Critically Appreciate Addison's Essay 'Choice of Hercules'
Joseph
Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright,
and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His
name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard
Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine.
Joseph
Addison translates Prodicus’s Choice of Hercules- perhaps the most widely
imitated allegory in eighteenth century poetry. In addition to straightforward
translation, the contrasting appeals to Pleasure and Virtue.
The
Choice of Hercules was written originally by Prodicus in verse, and was made use
of by Socrates, as a lesson to his disciples, in plain honest prose. It has
been turned into English by Mr. Addision in prose. He has beautified in some
places and shortened it in others and perhaps restored it pretty near to its
original form as it came out of Prodicus’s hands, for there is nothing of his
works that remains to us.
Based
on Addison's character that is described as "by nature reserved,
calculating and prudent," it is no surprise that within his work The Choice
of Hercules, he is devoted to improving the attitude and manners of his readers
which is evident in following excerpt, “I
have translated this allegory for the benefit of the youth of Great Britain;
and particularly of those who are still in the deplorable state of
non-existence, and whom I most earnestly entreat to come into the world. Let my
embryos show the least inclination to any single virtue, and I shall allow it
to be a struggling towards birth. I do not expect of them, that, like the hero
in the foregoing story, they should go about as soon as they are born, with a
club in their hands, and a lion's skin on their shoulders, to root out
monsters, and destroy tyrants; but, as the finest author of all antiquity has
said upon this very occasion. Though a man has not the abilities to distinguish
himself in the most shining parts of a great character, he has certainly the
capacity of being just, faithful, modest, and temperate.”
The
most striking feature of the style of Addison is its clarity. Addison was
writing for a popular audience which, he wanted, should understand his works
for he aimed at their moral improvement. Thus we find that he never spared any
pains to make his writing easily understood. But at the same time he wanted no
slip-shod writing for the sake of informality. He was always clear, fluent and
chose his words carefully and used them well. Even his long sentences present little
difficulty to the reader's understanding. Such an example of a long sentence
which is fluently put across occurs at the beginning of “The Choice of
Hercules”,
“Having swept away prodigious multitudes in
one of my late papers, and brought a great destruction upon my own species, I
must endeavour in this to raise fresh recruits, and, if possible, to supply the
places of the unborn and the deceased.”
It
is not only in the long sentences that Addison shows his mastery. There are a
number of short sentences in his essays which show his capacity for expressing
his thought in neat and compact sentences which are also brief. In the essay
The Choice of Hercules”, we have the following two sentences which serve as
examples of the short and lucid sentences:
“You see, (said she,) Hercules, by her own
confession, the way to her pleasure is long and difficult, whereas that which I
propose is short and easy.'
A sentence which exemplifies his ability to write in
a short and compact style occurs in the essay, The Scope of Satire :
"That vice and folly ought to be attacked
wherever they could be met with, and especially when they were placed in high
and conspicuous stations of life."
“The
Choice of Hercules” by Joseph Addison is thematically complex, with much
material to argue about. The most disputable theme or concept may be the
implication of inevitability disclosed at the end of the essay. It, however, is a delightful essay which has
neatness, lucidity and precision of expression. Its style is highly polished
and cultivated. There is spontaneity and ease in it. It is written in a
familiar and elegant manner. Here we observe delightful plasticity of language
too. Its prose is smooth and elegant in manner and obviously highly refined.
True to Joseph Addison’s style, “The Choice of Hercules” is very delightful and
pleasant. The sentences are embellished and polished. Their movement is smooth
and brisk. Less ornamental and ornate, the ideas are expressed clearly and
vividly. The essay reveals clarity of ideas. It has compact and dignified
expression. The forceful, fluent and impressive essay has charm and freshness
of its own.
“The
Choice of Hercules” is a concept essay in which the handling and development of
a central idea is its principal laziness, “For
my part, when I take a survey of this populous city, I can scarce forbear
weeping, to see how few of its inhabitants are now living. It was with this
thought that I drew up my last bill of mortality, and endeavoured to set out in
it the great number of persons who have perished by a distemper (commonly known
by the name of idleness) which has long raged in the world, and destroys more
in every great town than the plague has done at Dantzic. To repair the mischief
it has done, and stock the world with a better race of mortals, I have more
hopes of bringing to life those that are young than of reviving those that are
old.” Addison deserves credit for being among the first few neo-classical
writers to publish work that speculates about the mental dilemma of young
generations.
Clarity
of thought is accompanied by a seemingly effortless of expression. Addison is a
master in the art of careful choice of words and in the careful arrangement of
these words to produce the correct effect. His careful choice of words seems
spontaneous because of his control over the language. His sentence shows a
flowing grace and rhythm which must have come with considerable revision and
effort but the credit goes to him that this style is not laboured. He does not
use slang or coarse expressions, colloquial words or words of common domestic
association. This led to the elegance which one has come to associate with the
name of Addison.He is selective in his use of words which are dignified and
refined which is evident in the following words, “"By this time the other
lady was come up, who addressed herself to the young hero in a very different
manner.”
Humour
and irony are basic to the essays in the Spectator. Addison aimed at reforming
the public out of its vices and follies and he intended to do this through
satirising these vices and follies. But his satire is humorous, never bitter.
Like all satirists he uses irony but in his hands it becomes 'gentle' because
it is urban and general. He says, “Our
modern authors have represented Pleasure or Vice with an alluring face, but
ending in snakes and monsters: here she appears in all the charms of beauty,
though they are all false and borrowed: and by that means, composes a vision
entirely natural and pleasing.” The irony
is closely connected with humour; it is, in fact, the very essence of that
humour. His laughter was intended to correct, not merely to amuse. The humour
tones down the deadly effect of irony, makes it smooth even while it is pointed.
Now
coming to the literary merits Joseph Addison’s “The Choice of Hercules” aims at
a conversational style with simplicity of manner. It has ease of expression.
Joseph reveals propriety in the choice of words. Its prose is precise and
elegant. It has richness and delicacy of fancy. The language is beautiful and
rhythmical. It is according to the interesting theme of the essay. Its style is
familiar but not coarse, elegant but not ostentations. It reveals how Addison
was excessively fastidious in his choice of words. It shows how he kept on
laboriously polishing and balancing his phrases until they presented the finest
literary art at his disposal, until the rhythm was perfect, the sentence height
and bright as possible.
There are some critics who charge that Addison's 'middle style' is a style of mediocrity. It is the external manifestation of a mediocre mind which had not the fierce and powerful intellectual and moral strength to produce the fiery and powerful style. This, to some extent, is true. Addison's style is always sedate, refined and careful. It never "blazes in unexpected splendour;" there are no "glowing words or pointed sentences." But then Addison never wanted to be "energetic." Although the charge of mediocrity cannot be fully denied, there is no suppressing the importance of Addison's service to the development of an easy and modern English prose style. One has to admire the "free unaffected movement, graceful transitions, delicate harmonies, and appropriateness of tone" in his style. He brought clarity and fluency of expression to English prose style.
