Henry J. Coke's Ride Over the Rocky Mountain: A Journey from Leatherstocking to Lear
Symbiosis 12.1
Author: Kevin J. Hayes
Pages: 14
'Henry J. Coke’s Ride over the Rocky Mountains: A Journey from Leatherstocking to Lear' by Kevin J. Hayes, provides an in-depth exploration of Henry J. Coke's adventurous journey across the American West. Originally published in Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations, this essay examines how Coke's narrative blends romantic adventure with stark realism, reflecting the influence of literary works like James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales. Hayes delves into Coke's literary style, cultural observations, and the broader significance of his travels during the mid-19th century. This scholarly work is essential for readers interested in travel literature, American history, and literary criticism.
Symbiosis 12.1
Author: Kevin J. Hayes
Pages: 14
'Henry J. Coke’s Ride over the Rocky Mountains: A Journey from Leatherstocking to Lear' by Kevin J. Hayes, provides an in-depth exploration of Henry J. Coke's adventurous journey across the American West. Originally published in Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations, this essay examines how Coke's narrative blends romantic adventure with stark realism, reflecting the influence of literary works like James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales. Hayes delves into Coke's literary style, cultural observations, and the broader significance of his travels during the mid-19th century. This scholarly work is essential for readers interested in travel literature, American history, and literary criticism.
Symbiosis 12.1
Author: Kevin J. Hayes
Pages: 14
'Henry J. Coke’s Ride over the Rocky Mountains: A Journey from Leatherstocking to Lear' by Kevin J. Hayes, provides an in-depth exploration of Henry J. Coke's adventurous journey across the American West. Originally published in Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations, this essay examines how Coke's narrative blends romantic adventure with stark realism, reflecting the influence of literary works like James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales. Hayes delves into Coke's literary style, cultural observations, and the broader significance of his travels during the mid-19th century. This scholarly work is essential for readers interested in travel literature, American history, and literary criticism.
 "The Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper fired the imagination of countless British lads during the nineteenth century. Many young readers became fixated with the American frontier, which, they naively assumed, must resemble the wilderness depicted in these romantic novels. Though Cooper was the most influential author whose works encouraged affluent British readers to visit the American West, by no means was he the only one. A steady stream of books describing Western travel and exploration appeared in London through the first half of nineteenth century. Their stories of thrilling adventure confirmed the boyhood fantasies of their readers and fueled latent desires to visit the West. For young, well-bred, and well-to-do British men from the late 1830s to the eve of the American Civil War, a trip to the West became akin to the Grand Tour of Europe, that is, a good way to finish off a proper education." |
