Harrison Ainsworth Rookwood :: essays research papers

In the early nineteenth century, an interest in criminals and the common highwaymanarose in Europe. Many magazines in London, such as Bentley&8217s Miscellany, Fraser&8217sMagazine, and The Athenaeum featured sections that were reserved for stories abouthighwayman and their numerous adventures. The growing interest in the subject inspiredmany authors to write about the various exploits of popular criminals and highwayman. Some prominent examples of this type of novel were Edward Bulwer&8217s Paul Clifford(1830) and Eugene Aram (1832) Charles Dickens&8217 Oliver rick (1838-39) and BarnabyRudge (1841) and William Harrison Ainsworth Rookwood (1834) and Jack Sheppard(1839-40). Several of these novels were based upon famous crimes and criminal careersof the past (Eugene Aram, Dick Turpin in Rookwood, and Jack Sheppard) others derivedfrom contemporary crime (Altick, 1970, p. 72). Although many authors chose to basetheir stories on criminals, William Harrison Ainsworth&8217s Rookwood and Jack Sheppardare two of the best examples of the theme of &8216crime and punishment&8217 in the nineteenthcentury.Ainsworth started his writing career as a writer of gothic stories for variousmagazines. Gothic elements are included in Ainsworth&8217s novel the ancient hall, thefamily vaults, macabre burial vaults, secret marriage, and so forth (John, 1998, p. 30). Rookwood is a romance about two half-brothers in a conflict over the family inheritance. The English criminal who Ainsworth decides to entangle in Rookwood was Dick Turpin,a highwayman executed in 1739. However, echoing Bulwer, Ainsworth&8217s explanation forhis interest in Dick Turpin (like Bulwer&8217s explanation in his choice of Eugene Aram as asubject) is personal and familial (John, 1998, p. 31). though the basis of the novels seemsimilar, Ainsworth treated Dick Turpin in a different way than Bulwer treated EugeneAram. Ainsworth romanticizes history, however basically sticks to the facts (as far as he knewthem). maybe more importantly, Ainsworth does not pretend that the Turpin he inventsis the real Dick Turpin, nor does he attempt to elevate Turpin&8217s social class status (John,1998, p. 32). Ainsworth recalls lying in bed listening to the exploits of &8216Dauntless Dick&8217,as narrated by his father. Despite Ainsworth&8217s infatuation with the criminal, the realTurpin was no more interesting a genius than an ordinary cat burglar. Besideshighway robbery, his affairs included stealing sheep and breaking into farmer&8217 houses,sometimes with the aid of confederates and he took a turn at smuggling (Hollingsworth,1963, p. 99). Although Turpin appears in a considerable part of the novel, he really hasno effect on the plot. He stole a marriage certificate, but the incident was not important