- Born:
- February 8, 1577, Lindley, Leicestershire, England
- Died:
- January 25, 1640, Oxford (aged 62)
- Notable Works:
- âPhilosophasterâ
- âThe Anatomy of Melancholyâ
- Movement / Style:
- Jacobean age
Robert Burton
-
Who was Robert Burton?
Robert Burton (1577â1640) was an English scholar, writer, and Anglican clergyman. He was elected to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1599, where he spent his life and became vicar of St. Thomasâs Church, Oxford, in 1616.
Burton's most famous work is The Anatomy of Melancholy, published in 1621 under the pseudonym Democritus Junior. In it, Burton defines melancholy, discusses its causes and symptoms, and suggests cures, including the world's great love stories. His writing style is marked by classical allusions, Latin phrases, and a blend of humor and erudition.
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What is Robert Burton best known for writing?
Robert Burton (1577â1640) is best known for writing The Anatomy of Melancholy, published in 1621. In this treatise, written under the pseudonym Democritus Junior, Burton defines melancholy, discusses its causes and symptoms, and suggests cures. The book also delves into love melancholy, using world-renowned love stories to illustrate psychological problems, and religious melancholy, offering wisdom and meditation on curing despair.
Burton's writing style in The Anatomy of Melancholy is lively and unique, marked by classical allusions, Latin phrases, and a blend of erudition and humor.
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What was the main subject of Burtonâs famous book, 'The Anatomy of Melancholy'?
The Anatomy of Melancholy, written by Robert Burton, explores the causes, symptoms, and cures for the "inbred malady" of melancholy. Published in 1621, it was later expanded and altered in five subsequent editions. Burton's work is a comprehensive treatise that delves into the philosophical and psychological understanding of melancholy, incorporating numerous examples from great love stories to illustrate psychological problems. The book also discusses love melancholy and religious melancholy, showcasing Burton's wisdom and meditative approach to despair. His unique writing style combines imagination, eloquence, classical allusions, and humorous asides.
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How did Robert Burton use humor and personal observations in his writing?
Robert Burton employed humor and personal observations in his writing, notably in The Anatomy of Melancholy. Burton's writing style is lively and colloquial, enriched with classical allusions and Latin phrases, reflecting his wide-ranging knowledge. He was known for his use of extensive lists and catalogs, which he often punctuated with humorous remarks.
Burton's life as a scholar allowed him an ironic detachment in his observations of mankind. While he lived a "silent, sedentary, solitary" life, his view of the world was far from detached. His work is as informative about the pastimes of his time as it is about ancient ideas. He often provided rational advice alongside his Christian perspective of the universe.
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What jobs or roles did Burton have besides being an author?
Robert Burton was an English scholar, writer, and Anglican clergyman. Educated at Oxford, he became a student (life fellow) of Christ Church in 1599. In 1614, he became a bachelor of divinity, and in 1616, he became vicar of St. Thomasâs Church, Oxford. Additionally, he held livings in Lincolnshire (1624â31) and Leicestershire. His most famous work is The Anatomy of Melancholy, published in 1621.
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Why is Robert Burtonâs work still studied and remembered today?
Robert Burton (1577-1640) is remembered and studied today because his Anatomy of Melancholy is a masterpiece of style and a valuable index to the philosophical and psychological ideas of the time.
As Democritus Junior, Burton's writing style is lively and colloquial, full of classical allusions that show his love of curious information and erudition. Burton is a master of lists, often broken up by humorous asides. His approach to psychological problems is modern, and he includes many of the worldâs great love stories as examples.
Although widely read in the 17th century, his work lapsed into obscurity, but was later admired by Samuel Johnson in the 18th century. In the 19th century, Charles Lamb helped bring The Anatomy into favor with the Romantics.
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Robert Burton (born February 8, 1577, Lindley, Leicestershire, Englandâdied January 25, 1640, Oxford) was an English scholar, writer, and Anglican clergyman whose Anatomy of Melancholy is a masterpiece of style and a valuable index to the philosophical and psychological ideas of the time.
Burton was educated at Oxford, elected a student (life fellow) of Christ Church (one of the colleges of the university) in 1599, and lived there the rest of his life, becoming a bachelor of divinity in 1614 and vicar of St. Thomasâs Church, Oxford, in 1616. He also held livings in Lincolnshire (1624â31) and Leicestershire, the latter bestowed by his patron, Lord Berkeley. His âsilent, sedentary, solitaryâ life, as he himself described it, lent his view of mankind an ironic detachment, but it certainly did not make it that of a scholar remote from reality: he is as informative on the pastimes of his day as on the ideas of the ancients, and as keen to recommend a rational diet as to relate human disorders to his own essentially Christian view of the universe.
Burtonâs first work was the Latin comedy Philosophaster (1606; edited with an English translation by P. Jordan-Smith, 1931), a vivacious exposure of charlatanism that has affinities with Ben Jonsonâs The Alchemist. It was acted at Christ Church in 1618.
The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is; with all the Kindes, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes and Several Cures of it: In Three Maine Partitions With Their Several Sections, Members, and Subsections, Philosophically, Medicinally, Historically Opened and Cut up, by Democritus Junior appeared in 1621, and five subsequent editions (1624, 1628, 1632, 1638, and 1651) incorporated Burtonâs revisions and alterations. In the treatise, Burton sets himself in the first part to define melancholy, discuss its causes, and set down the symptoms. The second part is devoted to its cure. Love melancholy is the subject of the lively first three sections of the third part. A master of narrative, Burton includes as examples most of the worldâs great love stories, again showing a modern approach to psychological problems. The fourth section deals with religious melancholy, and on the cure of despair he rises to heights of wisdom and of meditation.
Burtonâs colloquial style is as individual as his matter. It is imaginative and eloquent, full of classical allusions and Latin tags that testify to his love of curious and out-of-the-way information as well as to his erudition. He is a master of lists and catalogs, but their sonorous roll is often broken by his humorous asides.
The Anatomy, widely read in the 17th century, lapsed for a time into obscurity, but in the 18th it was admired by Samuel Johnson, and Laurence Sterneâs borrowings from it are notorious. In the 19th century the devotion of Charles Lamb helped to bring the Anatomy into favour with the Romantics. The standard modern edition is The Anatomy of Melancholy, 6 vol., edited by Thomas C. Faulkner, Nicolas K. Kiessling, and Rhonda L. Blair (1989â2000).