Discuss Boswell's Life of Johnson as a piece of art. |BEGE 105| Ignou Notes By Student Help | ignounotesbystudenthelp |

Discuss Boswell's Life of Johnson as a piece of art.

Or 

What impression do we gather of Samuel Johnson from Boswells "Life of Johnson"? 

Or

 Discuss some important features of Boswell's art of writing biography.

Biography is often defined as an account of a person's life and a branch of history.

 In Boswell's own time there were at least four others who wro Johnson's life, i.e. Mrs. Piozzi, John Hawkins, William Shaw and Arthur Murphy. Many others have written since then and Johnson is still popular as a subject of biography. C.L. Reade, Joseph Wood Krutch, James L. Clifford and lohn Wain have written Johnson's life in this century and the need for another life of Johnson is still felt and Donald Greene is writing one another Notwithstanding this, Boswell's Life of Johnson is still read and edited, despite its voluminous size. James Boswell's The life of Samuel Johnson' is perhaps the best-known biography in English literature and it marked a turning point in the art of biography writing. Boswell's Life of Johnson is a piece of art. In spite of the fact that the arrangement of the material is chronological rather than topicwise, there is a unity of design. This unity is given to the work by Boswell's respect for the penetrating wisdom of the man that Johnson was, his piety, his courage, his wit, his learning, his sympathy for the oppressed, the weak and the poor. 

It is often said that Boswell kept notes on Johnson's conversations. This is true but the way he recorded just the essence of a talk and not the chaff of the trivialities that often go on in company makes Boswell's biography Paoli and Johnson. Boswell was there on that occasion but there is no mention of him saying anything. Possibly because he wanted to maintain an artistic distance. Hence, it is in his selection of material that Boswell employed his artistic talent. Related to this is the issue of authenticity. Modern scholarship, through its comparison of the accounts of incidents related in the biography with those in the notes or the journals of Boswell and reports of others present on the occasions shows that Johnson was absolutely faithful in reporting the words of different persons. It is in condensation that Boswell exercised his artistic manipulation. so effective. For example, Boswell's report of the meeting of  Sir Harold Nicolson has pointed out that Boswell's artistic talent lay in 'projecting his detached photograph with such continuity and speed that the effect produced is that of motion and of life. There is both narrative speed and descriptive force in Johnson's biography. The reader not only follows the narrative or a philosophical discussion but also see Lucy Porter talking to Johnson and Boswell in a homely setting and Johnson and Paoli in a very formal one. The reader feels the hurt pride of Samuel Johnson as he hits back Chesterfield in his reply tension of October 10, 1769 in Boswell's mind when Paoli paid Johnson a visit. These are made possible by Boswell's peculiar abilities of description and narration, analysis, exposition and intuitive understanding of his subject's mind. Boswell was also revolutionary in portraying his material in dramatic scenes, in contrast, for example, to Johnson's own 'Lives' of the Poets', which are presented as judgemental commentaries. Boswell has combined the mimetic skill of the novelist with the accuracy of the diarist and has been called the first 'mimetic biographer'. to him.

 The reader also lives the James L. Clifford suggested that Boswell constantly tried to make his expression precise and suggestive of colour and charm. For instance, 'loved and caressed by everybody' of the notes become, 'caressed and loved by all about him', 'remarkably lively and gay and very happy' became 'a gay and frolicsome fellow'. Thus, we find that the power of Boswell's Life of Johnson is a result of a variety of talents Boswell possessed painstaking research, accurate description, honest narration, an imaginative understanding of the subject and a command over the English language.