Write a note on Steele as an essayist.

Ans.

Introduction

As a man Steele was impulsive by nature and was of ten careless of proprieties. But he was also generous. He was modest in his estimate of himself, and charitable towards the faults and follies at which he laughed. It is common knowledge that he held Addison in high esteem and depreciated himself in comparison with his friend, whom he was delighted to honour. But Steele himself was by no means an insignificant writer.

2. Steele and Addison as Writer

Steele is remarkable for his versatility in conceiving humorous characters. He has a wide range of sympathies. His prose style is vigorous though commonplace. With Addison he could not compete in delicacy of humour, in scholarly precision, or in refinement of thought. But he undoubtedly possessed greater originality of invention than Addison, and he has a more masculine turn of mind.

3. The purpose of Steele’s Essays

Steele, the writer, is humble but resolute in his aims. He speaks of himself in the following memorable words “As for my labours…if they can but wear an impertinence out of hu man life, destroy a single vice, or give a morning’s cheerfulness to an honest mind-in short, if the world can be but one virtue the better or in any degree less vicious….I shall not think my pains, or indeed my life, to have been spent in vain.”

Thus Steele’s purpose in his writings is obviously moralistic. The general purpose of his papers was, in his own words, “to recommend truth, innocence, honour and virtue as the chief ornaments of life, and to attack prevailing and fashionable vices.”

4. Steele as a genuine essayist

But apart from their moral qualities, there is in Steele’s papers an open frankness which makes them extremely attractive. Hardly any form of literature is more fascinating than autobiography when it is written sincerely. Without professing to be so, Steele is habitually autobiographical. He is all the more sincere because his self-revelations are frequently unconscious. He does not often tell the facts of his life but he constantly reveals the feelings of his heart. Thus Steele was properly equipped to be a genuine essayist.

5. His prose style

Steele is not known for eloquence or for great fights of imagination. But this is only to be expected. Steele was a journalist. He addressed himself to the common reader, and had to speak to them in their own language. He had to be clear and simple in his expression. His sentences are, therefore, usually short and uninvolved. His manner is always charming because he appears to speak in a confidential tone.

Secondly, Steele belonged to an age that believed in reason and com mon sense. People of his age could be approached more easily through intellect, through reasoning and argument; then there is ample evidence in Steele’s writings that his appeal is by no means limited to the good sense of his readers. There is much appeal in his writings to noble human sentiments.