著者

近藤 亮介

出版者

美学会

雑誌

美学 (ISSN:05200962)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.65, no.1, pp.73-84, 2014-06-30 (Released:2017-05-22)

---

Shortly after the establishment of the Picturesque as the third aesthetic category, following the Beautiful and the Sublime, several pieces of English literature dealing with the Picturesque were published. One of the most popular pieces was William Combe's satirical poem, The Tour of Doctor Syntax, in Search of the Picturesque (1812). Dr.Syntax's character is based on Rev. William Gilpin, an advocator of the Picturesque. The poem indicates Combe's upper-class bias and middle-class focus: is not criticizing Gilpin himself, but rather the public fervor his theories kindled. In particular, Combe criticizes the popular picturesque tour. I suggest this is due to Combe's moral stance, and class affiliations. He sympathized with Quakerism, a middle-class Separatist group, for their pacifist tendencies. Although born into a merchant family, Combe tended towards upper-class conservatism, feeling that, unlike lower classes, they less often introduced urban vices to the countryside. His esteem for Quaker ideals of peace and simplicity, and for upper-class refinement as opposed to bourgeois populism, shapes this poem. While much scholarly attention has been paid literature criticizing upper-class notions of the Picturesque, this article focuses on Combe's criticism of the middle-class, and his reasons for it.