The Last Puritan
The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel was written by the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana. The novel is set largely in the fictional town of Great Falls, Connecticut; Boston; and England, in and around Oxford. It relates the life of Oliver Alden, the descendant of an old Boston family. Santayana wrote of the novel that "it gives the emotions of my experiences, and not my thoughts or experiences themselves."
Alden's life demonstrates "the essential tragedy of the late-born Puritan." In the Prologue, Santayana explains that, "in Oliver puritanism worked itself out to its logical end. He convinced himself, on puritan grounds, that it was wrong to be a puritan." The tragic aspect is that in spite of his realization he maintained the character that was his cultural bequest.
Read more about The Last Puritan: History of The Novel, Characters, Symbolism and A Summary of Santayana's Implications, A Memoir in The Form of A Novel, Santayana's Spirit in The Last Puritan
Famous quotes containing the words the last and/or puritan:
“Upon looking back from the end of the last chapter and surveying the texture of what has been wrote, it is necessary, that upon this page and the five following, a good quantity of heterogeneous matter be inserted, to keep up that just balance betwixt wisdom and folly, without which a book would not hold together a single year.”
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“The Puritan hated bearbaiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.”
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