Legitimate Histories

Abstract

This book is an innovative reading of Walter Scott's Waverley Novels in the context of 18th- and 19th-century Gothic. Most critics have treated these two forms of historical narrative as though they were completely unrelated, but this detailed study places Scott's work in the context of Gothic fictions from Walpole to Maturin. In so doing, the author highlights their shared techniques of narrative deferral, fantasies of origin and originality, and strategies of authenticity and authority. The book takes in the whole range of Waverley Novels, and includes analyses of such neglected works as The Fortunes of Nigel, Peveril of the Peak, and Woodstock, as well as the more frequently studied Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian, and Redgauntlet. Offering fresh insight into the variety and complexity of Scott's novels, and into the traditions of criticism that have so often obscured them, this book contributes to the study of Romanticism, the novel, and to current theoretical debates concerning historical fiction and historiographic authority.