Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle (December 4, 1795 – February 5, 1881) was a Scottish essayist and historian, whose work was hugely influential during the Victorian era. He was born in Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, and was educated at Annan Academy. Coming from a strictly Calvinist family, Carlyle was expected by his father to become a preacher. However, while at Edinburgh University he lost his Christian faith. Nevertheless Calvinist values remained with him throughout his life. This combination of a religious temperament with loss of faith in orthodox Christianity made Carlyle's work appealing to many Victorians who were grappling with scientific and political changes that threatened the traditional social order.

Private life

Carlyle's private life was also experiencing difficulties. He had increasingly become alienated from his wife Jane Welsh Carlyle. Indeed it seems probable that their marriage was never consummated. Her sudden death plunged him into further despair, during which he wrote his highly self-critical "Reminiscences of Jane Welsh Carlyle". This was published after his death by his biographer James Anthony Froude, who also made public his belief that the marriage was unconsummated. This frankness was unheard of in the usually respectful biographies of the period. However, it was consistent with Carlyle's own belief that the flaws of heroes should be openly discussed, without diminishing their achievements.

Related Topics:
Jane Welsh Carlyle - James Anthony Froude

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Upon Carlyle's death on February 5, 1881 in London, it was made possible for his remains to be interred in Westminster Abbey but his wish to be buried beside his parents in Ecclefechan was respected.

Related Topics:
February 5 - 1881 - Westminster Abbey - Ecclefechan

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The reputation of Carlyle's early work remained high during the nineteenth century, but declined in the twentieth, especially after his dire prediction that democracy would bring chaos proved untrue. His reputation in Germany was always high, because of his promotion of German thought and his biography of Frederick the Great. Friedrich Nietzsche, whose ideas are comparable to Carlyle's in some respects, was dismissive of his moralism, regarding him as a thinker who failed to free himself from the very petty-mindedness he professed to condemn. Carlyle's distaste for democracy and his belief in charismatic leadership was unsurprisingly appealing to Adolf Hitler, who was reading Carlyle's biography of Frederick during his last days in 1945.

Related Topics:
Friedrich Nietzsche - Adolf Hitler

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This association with fascism did Carlyle's reputation no good in the post-war years, but "Sartor Resartus" has recently been recognised once more as a unique masterpiece, anticipating many major philosophical and cultural developments, from Existentialism to Postmodernism. It has also been argued that his critique of ideological formulas in "The French Revolution" provides a good account of the ways in which revolutionary cultures turn into repressive dogmatisms. Essentially a Romantic thinker, Carlyle attempted to reconcile Romantic affirmations of feeling and freedom with respect for historical and political fact. Nevertheless, he was always more attracted to the idea of heroic struggle itself, than to any specific goal for which the struggle was being made.

Related Topics:
Postmodernism - Romantic

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