What is an Essay?

 

An essay could be defined as a short piece of writing that reveals the writer's views or analysis of a particular subject. As a literary form, it is difficult to study systematically since it varies greatly in style, treatment and method. It could range in length from Francis Bacon's brief pieces of concentrated wisdom, running into a page or two, to the book-length pieces by John Locke, Lord Macaulay and Herbert Spencer. The essay could vary in subject matter too. For example, Bacon shared his views on various subjects ranging from love, death and atheism to travel, marriage and so on. The essays of the French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne are a mixture of random thoughts, quotations and anecdotes. Even with regard to treatment, each writer has his or her own style in approaching the subject. Charles Lamb employed a conversational style, taking the reader through a wide range of emotions, while Jonathan Swift used biting satire to attack his opponents in his essays. So, a definition of the essay form cannot be made based upon its length, Subject matter or treatment.

 

Some definitions of an essay

The word 'essay' has been applied to nearly every kind of writing except poems, plays and stories. For the sake of convenience, we could define the essay as a brief composition in prose on any particular subject or branch of a subject. According to Samuel Johnson, an essay is 'a loose sally of the mind; an irregular, undigested piece; not a regular and orderly composition'.

 'A good essay, said E.V. Lucas, 'more than a novel, a poem, a play, or a treatise, is personality translated into print.' Aldous Huxley defined the essay as 'a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.

Montaigne could be considered the father of the modern essay. It was he who first used the term 'essais', meaning 'attempt, 'experiment' or 'endeavour, for this type of writing (in 1580). His essays were informal in nature and had a warmth and grace about them. In 1597, Francis Bacon (following Montaigne) applied the word ‘essay’ to this genre for the first time in English. Bacon is considered to be a pioneer of this form.

 

 

Francis Bacon, who wrote several essays in English, followed a style of his own, favouring concentrated, business-like prose. This was very different from Montaigne's leisurely style and amused tone. Abraham Cowley, who wrote in the 1660s, followed the personal and informal style of Montaigne. Other writers who wrote in this form were Sir William Temple and John Dryden. Temple and Dryden were responsible for paving the way for the development of the essay in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They had a great impact on the essayists Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. In the hands of  Addison and Steele, a sub-genre called the ‘periodical essay’ became very popular.

The essay has been flourishing since then the writers such as Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Thomas de Quincey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Macaulay, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, Walter Pater, R.L. Stevenson, G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, E.V. Lucas, Robert Lynd, and several others were the remarkable essayists.

 

 

 well-known types of literary essays

 

APHORISTIC ESSAY

It was Francis Bacon who was responsible for making the essay popular in England. In his hands, the subjective and self- revealing essays of Montaigne (which were his inspiration) underwent a sea change. Bacon's essays were highly objective and impersonal. In them, Bacon does not reveal himself, but offers counsel in short, crisp sentences that sound like aphorisms (sayings or maxims). His well known aphorism is: 'Reading maketh a full man; and writing an exact man. His essays contain a series of sentences like the one quoted above. They fall like the strokes of a hammer without any literary frills and flounces. As a result, Bacon has been criticised as being abrupt and rugged. Some of his best essays are 'Of Truth, 'Of Friendship, Of marriage, Of death and Of Revenge.

 

PERSONAL ESSAY

The style is informal in such essays, and the author shares his views with the reader in an intimate manner. The subjects of such essays are usually everyday happenings rather than heavy matters like politics or spirituality. One could compare the personal essay to the lyric, which is another expression of personal feelings and emotions. The personal essay is autobiographical in nature, reflecting the author's inner thoughts and feelings. Montaigne was the father of the personal essay. He wrote two volumes of essays that talk about his experiences in life and reflect his views on topics such as 'idleness’ and ‘lying’.

In the hands of Charles Lamb, the personal essay touched new heights, He wrote about the people he knew and about events from his own life, He had an excellent style of writing. taking his readers through a roller coaster ride of emotions. He combined humour, sentiment and common sense in an inimitable style. Some of the best examples of the personal essay can be found in the two collections by Lamb- ‘Essays of Elia’ and ‘The Last Essays of Elia’. Other writers who wrote in a similar style include Leigh Hunt, Thomas De Quincey and William Hazlitt.

 

CRITICAL ESSAY

A critical essay is an essay that evaluates, discusses and interprets literary works. It was John Dryden who made this type of essay popular. His critical writing began as early as 1664, when he wrote a preface to his first play, The Rival Ladies. Many of Dryden's prefaces, as well as his Essay on Dramatic Poesy (which is in the form of a dialogue), are excellent examples of the critical essay. He could be considered the first literary critic in the English language. In the seventeenth century, literary works were discussed and reviewed in coffee houses. During the Neoclassical period, several critical essays were written. Samuel Johnson was another eminent man of letters  who wrote critical essays.

 

PERIODICAL ESSAY

A periodical essay is an essay that appears in a journal or a periodical. This form rose to prominence in the early eighteenth century, which witnessed the growth of journalism. It was very well suited for social and literary criticism and for character studies.

Daniel Defoe’s Review was the earliest periodical featuring essays, although the periodical essay form was made popular by the journals The Tatler and The Spectator, managed by Richard Steele and Joseph Addison. These journals contained essays that held up a mirror to the vanities, vices and foibles of contemporary society. The essays were intended 'to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality' (Addison). George Saintsbury, in his Short History of English Literature, pointed out that 'they taught the eighteenth century how it should, and especially how it should not, behave in public places, from churches to theatres; what books it should like,  and how it should like them; how it should treat its lovers, mistresses, husbands, wives, parents, and friends’. Other famous essayists who employed this form include Dr Johnson (who contributed regularly to The Rambler and The Idler) and Oliver Goldsmith (whose series ‘Citizen of the World’ appeared in The Public Ledger).