Oliver Goldsmith

"Pues es un tipo muy singular, te lo aseguro. Entre las mujeres virtuosas y de buena reputación es el hombre más discreto que imaginarse pueda; pero sus conocidos le señalan una personalidad muy diferente cuando se halla entre mozas de otra estofa, ¿me comprendes?"...

The researches of Niebuhr and several other distinguished German scholars have thrown a new light on Roman History, and enabled us to discover the true constitution of that republic which once ruled the destinies of the known world, and the influence of whose literature and laws is still powerful in every civilized state, and will probably continue to be felt to the remotest posterity. These discoveries have, however, been hitherto useless to junior students in this country; the works of the German critics being unsuited to the purposes of schools, not only from their price, but also from the extensive learning requisite to follow them through their laborious disquisitions. The editor has, therefore, thought that it would be no unacceptable service, to prefix a few Introductory Chapters, detailing such results from their inquiries as best elucidate the character and condition of the Roman people, and explain the most important portion of the history. The struggles between the patricians and plebeians, respecting the agrarian laws have been so strangely misrepresented, even by some of the best historians, that the nature of the contest may, with truth, be said to have been wholly misunderstood before the publication of Niebuhrs work: a perfect explanation of these important matters cannot be expected in a work of this kind; the Editors trust that the brief account given here of the Roman tenure of land, and the nature of the agrarian laws, will be found sufficient for all practical purposes.

Oliver Goldsmith's hugely successful novel of 1766 remained for generations one of the most highly regarded and beloved works of eighteenth-century fiction. It depicts the fall and rise of the Primrose family, presided over by the benevolent vicar, the narrator of a fairy-tale plot of impersonation and deception, the abduction of a beautiful heroine and the machinations of an aristocratic villain. By turns comic and sentimental, the novel's popularity owes much to its recognizable depiction of domestic life and loving family relationships. New to this edition is an introduction by Robert L. Mack that examines the reasons for the novels enduring popularity, as well as the critical debates over whether it is a straightforward novel of sentiment or a satire on the social and economic inequalities of the period and the very literary conventions and morality it seems to embody. This edition also includes a new, up-to-date bibliography and expanded notes, and contains reprints of Arthur Friedman's authoritative Oxford English Novels text of the corrected first edition of 1766.

Charming satire of the sentimental comedies of the day has entertained audiences since 1773. A young lady poses as a serving girl to win the heart of a young gentleman too shy to court ladies of his own class. Many delightful deceits, hilarious turns of plot must be played out before the play concludes happily. Notes.

El reverendo Primrose, que vive en una pequeña parroquia de Inglaterra, ha formado una familia unida, feliz, llena de generosidad e inocencia. De pronto, como un rayo satánico, la desgracia cae sobre ellos: el reverendo pierde todos sus bienes al verse envuelto en la quiebra de un comerciante bribon y acaba en la carcel por deudas despues de ver destruida su casa por un incendio.

El protagonista de este relato es, sin duda, el generoso y un poco pedante vicario Primrose, un amante padre de familia pintado con tanto humor como ternura. Su ruina económica desencadena una tormenta de calamidades sobre el y los suyos, que tienen que afrontar antes de llegar al repentino desenlace: engaños, amores no correspondidos, raptos, duelos... Son tantas las desgracias, que el lector se pregunta como pueden soportarlo. Pero Primrose confia siempre, y con paciencia, en que todo termine bien. La novela es, pues, una apertura a la esperanza. Historia plena de ironia y lirismo, El vicario de Wakefield sigue la estela de otras obras de los grandes autores del XVIII, y se ha mantenido a traves del tiempo como una atractiva lectura. Oliver Goldsmith nacio en Pallasmore, Irlanda, en 1728. Hijo de un pastor anglicano, se educo en Dublin, y mas tarde estudio medicina en Edimburgo y Leiden (Holanda). Tras un largo viaje por la Europa continental, en 1756 se instalo en Londres, donde colaboro en varias revistas literarias mientras ejercia diversos trabajos. Entre 1761 y 1771 escribio obras por encargo: biografias, una historia de Roma y otra de Inglaterra. En 1766 aparecio la novela que habia de darle prestigio universal: El vicario de Wakefield, constantemente reeditada.

When Dr Primrose loses his fortune in a disastrous investment, his idyllic life in the country is shattered and he is forced to move with his wife and six children to an impoverished living on the estate of Squire Thornhill. Taking to the road in pursuit of his daughter, who has been seduced by the rakish Squire, the beleaguered Primrose becomes embroiled in a series of misadventures - encountering his long-lost son in a travelling theatre company and even spending time in a debtor's prison. Yet Primrose, though hampered by his unworldliness and pride, is sustained by his unwavering religious faith. In The Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith gently mocks many of the literary conventions of his day - from pastoral and romance to the picaresque - infusing his story of a hapless clergyman with warm humour and amiable social satire.