The Heart of Mid-Lothian (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Good example of Scott's work
Review: A tough read but the book is particularily rewarding for the notes in the back. They give a great overview of the life and times of the characters.

The note's while being very thorough can be a little convoluted. At least twice I was refererred to notes on notes on notes!!

Rating:
Summary: Good example of Scott's work
Review: A tough read but the book is particularily rewarding for the notes in the back. They give a great overview of the life and times of the characters.

The note's while being very thorough can be a little convoluted. At least twice I was refererred to notes on notes on notes!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Scott
Review: Heart of Midlothian is best known today in Scotland as the name of a football team from Edinburgh. Many may be aware that the team took its name from a novel, but Scott's story is little read nowadays so few indeed are aware that the novel took its name from a prison. This prison was situated in the centre of Edinburgh in the county of Midlothian, until it was torn down in 1817, and no doubt a certain irony was intended when it became known as The Heart of Midlothian. Scott's novel focuses on the prison firstly in its description of the Porteous riot of 1736 when a mob stormed the prison in order to revenge itself on a prisoner who it seemed was to escape justice. More importantly it is to this prison that Effie Deans is sent for the crime of child murder, because she has kept the fact of her pregnancy secret and cannot produce the child. Effie faces the prospect of execution even though there is no evidence that she has killed her baby. The law considered her secrecy as evidence enough of her guilt. This leads to a terrible dilemma for the novel's heroine Jeannie Deans. If she would merely say that she had been told of her sister's pregnancy, Effie would go free. Jeannie will go to any lengths to free her sister, but she will not lie. In her search for justice Jeannie must walk to London and her extraordinary journey takes her to the very top of 18th century society.

Jeannie Deans is the greatest of Scott's heroines. She is strong both physically and morally. While she may not have the education of some of those she meets, she more than matches their learning with her own common sense. It is the investigation of her character, which makes the novel so interesting. The story is well told and is often exciting with lots of suspense and emotion, but Scott is less concerned with romance in this novel than in some of his others. The story of Jeannie's love for her childhood friend Reuben Butler is important, but told in such a way as to emphasise Jeannie's morals and sense rather than her romantic inclinations. If there is a romantic heroine in the novel, it is Effie, but her wilful, petulant nature together with her involvement with a rake is contrasted unfavourably with the behaviour and character of her sister. Heart of Midlothian is a long novel perhaps too long, as the fourth part is not quite as good as the first three. It is also quite a difficult read with a good deal of difficult legalistic language and a greater than usual amount of Scots dialect. The best edition of the novel is undoubtedly that edited by David Hewitt and Alison Lumsden. The editors have gone back to Scott's manuscript and the first edition of the novel in order to correct numerous errors and restore a number of important readings, which have previously been lost. The result is a stunning example of modern editorial scholarship, which provides the reader with a text, which is easier and more enjoyable to read. This edition moreover has an extensive set of notes and a full glossary both of which are essential if Scott's text is to be fully understood. Heart of Midlothian is perhaps not the best place to begin reading Scott. But it is a novel, which anyone who reads Scott should aim towards, for it is quite possibly the best of the Waverley novels.


Rating:
Summary: The Trials and Triumphs of Jeanie Deans
Review: Sir Walter Scott's 1818 novel, "The Heart of Mid-Lothian" deals with events in the lives of the Deans family from 1736 to the early 1750's. The novel begins with the 1736 Porteous riots, in which disgruntled citizens of Edinburgh storm the local prison to take revenge on a needlessly cruel official. With Anglo-Scottish relations in a tailspin and Queen Caroline levying a rash of punishments against Edinburgh in the background, the action of "Mid-Lothian" commences.

The principle heroes of the novel are Jeanie Deans and her longtime suitor, Reuben Butler. The two rustic born youths are from differently oriented Presbyterian ancestry - their parents' religious differences force an almost interminable delay in the progress of their affections. Butler's extensive formal and ministerial education notwithstanding, his financial position is such that he cannot comfortably propose a union to Jeanie's father. Further complication arises when Jeanie's younger and more impulsive half-sister, Effie, is seduced and later accused of murdering her child. The majority of the novel details Jeanie's attempts to question the impropriety of the judgement against her sister, and her interactions with the world outside of provincial northern Scotland.

As always, Scott deals with a range of social, economic, political, and legal issues. Among these in "Mid-Lothian" is the right of the Scottish to control their own internal disputes - are Scottish law and British law compatible? On a related tip, the novel calls into question whether the governors of the people have sufficient sympathy with and understanding of all the people they govern. Scott also examines the nature of language - with plain English, various Scottish dialects, and quotations from classical Latin and the Bible - the characters in the novel often have to understand each other before they can adequately communicate.

"Mid-Lothian" has a number of quirky and interesting minor characters: from the soft-spoken, yet intently-staring Dumbiedikes, to the hardline theologian-father David Deans, to the rake George Robertson, to the tragically mysterious Madge Wildfire, to the courtly, wistful Duke of Argyle. These minor characters add substance, humor, and diversity to Scott's intricate plot. In "The Heart of Mid-Lothian," Jeanie Deans, an unpretentious young woman, takes on a world beyond the enclosed experience of her home, bearing the troubles of her family, her community, and her nation on her back. The result is a great, if sometimes gregarious novel which you will certainly enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: The Trials and Triumphs of Jeanie Deans
Review: Sir Walter Scott's 1818 novel, "The Heart of Mid-Lothian" deals with events in the lives of the Deans family from 1736 to the early 1750's. The novel begins with the 1736 Porteous riots, in which disgruntled citizens of Edinburgh storm the local prison to take revenge on a needlessly cruel official. With Anglo-Scottish relations in a tailspin and Queen Caroline levying a rash of punishments against Edinburgh in the background, the action of "Mid-Lothian" commences.

The principle heroes of the novel are Jeanie Deans and her longtime suitor, Reuben Butler. The two rustic born youths are from differently oriented Presbyterian ancestry - their parents' religious differences force an almost interminable delay in the progress of their affections. Butler's extensive formal and ministerial education notwithstanding, his financial position is such that he cannot comfortably propose a union to Jeanie's father. Further complication arises when Jeanie's younger and more impulsive half-sister, Effie, is seduced and later accused of murdering her child. The majority of the novel details Jeanie's attempts to question the impropriety of the judgement against her sister, and her interactions with the world outside of provincial northern Scotland.

As always, Scott deals with a range of social, economic, political, and legal issues. Among these in "Mid-Lothian" is the right of the Scottish to control their own internal disputes - are Scottish law and British law compatible? On a related tip, the novel calls into question whether the governors of the people have sufficient sympathy with and understanding of all the people they govern. Scott also examines the nature of language - with plain English, various Scottish dialects, and quotations from classical Latin and the Bible - the characters in the novel often have to understand each other before they can adequately communicate.

"Mid-Lothian" has a number of quirky and interesting minor characters: from the soft-spoken, yet intently-staring Dumbiedikes, to the hardline theologian-father David Deans, to the rake George Robertson, to the tragically mysterious Madge Wildfire, to the courtly, wistful Duke of Argyle. These minor characters add substance, humor, and diversity to Scott's intricate plot. In "The Heart of Mid-Lothian," Jeanie Deans, an unpretentious young woman, takes on a world beyond the enclosed experience of her home, bearing the troubles of her family, her community, and her nation on her back. The result is a great, if sometimes gregarious novel which you will certainly enjoy.