Picture of 18th century social life in Addison’s The Coverly Papers

Joseph Addison is regarded as one of the masters of English prose. And his “The Coverly Papers” is considered as a precursor of the English novel. In the history of English prose, Addison’s place is assured and high. Addison’s narration is characterized by neatness and sobriety combined with wit and humour. He is in perfect harmony with his age in his rational attitude and his moral outlook. He takes upon himself the task of mending the morals in an age which is vicious. He steers a middle course between the bigots and butterflies of the age.

The essays The Coverly Papers are the reflection of life at the time with an objective and dispassionate view. Addison’s aim is to attack the vice without hunting person. The purpose of the essays is not merely to instruct but some time to give pleasure. According to Sainsbury, Addison taught the 18^th century people how they should and especially how they should not behave in public places.

Addison’s real object was to play the role of a critic of the life and manners of his time. The essay of Addison and those of Steele contain the most vivid picture of the social life of England of that time. Addison deals with typical subjects- fashions, head dresses, practical jokes, and indecency in conversation, gambling, drinking, cruelty, dueling etc. He attacked the trivialities of life and the follies and foibles of dress, of manners, or of thought.

In Addison’s and Steele’s The Coverly Papers, we can find an intimate, varied and vivid social document as it gives a vivid and exact picture of the life and manners of the times. In particular we can see a minute picture of the life of the country Squires, their tastes and habits, their modes of diversion. We also get an accurate picture of the vanities and foibles of the fashionable female’s world of the time. The writer’s assumed role of spectator of life and manners enabled him to describe the life of the times in a minute and a detailed manner. The life of London, dominated by its clubs and coffee houses, also comes alive in the pages of the Spectator.

In Character of Will Wimble Addison brings out a satiric picture of the younger son of the landed gentry who were usually fit for no employment in life and wasted their time in idleness or trivial occupations. For the family pride Will Wimble could not shine in his life. Here Addison’s moralistic comment is that many people are born with narrow fortune but they rise by dint of an honest industry.

In his essay Female Orator, women are more proficient in the art of oratory and eloquence than men. Many women can talk whole hours together upon nothing. In this essay, Addison as a moralist suggests women to talk good nature, truth and sincerity, instead of by anger, gossiping and coquetry.

          Such is Addison’s portrait of early 18^th century life. It is remarkable for its realism and thoroughness, so much so that Addison has been called “the social chronicle of the times”. However, it is twisted in three important respects. Addison’s purpose was reformative and so naturally there is frequent exaggeration and accentuation. We don’t get any account of its underworld, of its crime and vice, and of the immorality and wickedness of the upper classes.

          To conclude, in the light of our discussion we can say that Addison has described in his essays what he viewed in his contemporary society. His method is that of a practical moralist. In this respect, “The Coverly Papers” is considered as a social document and a moral commentary.