Reeve and Landor

Paper Summary:

The paper states that writers who place their tales in exotic locations may have visited those locations or they may also derive what they believe about distant locales from what another writer has put in print. The paper then compares Clara Reeve's story about Egypt, "The History of Charoba, Queen of Egypt", with Walter Savage Landor's poem, "Gebir", which is also about Egypt. The paper highlights that Landor derived much of what he included about Egypt, from the work by Reeves, while Reeve invented most of her view of Egypt by imagining the place and its people. Reeves published her story in 1785, and Landor published his novel in 1798. The paper states that Landor retells the story of Charoba in a different form. He does not credit Reeve with the original, which might matter to Reeve, but which has no real effect on the literary value of Gebir.

From the Paper:

"Gebir has much more to it than the tragedy when Gebir is killed. The dead king is taken to somewhere deep in the earth where he sees other kings who went before him. The text is in part a warning to Napoleon not to make the mistakes earlier leaders had made. Gebir's brother Tamar flees with his love to Corsica, and she prophesies "From Tamar shall rise, 'tis Fate's decree, / A mortal man above all mortal praise." This likely refers to Napoleon, and Landor saw Napoleon as a leader of the people more than as one whom imposed himself upon the people, as other rulers often did."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Elwin, Malcolm. Landor, a Replevin. London: MacDonald, 1958.
• Landor, Walter Savage. Gebir. Oxford: Woodstock Books, 1993.
• Reeve, Clara. "The Progress of Romance." In Bluestocking Feminism: The Writings of the Bluestocking Circle, 1738-1785, Volume 6, Sarah Scott and Clara Reeve (eds.). .London: Pickering and Chatto, 1999.

More papers on Reeve and Landor:

• Comparison Essay # 97040 : "Christopher Reeves and Tom Hanks"
• Analytical Essay # 4221 : "Understanding Chaucer's "Reeve's Tale"
• Essay # 142434 : "Internal And External Design Validity Clinical Significance"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: