Boucquey Thierry (General Editor). Encyclopedia Of World Writers. 3 volumes
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The Aeneid, by P. Vergilius Maro (Virgil), the Di-
vine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, and Paradise Lost
by John MILTON are examples of the art epic.
Works about Epics
Merchant, Paul. The Epic. London: Methuen, 1971.
Newman, John Kevin. The Classical Epic Tradition.
Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1986.
Equiano, Olaudah (Gustavus Vassa)
(1745–1797) autobiographer
Olaudah Equiano was born in the Benin region of
what is now Nigeria. His name means “one
favoured, and having a loud voice and well spoken.”
His father was a distinguished man in in Essaka, a
village along the Niger River. When Equiano was 11,
he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Eventually,
he was sent to Virginia, where he was bought and
put to work on a plantation. He was then sold to
Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the Royal
Navy. After years of sailing around the world with
Pascal, Equiano was able to buy his freedom in 1766.
Equiano settled in London, where he became an
active member of the movement to abolish slavery
in Britain. At age 44, he published the work that was
to make him famous, his autobiography The Inter-
esting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or
Gustavus Vassa (1789). This immensely popular
work influenced many African-American writers
who followed him, including Frederick Douglass,
Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, and Malcolm X.
The Interesting Narrative tells the story of
Equiano’s life, but its real purpose is to demon-
strate the essential humanity of people of color
and, to some extent, to question the perception of
whites as “civilized” and Africans as “uncivilized.”
In the first chapter, Equiano describes the life and
customs of his native village in terms that suggest
that the simplicity of Benin life was quite superior
to life in the great cities to which he had traveled.
From this simple life, Equiano is plunged into hell.
In the hold of the slave ship that transports him to
Barbados, the stench is “absolutely pestilential”
and “the shrieks of the women, and the groans of
the dying, [render] the whole scene of horror al-
most inconceivable.”
The structure and style of The Interesting Narra-
tive show the influence of 18th-century writers such
as DEFOE, ROWLANDSON, and FRANKLIN. Equiano
traces his progress from slavery to escape to free-
dom, and while he uses a conventional form, the de-
tails of his story are unique to his own experiences.
One important theme of the narrative is the
question of identity, symbolized in the various
names Equiano is given and must accept. In Vir-
ginia he is given two names, Michael and Jacob,
while on board ship, he is called Gustavus Vassa.
Equiano’s struggle with his identity prefigures the
struggles of generations of enslaved peoples and
their descendants. Critic Robert J. Allison writes
that “Equiano’s book ...reminds us of the lives of
millions who did not live to tell their stories.”
An English Version of a Work by
Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. New York:
Random House, 2004.
A Work about Olaudah Equiano
Cameron, Ann. The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of
Olaudah Equiano. New York: Random House,
2000.
Erasmus, Desiderius (ca. 1469–1536)
theologian, philosopher
During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the
artistic and literary influences of the RENAISSANCE,
which were first felt in Italy, spread across Europe.
The rediscovery of the knowledge and literature of
ancient Greece and Rome allowed scholars to pro-
mote learning. HUMANISM, a new, secular way of
viewing the world, gradually began to replace the
static, religiously obsessed thought that had domi-
nated the intellectual climate of the Middle Ages.
Humanism was largely devoted to the study of
human beings as they exist in the world, rather
than the study of religion and theology. One of the
Erasmus, Desiderius 87
foremost writers and thinkers of this time period,
who became known as the “Prince of Humanists,”
was Desiderius Erasmus.
Erasmus was born in the Dutch city of Rotter-
dam. Because of his birthplace, he is often known
simply as “Erasmus of Rotterdam.” Little is known of
his family or his early life, although it is known that
he was the son of a priest. He received a solid educa-
tion in monastic schools and, briefly, at the Univer-
sity of Paris. He took priestly orders in 1492, but
never adopted the profession, preferring to devote
his life to academic studies.
Over the course of his life, Erasmus wandered
from one part of Europe to another, never settling
down in one place for very long. At various times,
he lived in France, Switzerland, Italy, and England.
He told his friends that he considered his library,
which he took with him in his travels, to be his
home. He lived a celibate and meticulous life,
never paying much attention to money or posses-
sions. He intensely disliked personal disputes and
tried to stay on good terms with everyone. Al-
though he held very strong views about the short-
comings of the Roman Catholic Church, he always
expressed them with a strong sense of irony, almost
as if to disguise what he really believed.
Because of his assuaging personality, he was
held in extremely high regard throughout Europe
and was on friendly terms with some of the most
famous rulers, statesmen, and intellectual figures
of the day. Although he remained loyal to the
Catholic Church throughout his life, Erasmus also
corresponded with Martin
LUTHER, the chief fig-
ure of the Protestant Reformation. He made a
strong effort to stay neutral in the great religious
and intellectual debates that erupted throughout
Europe during the 16th century. However, in the
intensely belligerent atmosphere of the Protestant
Reformation, even Erasmus would be unable to
stay entirely removed from the conflict.
In 1499 Erasmus visited England, where he met
and befriended the great humanist scholar, Sir
Thomas MORE, with whom he shared a devoted
and intellectually-vibrant friendship for the rest of
his life. One year later, he published Adages, which
is essentially a collection of sayings and proverbs
from ancient Greek and Roman literature. It re-
flects the author’s knowledge of classical texts, as
well as his preoccupation with the purity of the
Greek and Latin languages.
A few years after the publication of Adages, Eras-
mus published his second major work, The
Enchiridion. This book, which would later have a
huge impact on the English and American Puritan
communities, describes the author’s belief that piety
should be a simple matter of the heart and rely less
on the formal ritual of the church. He viewed reli-
gious life as pure and simple, something that could
be created from the heart, but he never rejected the
church’s authority, as Luther would later do.
Critical Analysis
In 1509, while living in England at the invitation of
King Henry VIII, Erasmus wrote his most cele-
brated work, In Praise of Folly. With brilliant use
of irony and symbolism, he cleverly describes
much of what he dislikes about contemporary Eu-
ropean culture, particularly in terms of the reli-
gious establishment. In Praise of Folly was printed
in 1511 and became very popular, going through
several editions within the author’s lifetime. The
church, however, disapproved of the work and
began to look upon Erasmus with suspicion.
The book was written in polished Latin and was
dedicated to Thomas More. Erasmus intended the
audience of the book to be a small number of fel-
low humanists. He was taken by surprise when the
book became very popular with many people from
different levels of society and differing educational
backgrounds.
Erasmus uses the character of Folly, whom he
describes as a foolish woman, to speak his mind
regarding various aspects of European society. He
ironically declares that folly and stupidity allow
people to live the kinds of lives they live; if it
weren’t for folly, people simply would not put up
with things as they are. He ridicules various
conventions concerning romance and marriage. In
88 Erasmus, Desiderius
addition, in his discussions of intellectuals and au-
thors, he declares them also to be victims of folly.
The most important aspects of In Praise of Folly
are the criticisms Erasmus leveled against the reli-
gious institutions of the Catholic Church. He
ridicules theologians whose debates he considers
to be nonsensical wastes of time. He also attacks
monks as illiterate hypocrites. In general, Erasmus
criticizes all those elements of contemporary reli-
gion that he considered to detract from pure,
heartfelt religious devotion.
In Praise of Folly was very popular but was also
widely criticized. Because of his skillful use of irony
and wit, Erasmus was shielded from official censure
by the church. Although he always remained loyal
to the Catholic Church, In Praise of Folly con-
tributed to the Protestant Reformation by creating
an image of the church as vulnerable to censure and
by exposing many of the church’s flaws.
In 1516 Erasmus published a Greek translation
of the New Testament, which he had prepared and
edited. It was an enormous feat of intellectual skill,
and it increased readership of the Bible. However,
like In Praise of Folly, it was regarded with distrust
by many Catholic leaders and scholars.
A few years after the publication of his Greek
version of the New Testament, the Protestant Re-
formation began. Very quickly, European theolo-
gians and intellectuals were being pressured to
choose sides, supporting either Martin Luther and
the Protestants or the Roman Catholic Church.
Erasmus tried desperately to remain neutral. He
wrote Luther, calling on him to restrain his anti-
Catholic fervor, and he asked all sides of the dis-
pute to resolve their arguments through logical
compromise. In this effort to keep the peace, Eras-
mus was doomed to fail. He was trying to be a rea-
sonable man in an unreasonable age. By trying to
please both sides, he pleased neither; Luther de-
nounced Erasmus for not joining the Reformation,
while the Catholic Church later declared him a
heretic for refusing to condemn Luther.
The Protestant Reformation dominated the re-
mainder of Erasmus’s life. In the mid-1520s, at
More’s urging and in response to Luther’s bitter at-
tack on his character, Erasmus wrote Hyperaspistes,
also known as A Weighty Consideration. In this
work, he criticizes Luther for his hatred of all who
disagree with him and, in effect, asks Luther for an
apology. While the work reflects Erasmus’s com-
promising attitude, it had little impact on the bit-
ter and violent disputes raging throughout Europe.
Elderly and in failing health, Erasmus moved
from place to place, accused by Catholics of
being a secret Protestant and charged by Protes-
tants of being a Catholic reactionary. He finally
found refuge among fellow humanists in Basel,
Switzerland, where he later died in the home of
a friend.
Erasmus’s fame is based on his enormous influ-
ence on the literary culture of his age, which raised
the study of classical languages to a respected and
even revered profession. By doing so, he powerfully
advanced intellectual activities of all kinds.
English Versions of Works by
Desiderius Erasmus
Adages of Erasmus. Translated by Margaret Mann
Phillips. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1964.
Erasmus on Women. Edited by Erika Rummel. On-
tario: University of Toronto Press, 1996.
In Praise of Folly. Translated by Clarence Miller. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979.
Selections from Erasmus. IndyPublish, 2004.
Works about Desiderius Erasmus
Augustijn, Cornelis. Erasmus: His Life, Works and In-
fluence. Translated by J. C. Grayson. Toronto: Uni-
versity of Toronto Press, 1991.
Crompton, Samuel Willard. Desiderius Erasmus.
Langhorne, Pa.: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004.
Faulkner, John Alfred. Erasmus: The Scholar. Miami,
Fla.: International Law and Taxation, 2003.
Huizinga, Johan. Erasmus and the Age of Reformation.
London: Phoenix Press, 2002.
Mee, Charles L. Erasmus: The Eye of the Hurricane.
New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1973.
Erasmus, Desiderius 89
Everyman (ca. 1500) medieval drama
Though the author of the English play Everyman is
unknown, he was probably an Englishman who
translated it from a copy of a Dutch play of the
same name at the beginning of the 16th century.
Everyman is an example of a morality play, a type
of medieval drama that addressed the questions of
how to live a good Christian life and how best to
prepare for death.
Everyman conveys the message that preparation
for death requires giving up worldly possessions,
repenting of sins, asking God for mercy, and sub-
mitting oneself to be judged on the merit of works,
or good deeds. Everyman (who, as his name sug-
gests, represents the average person) is summoned
by Death and finds he is not ready to be called to
God for his “reckoning,” for he has spent his life
pursuing wealth. One by one, the friends Every-
man calls upon for help desert him, and in his in-
creasing isolation and despair he learns finally that
only knowledge and good deeds will benefit him in
the final judgment. The play teaches that knowl-
edge includes both self-knowledge, arrived at by
using the five wits or senses, and knowledge of
God, made possible only through humility.
The story-type of the false friends first appears
in an oriental collection of fables called Barlaam
and Josaphat, which was a popular sourcebook for
medieval sermons. Everyman is often praised for
its natural language, which is not elevated or ob-
scure. The play makes the moral points that death
is the end of all things, and wrongdoing, while it
may be enjoyable at the moment, always carries
penalties in the end. Scholar A. C. Cawley calls
Everyman “one of the finest, if not one of the most
typical, of medieval Catholic moral plays.”
See also William
LANGLAND.
Editions of Everyman
Cawley, A. C., ed. Everyman and Medieval Miracle
Plays. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1965.
Coldewey, John C., ed. Early English Drama: An An-
thology. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993.
Conley, John, et al., eds. The Mirror of Everyman’s Sal-
vation. Amsterdam: Rodopi Editions, 1985.
Works about Everyman
Beadle, Richard, ed. The Cambridge Companion to
Medieval English Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1994.
Gilman, Donald, ed. Everyman & Company. New
York: AMS Press, 1989.
Wickham, Glynne. The Medieval Theatre. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987.
90 Everyman
91
F
fabliaux (1300s)
The fabliaux are short medieval bawdy tales, usually
told in verse, that originated in France during the
12th century. The fabliaux usually take place in the
present in middle- and lower-class settings. The plots
are humorous, usually scatological or sexual. Marie
de France included two fabliaux about amorous
women in her lais, and many fabliaux originated
from court writers and even clergymen. The fabliaux
subvert conventional morality, celebrating trickery
and sexual pleasure over honesty and chastity.
By 1300, the fabliaux had peaked as a fashion-
able literary genre in France, but Geoffrey CHAUCER
would create some of the best examples of the
form for his Canterbury Tales, including “The
Miller’s Tale,” “The Reeve’s Tale,” and “The Sum-
moner’s Tale.” Each centers on middle- and lower-
class characters, possessive impotent husbands,
and lusty young wives and their enterprising
lovers. Each features some painful or embarrassing
physical punishment. Finally, each punishes the
self-righteous and socially conscious characters
and rewards the cunning and carnal.
One variant of the fabliaux is the bestiary, or
beast fable, which Chaucer used in “The Nun’s
Priest’s Tale.” This tale features Chanticleer the
rooster and how he is almost fooled into becoming
dinner for a fox. The beast fable’s most popular
cycle was that of Reynard the Fox, which featured
animals taking on the social positions and atti-
tudes of feudal society. The king was a lion, a wolf
was Reynard’s prosecutor, and Reynard was a
trickster-courtier, intent on fooling others for his
own ends. Like Aesop’s fables, these fabliaux fea-
tured animals portraying human character types,
but unlike those fables, these were longer narra-
tives that did not teach a specific moral. Their
satire targeted different social classes and the worst
traits associated with them. Fabliaux were a wel-
come diversion from the idealistic allegorical ro-
mances and lofty courtly love literature of the
Middle Ages.
English Versions of Fabliaux
Duval, John, trans. Cuckolds, Clerics, & Countrymen:
Medieval French Fabliaux. Fayetteville: University
of Arkansas Press, 1982.
Harrison, Robert L. Gallic Salt: Eighteen Fabliaux
translated from the Old French. Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1974.
Spiegel, Harriet. Marie de France: Fables. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1987.
Works about Fabliaux
Benson, Larry D., and Theodore M.Andersson. The Lit-
erary Content of Chaucer’s Fabliaux: Texts and Trans-
lations. Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1971.
Bloch, Howard R. The Scandal of the Fabliaux.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Lacy, Norris J. Reading Fabliaux. Birmingham, Ala.:
Summa Publications, 1999.
farce (1400s–present)
A farce is a theatrical genre that uses exaggerated
comic situations and stereotypical characters. The
genre developed in 15th-century France and has
maintained its popularity to the present day. How-
ever, it is often considered to be a lower form of
comedy because of its reliance on crude physical
humor and improbable plots.
While elements of farce can be found in ancient
Greek and Roman plays, especially the works of
Aristophanes and Plautus, the term itself comes
from the Old French word meaning “stuffing.” The
first French farces were brief pieces of clowning
and gymnastics inserted into religious plays by the
actors. Later, French playwrights wrote entirely far-
cical works, one famous example being Maistre
Pierre Pathelin (ca. 1470).
Farces continued to be a popular theatrical
genre throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
They also found a new form in films during the
20th century, especially in the work of Charlie
Chaplin and the Marx Brothers.
See also Cyrano de BERGERAC; William SHAKE-
SPEARE.
English Versions of Farces
A Dozen French Farces: Medieval to Modern. Trans-
lated and edited by Albert Bermel. New York:
Limelight Editions, 1997.
Six Medieval French Farces: Translated by Thierry Bouc-
quey. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
Works about Farce
Bermel, Albert. Farce: A History from Aristophanes to
Woody Allen. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.
Milner Davis, Jessica. Farce. New Brunswick, N.J.:
Transaction, 2003.
Fénelon, François de Salignac de la
Mothe
(1651–1715) theologian, novelist
François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon was born
in Périgord, France, the second son of Pons de Sali-
gnac and his wife, Louise. He studied the humani-
ties and philosophy at the University of Cahors,
was ordained as a priest, and became a doctor of
theology in 1677. In 1681 he became director of
the Congregation of New Catholics, where he was
in charge of instructing Protestant women who
had converted. He fell under suspicion for his as-
sociation with Madame Guyon and Quietism, her
slightly unorthodox blend of mystical piety and
“pure love,” and was eventually exiled to his arch-
bishopric, where his gentleness, humanity, and elo-
quence earned him the nickname “the Swan of
Cambrai.”
The letters Fénelon wrote throughout his life
continue to impart wisdom to followers of the
Christian faith. He also authored several treatises
on points of religion and education. In 1689 he
was made the tutor of the grandson of Louis XIV,
for whom he wrote the Fables and Dialogues of the
Dead (both in 1690) for reading practice and in-
struction. In 1695 he began Telemachus (com-
pleted in 1699), which is remembered as his
masterpiece. He described it as “a fabulous narra-
tive in the form of a heroic poem . . . into which I
incorporated the major lessons suitable for a
prince.” A sequel to Homer’s Odyssey, it tells the
adventures of Ulysses’s son Telemachus within the
frame of a moral lesson on simplicity and strength
in adversity. Since the narrative shows that the king
is but a man and therefore fallible, the work was
seen as a harsh criticism of the regime of Louis
XIV. It was enormously popular for its literary
quality, but it also ensured its author’s disgrace.
Despite this, future generations remembered
Fénelon, and his biographer J. Lewis may says he
is “the exemplar of all that is noblest and most gra-
cious in the genius of France.”
92 farce
English Versions of Works by François de
Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon
Fenelon: Meditations on the Heart of God. Edited by
Hal M. Helms. Orleans, Mass.: Paraclete Press,
1997.
Fénelon: Telemachus. Edited by Patrick Riley. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Works about François de Salignac de la
Mothe Fénelon
Davis, James Herbert, Jr. Fénelon. Boston: Twayne,
1979.
Little, Katharine Day. Francois de Fenelon: Study of a
Personality. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951.
St. Cyres, Viscount. Francois de Fenelon. New York:
Kennikat, 1970.
Fernández de Lizardi, José Joaquín
(1776–1827) novelist, journalist
José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi was born in
Mexico City, and as a youth studied theology be-
fore becoming a clerk for an Acapulco magistrate.
In 1810 Mexico launched its war for independence
against Spain, and Fernández de Lizardi joined the
revolutionaries two years later. For this he was
briefly imprisoned, and upon his release founded a
pro-revolutionary newspaper called The Mexican
Thinker. In his newspaper and many pamphlets,
Lizardi called for an end to Spanish rule, racial and
social equality, and curbs in the church’s power.
For his continuing anti-clerical sentiments, the
Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him.
In 1816 Fernández de Lizardi wrote his best-
known work, the picaresque novel The Itching Par-
rot (El periquillo sarniento). A colorful satire of all
aspects of Mexican society. The Itching Parrot takes
its title from the nickname of its protagonist, who
occupies numerous professions throughout the
novel, including monk, gambler, and doctor. The
work also shows the influence of many philosophers
of the French ENLIGHTENMENT, particularly in its re-
spect for science and logic and its disdain for super-
stition. In this passage, for example, an African
character questions the morality of slavery:
How can I obey properly the precepts of that
religion which obliges me to love my neighbor
as myself...[yet approves my] buying for a
pittance a poor black, making him a slave to
serve . . . and treating him at times perhaps lit-
tle better than a beast?
Fernández de Lizardi also wrote three other nov-
els, Miss Quixote and Her Cousin (1819), Sad Nights
and Happy Days (1823), and Don Catrin de
Fachenda (1826). He died in Mexico City of tuber-
culosis. For his unyielding advocacy of his country’s
freedom, Mexicans regard Fernández de Lizardi as a
national hero. Most scholars consider The Itching
Parrot the first true Latin American novel, and it is
highly prized for its detailed and vivid portrayal of
early 19th-century Mexican society, and for its strik-
ingly contemporary views on politics and morality.
English Versions of Works by José Joaquín
Fernández de Lizardi
The Itching Parrot. Translated by Eugene Pressley and
Katherine Anne Porter. Garden City, N.Y.: Dou-
bleday, 1942.
The Mangy Parrot. Translated by David Frye. Indi-
anapolis, Ind.: Hackett, 2004.
Works about José Joaquín
Fernández de Lizardi
Benitez-Rojo, Antonio. “Jose Joaquin Fernandez de
Lizardi and the Emergence of the Spanish Ameri-
can Novel as National Project,” Modern Language
Quarterly (June 1996): 325–340.
Vogeley, Nancy J. Lizardi and the Birth of the Novel in
Spanish America. Gainesville: University Press of
Florida, 2001.
Ferreira, António (ca. 1528–1569) poet,
playwright
António Ferreira was born in Lisbon, Portugal, to
a noble family with ties to the monarchy. As a
child, Ferreira developed a deep love for his native
city, and after spending 13 years at Coimbra Uni-
versity studying Latin, classical literature, poetry,
Ferreira, António 93
plays, and law, he returned home as a judge of the
appeals court.
Though Ferreira was a judge, he spent a great
deal of time with a group of intellectual poets and
cultivated his poetic talents. He disdained the
masses, which he felt were ignorant, and fought for
intellectual freedom from church domination. Fer-
reira was also very patriotic. He encouraged the
use of Portuguese, instead of Spanish, in the writ-
ing of poetry. Ferreira wrote many different kinds
of poems in the classical mode, from epigrams and
eclogues to odes and Petrarchan
SONNETS.He
achieved some fame posthumously for his sonnets
in honor of his wives, Maria Leite, and later, Maria
Pimentel. His son published Ferreira’s first edition
of poetry, Poemas Lusitanos, 30 years after Fer-
reira’s death.
Ferreira also wrote several pieces for the theater.
His first two plays, Bristo, about friends who be-
come romantic rivals, and Cioso, about a jealous
husband, were comedies that did not arouse much
interest either in Portugal or the world abroad.
However, his third play, Inês de Castro, was the first
original RENAISSANCE TRAGEDY written in Portuguese.
The play develops a famous episode in the history of
the Portuguese monarchy, the murder of Prince
Peter’s mistress by his father for political reasons.
The play served as a model for many later play-
wrights, including
CAMÕES, one of Portugal’s great-
est writers. Ferreira was one of the major voices in
the establishment of a Portuguese literature.
English Versions of Works by
António Ferreira
The Comedy of Bristo, or, The Pimp (Comédia do Fan-
chono ou de Bristo). Translated by John R. C. Mar-
tyn. Ottawa, Canada: Dovehouse Editions, 1990.
The Tragedy of Ines de Castro. Translated by John R. C.
Martyn. Coimbra, Portugal: Universidad de
Coimbra, 1987.
A Work about António Ferreira
Earle, T. F. The Muse Reborn, The Poetry of António
Ferreira. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790) nonfiction
writer, journalist, publisher, scientist, political
figure
More than 200 years after his death, Benjamin
Franklin remains one of the most famous and in-
fluential figures in American history. He is counted
among the first of the great writers produced by
the emerging American nation.
Franklin was born in Boston, the 10th son of
Josiah Franklin, a candle-maker who had immi-
grated to Massachusetts from England. Although
he received only a few years of schooling, Franklin
was clearly a highly intelligent youth. When he was
12, he was apprenticed to his older brother, James,
who had set up a print shop and begun publishing
a newspaper titled The New England Courant. He
also met and was influenced by the Puritan leader,
Cotton
MATHER.
While working for his brother, Franklin wrote
a series of anonymous essays under the pseudo-
nym “Silence Dogood.” These essays presented
brilliant and biting commentary on the social con-
ditions of New England and caused something of a
stir in Boston. The essays were Franklin’s earliest
important writings, and they were remarkably
lucid and penetrating, considering that their au-
thor was only a teenager.
After being mistreated by his brother, Franklin
ran away to Philadelphia, where he found work at
a local print shop. He spent some time in London
before settling permanently in Philadelphia. He
soon established himself as an independent busi-
nessman, launching his own printing shop. His
sound business sense and his willingness to work
hard soon paid off, and his business became very
profitable.
Franklin became an important part of the civic
life of Philadelphia. With a number of friends, he
established the Junto Club, a social group that dis-
cussed politics, science, and philosophy, and that
worked to improve life in the city. Working with
his friends, Franklin established the city’s first
lending library, a fire department, a police force, an
academy, which later evolved into the University of
94 Franklin, Benjamin
Pennsylvania, a hospital, and a public forum where
clergy of any religion were allowed to preach.
These institutions helped make Philadelphia
America’s premier city of the time.
In 1729 Franklin began printing his own news-
paper, The Pennsylvania Gazette. It quickly became
the leading newspaper of the colony. In addition to
publishing and editing the paper, Franklin wrote
much of the material himself, including articles
on ordinary news and advertisements, as well as
important political issues, science, and literature.
Franklin saw his newspaper as both a source of
personal profit and a means of improving everyday
life in his community.
In 1732 he embarked on his most successful
printing and writing project, Poor Richard’s Al-
manac. In the 18th century, almanacs were ex-
tremely popular and useful as sources of
information for farmers and tradesmen. They
dealt with such subjects as when to plant and har-
vest crops, the dates on which specific holidays
would fall, and weather conditions of different sea-
sons. Franklin’s almanac rapidly became a best-
seller, not only in Pennsylvania, but also
throughout the American colonies.
Poor Richard was much more than simply a way
to dispense routine information. Like his newspa-
per, he used it as an educational tool to promote
common sense, healthy skepticism, strong work
ethics, and sound financial principles. Later in his
life, Franklin would collect many of the sayings
from Poor Richard’s Almanac and publish them as
a separate work, entitled The Way to Wealth.
The success of The Pennsylvania Gazette and
Poor Richard’s Almanac, made possible by his bril-
liant writing and his shrewd business practices, al-
lowed Franklin to make a great deal of money. He
invested his earnings in Philadelphia real estate
and satellite printing operations in other colonies.
By the time he had reached middle age, he was a
wealthy man.
Franklin expanded his interests to include sci-
entific work, and his research into the nature of
electricity is one of his chief claims to fame. In
1752 he conducted a test using a brass key tied
onto a kite, to determine whether lightning is a
form of electricity. This may be the most famous
scientific experiment in history. In addition to
electricity, Franklin also conducted scientific re-
search into meteorology, hydrodynamics, and nu-
merous other scientific subjects. His writings on
these subjects were published in many different
languages, were widely read, and had substantial
influence on later scientific developments.
From the mid-1750s to the end to his life,
Franklin turned his attention to the political events
of the American Revolution, and he made his most
important mark on the world as a statesman and
diplomat. In 1757 he traveled to Great Britain to
serve as the representative of the colony of Penn-
sylvania. He became friends with some of the lead-
ing English and Scottish writers and thinkers of the
day and received an honorary degree from Oxford
University.
When the crisis between Great Britain and its
colonies began, starting with the Stamp Act crisis
in 1765, Franklin devoted himself to ending the
quarrel and restoring good faith and harmony be-
tween the British and the Americans. For many
years, he saw himself as a loyal citizen of the British
Empire and was willing to do anything to save it
from destruction. He wrote several articles calling
for peace and reconciliation, which were published
in both British and American newspapers.
In 1771, during a lull in the crisis, Franklin
began writing The Autobiography of Benjamin
Franklin, which would become his literary master-
piece. His work on the project was still incomplete
when the American Revolution began.
Unsuccessful in his efforts to preserve peace,
and having been humiliated and insulted by the
British government, Franklin eventually sided with
the colonists and was elected to the Continental
Congress. He assisted Thomas
JEFFERSON in writing
the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was
then selected by Congress as its representative to
France, with the objective of gaining French sup-
port in the war against Britain.
Franklin, Benjamin 95
Franklin arrived in France in late 1776 and im-
mediately became the most popular person in the
country. French citizens were enthralled by his
charm and humor, and he became a favorite at
aristocratic parties in Paris. He wrote numerous
propaganda pieces to raise support for the Ameri-
can cause, which were printed in French newspa-
pers. Franklin’s influence helped persuade France
to sign an alliance with the United States, which
helped the colonies gain their independence. In
1784, while still in France, Franklin resumed writ-
ing the Autobiography.
With the war over, Franklin returned to his
beloved Philadelphia. In 1787 he served as a dele-
gate to the Constitutional Convention, although his
age and ill health were beginning to take their toll.
He continued to work on the Autobiography, but it
was still incomplete when he died on April 17.
Franklin stands today as the personification of
the American dream. Coming from very humble
origins, he rose through hard work and determi-
nation to become one of the greatest men of his
age. He achieved greatness in an incredible variety
of fields, from journalism and literature to science
and diplomacy. Through his witty yet thought-
provoking writings, he left behind a testament to
the potential of America.
Critical Analysis
Franklin’s greatest literary achievement was un-
questionably his Autobiography. It was the first true
classic of American literature. In it, Franklin tells
the story of his life, using it as a means to commu-
nicate to his readers his personal work ethic and
sense of morality.
Franklin begins his life story by relating his
family’s history and his own upbringing in the city
of Boston. He then tells, with a humorous and self-
effacing sense of drama, the tale of his running
away from Boston and arriving in Philadelphia.
The image of a young Franklin, walking up the
street from the city’s docks, penniless and with a
large loaf of bread stuffed under each arm, has
become an American icon. Franklin continues the
story of his life in Philadelphia and his involve-
ment in scientific and public affairs, up to his de-
parture for London in 1757.
In the Autobiography, Franklin provides a list of
13 virtues he tried to live up to throughout his life.
These virtues were temperance, silence, order, res-
olution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, mod-
eration, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and
humility. He modestly points out, however, that
he was not always successful in keeping these
virtues.
Franklin’s Autobiography was designed to in-
spire Americans to aspire to become better in all
that they do. In writing his masterpiece, Franklin
was telling his countrymen that they, too, could
achieve greatness, if only they were virtuous, hard-
working, and determined.
Works by Benjamin Franklin
Autobiography and Other Writings. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1993.
A Benjamin Franklin Reader. Edited by Walter Isaac-
son. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard’s Almanack.
Edited by Steve Martin, with Introduction by
Dave Barry. New York: Random House, 2000.
Works about Benjamin Franklin
Brands, H. W. The First American: The Life and Times
of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Doubleday, 2000.
Morgan, Edmund S. Benjamin Franklin. New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002.
Freneau, Philip Morin (1752–1832) poet,
editor, journalist
Philip Freneau was the oldest of five children born
to Agnes Watson and Pierre Fresneau (old
spelling), a wine merchant. He enjoyed a privileged
upbringing in New York and New Jersey, though
his father often struggled financially. At a board-
ing school in New York and a Latin school in New
96 Freneau, Philip Morin