RICHARD STEEL

-pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff, (born 1672, Dublin, Ireland, died Sept. 1, 1729, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire,

Wales).
-English essayist, dramatist, journalist, and politician, best known as principal author (with Joseph Addison) of the
periodicals The Tatler and The Spectator.
JOSEPH ADDISON
- (born May 1, 1672, Milston, Wiltshire, Eng.—died June 17, 1719, London).
- essayist, poet, and dramatist. His poem on the Battle of Blenheim, The Campaign (1705), brought him to the
attention of leading Whigs and paved the way to important government posts (including secretary of state) and literary
fame.
-With  Richard Steele, he was a leading contributor to and guiding spirit of the periodicals The Tatler (1709–11)
and The Spectator (1711–12, 1714). One of the most admired masters of English prose, he brought to perfection the
periodical essay. His Cato (1713), a highly successful play with political overtones, is one of the important tragedies
of the 18th century.
WORKS OF JOSEPH ADDISON

*THE TATLER
-a periodical launched in London by the essayist Sir Richard Steele in April 1709, appearing three times weekly until
January 1711. At first its avowed intention was to present accounts of gallantry, pleasure, and entertainment, of poetry,
and of foreign and domestic news.
-These all were reported and “issued” from various London coffee and chocolate houses. In time The Tatler began to
investigate manners and society, establishing its principles of ideal behaviour, its concepts of a perfect gentleman and
gentlewoman, and its standards of good taste. Dueling, gambling, rakish behaviour, and coquettishness were criticized,
and virtuous action was admired. Numerous anecdotes and stories gave point to the moral codes advanced. The
periodical had an explicit Whig allegiance and was several times drawn into political controversy.
-The English periodical essay began its first flowering in The Tatler, reaching its full bloom in the hands of Joseph
Addison. Addison seems to have made his first contribution to it in the 18th issue. Two months after The Tatler ceased
publication, he and Steele launched the brilliant periodical The Spectator.
THE SPECTATOR
- was a periodical published in London from 1711 to 1712 and written by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.
The Spectator contained articles and comments about literary works, authors, ethical matters, politics, social behavior,
character sketches, and other topics.
-The periodical was aimed at gently satirizing current behavior in all walks of life so as to reform that behavior in
ways that Mr. Spectator feels appropriate.

-The periodical was considered a model of essay-writing since its publication, and it is still used to illustrate various
aspects of essayistic style, especially description, narration, and satire.

SUMMARY OF “THE SPECTATOR"

The Spectator, arguably one of the most important periodicals ever published, 9had a two-series run from March 1,
1711, through December 6, 1712, for a total of 635 issues. It was edited (written) by two masters of the essay, Richard
Steele and Joseph Addison. For the most part, Richard Steele wrote the first series of 555 issues, and Joseph Addison
the second series of 79 issues. True to its billing as a periodical, it resembled most eighteenth-century London
newspapers in size and layout. Although the editorship was anonymous, many readers believed the writer was Richard
Steele, who had just been involved with another periodical, also well known, The Tatler. Steele and Addison
comprised the two main writers/editors, but several issues were written by others, all of whom were associated with
the coffee-house culture of the eighteenth-century London literati.

On March 1, 1711, Mr. Spectator introduced himself to his readership:

Thus I live in the World, rather as a Spectator of Mankind, than as one of the Species; by which means I have made
myself a Speculative Statesman, Soldier, Merchant, and Artizan, without ever meddling in any Practical Part in Life.

He goes on to explain that he is virtually, despite his lack of practical experience, an expert in many walks of life,
including marriage, parenthood, economics, and business—all of which he knows better than those who have actual
experience in those matters. In short, he is a polymath, a person who knows a great deal about everything.

True to its promise, The Spectator contains articles and comments about literary works (mostly Addison's work),
authors, ethical matters, politics, social behavior, character sketches (descriptions of character types, mostly from
Steele's work), as well as such mundane, but very funny, topics like women's hoop skirts and hairstyles. Nothing
within London society or politics is-off limits to the two writers; they even wrote several satirical essays on religious
controversies. As many scholars have observed, The Spectator seems overall to have been aimed at gently satirizing
current behavior in all walks of life so as to reform that behavior in ways that Mr. Spectator feels appropriate.

Mr. Spectator is not alone in his efforts to correct slight behavioral problems in eighteenth-century London. Like
many men of intellect and good intentions, he is part of a group of men who have become famous in their own right as
characters, the most famous of whom include Sir Roger de Coverley, a Tory (conservative) and wealthy landowner;
Sir Andrew Freeport; an unnamed lawyer who dislikes the law but loves plays; an unnamed clergyman; a retired
soldier named Captain Setry; and Will Honeycomb, an old dilettante. Each of the club members is a character type (e.
g., the soldier, the clergyman, Sir Roger) who represents the land-owning gentry, the military, the Anglican Church,
Whigs, or Tories—all express the standard views of their class and station and so provide the reader with a well-
rounded commentary on social matters. This group appears in many of the essays written by Steele in the first series,
but not in Addison's second series.

The value of Steel and Addison's work—and its influence on eighteenth-century British letters and literature—is
summed up in Samuel Johnson's comments that
the Book . . . comprises precepts of criticism, sallies of invention, descriptions of life, and lectures of virtue: It
employs wit in the cause of truth, and makes elegance subservient to piety . . . and given Addison a claim to be
numbered among the benefactors of mankind. (Public Advertiser, 12/14/1776)

Johnson's comments point to the periodical's good-natured satire, rather than invective, in its attempt to suggest
models of proper behavior. Johnson, who was himself a relatively harsh critic of eighteenth-century life in mid-
century London, recognizes the benefit of satire that pushes, instead of shoves, readers into better behavior.

Addison and Steele, in The Spectator and elsewhere, are considered among the finest essay writers in English
literature, and much of our current view of the essay in English derives from these writers. In fact, The Spectator has
been a consistently used model of essay-writing since its publication, and it is still used to illustrate various types of
approaches—especially description, narration, and satire—to essay-writing.
The Spectator Themes

The main themes in The Spectator include social class, literature, and science.
 Social class: The essays on Sir Roger's visit to his country home illustrate the class divisions in English
society.

 Literature: The Spectator often discussed literary subjects, such as the works of John Milton.

 Science: The writers covered science, a field whose prominence was on the rise in the eighteenth century.

THE CHARACTERS
Arietta- is visited by all Persons of both Sexes, who may have any Pretence to Wit and Gallantry. She is in that time of
Life which is neither affected with the Follies of Youth or infirmities of Age; and her Conversation is so mixed with
Gaiety and Prudence, that she is agreeable both to the Young and the Old. Her Behaviour is very frank, without being
in the least blameable; and as she is out of the Tract of any amorous or ambitious Pursuits of her own, her Visitants
entertain her with Accounts of themselves very freely, whether they concern their Passions or their Interests. 
Mr. Thomas -Inkle of London, aged twenty Years, embarked in the Downs, on the good Ship called the Achilles,
bound for the West Indies, on the 16th of June 1647, in order to improve his Fortune by Trade and Merchandize. 
 Yarico-a young woman Inkle encounters when his ship stops in America to look for provisions. In what might be an
echo of the Pocahontas story, the two strangers fall in love, and Yarico saves Inkle from her tribesmen, who kill many
of Inkle's shipmates.
Analysis
The bachelor Sir Roger, chief narrator of the Spectator, is depicted as a man of compassion and allowed to become a
spokesman for humane values. As we know from contemporaries such as Jonathan Swift, humane considerations were
not always foremost in early eighteenth-century England. Sir Roger, however, ever shows his compassion, for
example, in essay 116, when, after going on a hunt, he frees the rabbit.

One of the most famous and influential Spectator essays is number 11, which tells the story of Inkle and Yarico, and
in one fell swoop, strikes a blow against both sexism and racism.

In this story, Sir Roger visits Arietta, a woman he has been introduced to by the socialite Will Honeycomb. Here,
Steele uses a frame narrative to introduce his story within a story of Inkle and Yarico.

In the frame story, Arietta is outraged when a male guest puts down women as inconstant. She provides a story of her
own. In this story, a group of English stopping for provisions in the Americas as they voyage to the West Indies
unwisely go too far inland, and most are murdered by a band of Indians. However, Thomas Inkle is rescued by the
"Indian maid" Yarico, who hides him a cave and brings him food. The two fall in love, and eventually Inkle is able to
persuade the now pregnant Yarico to run away with him, promising to marry her in England. When they arrive in
Barbados, however, Inkle sells her into slavery. She tries to stop him by telling him she is pregnant, but that only
inspires him to raise his price.

This essay is comparable to Swift's "A Modest Proposal" in its condemnation of placing material gain over human
welfare. Inkle, we learn early on, has had:
instill[ed] into his Mind an early Love of Gain, by making him a perfect Master of Numbers, and consequently giving
him a quick View of Loss and Advantage.

Yet unlike Swift's sharp satire, Steele uses a gentler touch, ending the story with Sir Roger's tears of compassion:
I was so touch'd with this Story, (which I think should be always a Counterpart to the Ephesian Matron) that I left the
Room with Tears in my Eyes ; which a Woman of Arietta's good Sense, did, I am sure, take for greater Applause, than
any Compliments I could make her.

Although we are much more likely to read "A Modest Proposal" today, the story of Inkle and Yarico was wildly
popular into the nineteenth century. It was made into an opera, and adopted by the growing abolitionist movement,
which often turned Yarico into a black woman begging not to be sold into slavery.
The story shows the reach of the Spectator, which continued to have an impact well beyond the early eighteenth
century.