The Study of an Author

 The Study of an Author :

• Introduction:

W. H. Hudson, in An Introduction to the Study of Literature (1910), provides thoughtful guidance on how to study an author. His approach is rooted in understanding literature as A reflection of personality, life, and emotional experience. For Hudson, the study of an author is not just biographical or technical—it’s about entering the mind and spirit of the Writer.

The Study of an Author :

Obviously, our most natural course is to pass directly from the reading of books to the study of authors. Our first aim being, as we have said, to establish personal relations with a man in his work, we begin by devoting ourselves to some one or other of his writings which may have a special kind of interest for us. But as students we cannot rest here. We want to realise the man’s genius, so far as this is possible, in its wholeness and variety ; And to this end we have to consider his works, not separately, but in their relations with one another, and thus with the man himself, the growth of his mind, the changes of his temper and thought, the influence upon him of his experiences in the world.

The records of himself the man has left are to be taken as an organic whole. When we reads the plays of Shakespeare, we read them in an random manner. We often read a work without a slightest idea of sequence or a method. And so the different expression of genius are left out. We must try to see the single individual power revealing himself in the plays. Hence, systematic reading is necessary to study a book and it’s author.

            There are two main methods to studying an author :

1. The Chronological method

2. The Comparative method

            Here are more detailed exploration of this methods :

1. The Chronological method :

The most natural and the most profitable of all plans of study that might be suggested is the chronological – the study of a writer’s works in the order of their production. Taken in this way such works become for us the luminous record of his inner life and of his craftsmanship; and we thus follow in them the various phases of his experience , the stage of his mental and moral growth, the changes undergone by his art.

Then Hudson gives example of Shakespearean plays and proved that the Chronological method of studying an author will help us to know the development of Shakespeare’s dramatic arts. But, then, he raises a question : is it necessary to read all the works of a writer ? He says that we should read those works of the author which are really vital for our study. All the works of the author may not be useful in our study. We should make selection of those works by the author which are significant to us. We should compare and contrast the writer with himself. We should compare and contrast his earlier works with his later works and then we should understand the author’s craftsmanship.

For example, To know the progressive evolution of Shakespeare’s genius, we must study the works of Shakespeare in the order they were produced. When we study him, we should study Julius Caesar (1599) first, then Hamlet (1600), Othello (1604), King Lear (1605) and so on. When we study so, we can know about the development of his style, his mental and moral growth and the changes in his art.

By the term ‘works of a writer ’ we mean his important or vital works, not every scrap that he has written. Even good writers leave behind them works which are tentative or experimental. They are mere echoes, just secondary kind of work. We may disregard them.

2. The Comparative method :

In following the chronological method we shall find ourselves, it is evident, continually comparing and contrasting a man with himself. Our next step will be to sharpen our impression of his personality by comparing and contrasting him with others – with men who worked in the same field, took up the same subjects, dealt with the same problems, wrote under similar condition, naturally associate themselves with him in our mind.

For example, when we read Shakespeare we should compare and contrast him with his contemporaries like Marlowe and Ben Johnson. We should try to find resemblance and differences between Shakespeare and other writers of his age. This way, we come to know about the essential qualities and genius of Shakespeare. If we study Tennyson, we could compare him with other great writers of his age like Browning and Arnold. Thus studying an author means to enter into the forces of his personality, Max Muller is very correct he says, “ higher knowledge is gained by comparison. ”

Conclusion :

According to Hudson, a comprehensive study of an author culminates in understanding their work as a direct product of their life and personality, revealing how their individual experience and worldview are artistically expressed through their writings. The conclusion involves appreciating the chronological development of the author’s thought and style, recognising that literature serves as a vital record of human experience and that genuine literature springs from the writer’s sincere and original life.

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