, Lucian and Montaigne, In Of Great Place; we have Tacitus, Galba and Vespacian, and Of Friendship includes reference to Aristotle. Thus Bacon employs allusions to and quotations in order to explain his point. They serve to make his style more scholarly and enrich it while lending to his ideas. Though, his style is heavy with learning, yet it is more flexible than any of his predecessors and contemporaries. His sentences are short and with this shortness comes lucidity of expression. Thus he shows mastery of the principles of prose. There almost no humor in Bacon’s essays, but his essays are packed with astounding wit. Conclusion: The style of Bacon is not the personal and chatty style of the subjective essayist like Montaigne and Lamb. It is dignified and aphoristic style. He was indeed a consummate artist who polished and chiseled his expressions and who could change his style to suit to his subject. Leave a Comment » | | Permalink Posted by neoenglish
MA English-Literature
Bacon’s Essays – a blend of philosophizing, moralizing and worldly wisdom December 19, 2010 Introduction: “I have taken all knowledge for my province” says Bacon and “Beyond any other book of the same size in any literature they are loaded with ripest wisdom of experience.” Says Hudson regarding Bacon’s essays. No body can deny the wisdom of Bacon of his understanding of the affairs of the world. He shows an extraordinary insight regarding the problems that men face in life. But his wisdom is only practical and not moral. Alexander Pope has given the following remarks about Bacon in his epic: If parts allure these think how Bacon shin’d The wisest, brightest and meanest of mankind There is some basic truth in this contention. One cannot deny his wisdom, his observation, intellect and genius. Bacon was a very complex and enigmatic character. The dichotomy of moral values what one finds in his essays was to be found in his character, too. ComptonRickett says, “He had a great brain, not a great soul.” He wanted to serve humanity with through the expansion of usable knowledge. He was aware that no headway could be made in this world without adopting certain mean ways. He was a product of the Renaissance with composite qualities such as wisdom, meanness and brightness. Bacon was a man of the Renaissance and that was an age which tried to explore to the full, the opportunities of mind and body afforded to man. The term, Renaissance means Re-
birth or more generally the Revival of Learning. It was a series of events by whichEurope passed from Medieval to a Modern Civilization. In this age, there was a new spirit of inquiry, of criticism and of passionate scientific inventions. Literature of that age was chiefly marked by this spirit and Bacon’s essays have several features that show the spirit of Renaissance. A very important writer of the Italian Renaissance was Machiavelli whose opportunistic philosophy sacrificed high ethical ideals in the interest of achieving material progress. Man is an individual and an end in himself and this sense of individualism gave rise to the feeling that he must know how to get on in this world. The revival of classical learning and the study of ancient Greek and Roman Literature and history was a hallmark of the Renaissance. The spirit of learning is very much in the essays of Bacon. There are many allusions to ancient history and the references to classical mythology are all evidence of the typical Renaissance culture. Latin writers such as Seneca and Virgil and Lucian have frequently been drawn. His love of learning is portrayed in his essay Of Studies and he substantiates his arguments in his essay, Of Friendship with instances from history. Blake on reading the essays of Bacon is supposed to have remarked that they were good advice for Satan’s Kingdom. Now, a Satan’s Kingdom naturally implies a state of affairs in which morality has no place or in which actions are governed by a complete lack of principles. To some extent, it is indeed undeniable that
Bacon’s advice incorporates a certain cool disregard for high moral ideals. The actual fact is that in Bacon’s essays, one find dichotomy of values, the essays present a strange complexity and contradiction of wisdom and values. In order to understand the real meaning of his essays, it is imperative to understand the underlying purpose of his writing. Man was the subject of most literature and man is the subject of Bacon’s essays too. Thus the wisdom that Bacon shows in his essays is regulated by the practical consideration. It is frankly utilitarian. This does not mean that the essays don’t contain ethical or philosophical values, they do, but the overall hallmark of his essays is practical use. Wisdom, Meanness and Brightness: To a religiousminded man like Blake, advice such as what Bacon offers in his essays must indeed have been shocking. Blake would regard any utilitarian advice as opposite to God’s ways, but Bacon was not so particular, for he a man of the Renaissance. It is easy to assume that Bacon’s wisdom was cynical because many of his advice calmly ignores ethical standards and seems to imply that nothing succeeds like success. Bacon is utilitarian, but he is so because he realized that the vast majority of the people in the world are guided by this attitude and success for them has only one meaning – the material success. His essays reflect the profound wisdom of his mind, his brightness is ascertained by his vast knowledge and literary and classical allusions made in his works, his meanness does not deal with his money. He was reputed to be a very
generous man. He was mean because he showed a surprising lack of principle in promoting his selfish interests. Philosopher – cum – moralist: At least two of his essays present him as entertaining deep regard for high sentiments and the sanctity of truth. Of Truth speaks of truth, love and fair dealings in high terms. Here he is a philosopher who advocates the pursuit of truth. He is also a moralist when he says that “man’s mind should turn upon the “poles of truth.” Falsehood debases man despite his material gains and success. Bacon advocates man to follow a path of truth and truthfulness. Similarly, his essay Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature is on a purely moral plane. He counsels goodness, charity and benevolence and there is a clear condemnation of evil. There are some essays in which he puts a number of moral precepts, not ignoring prudential aspects. When we come to Bacon’s essays dealing with subjects such as love, marriage, family life and parents and children, we are struck by the cold and unemotional treatment of topics what could easily admit an emotional approach. Prudence governs marriage, love and friendship. Love is an emotion, not fit for life according to Bacon. As a philosopher, he takes a balanced view of every thing, weighs the pros and cons of every issue, presents different aspects of the picture and counsels moderation. This is a rationalist’s approach and it preludes emotion and feeling. The essays are a handbook of practical wisdom. Each essay is a collection of suggestion and guideline for a man of action. His essays lack coherence and logical sequence, otherwise a quality in a standard essay. But his essays are unity of ideas.
Conclusion: But it has to be pointed out that Bacon is not a moral idealist. He does not preach morality, but not ideal morality. The kind of morality he teaches is tinged with what is called worldliness. We might even say that the guiding principle is expediency. Yet one cannot say that Bacon is amoral or immoral in his advice. In every issue, he balances the advantage and disadvantage. Even within the utilitarian code, there is a code of conduct – a morality that is perhaps as high as is easily practicable in the world as we know it. His essays embody the wisdom and philosophy and morality of a clear-eyed realist who knows quite well that men should be and but also knew what they actually were. Bacon is undoubtedly a man whose morality is greater than the average man’s, but it is not of the highest order. The pursuit of good and right are important but not if it proves too costly in worldly terms. His advice is neither for Satan’s Kingdom nor for God’s, but for the Kingdom of man.
