Essay

Essay
Definition and Characteristics:

● An essay is a piece of prose writing, usually from an author's personal
point of view.
● non-fictional but often subjective
● narrative, informal, unsystematic
● short
● literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations
of daily life, recollections and reflections of the author.
● Dr. Johnson defined it as "a loose sally of the mind, an irregular,
indigested piece, not a regular and orderly performance”.
● Aldous Huxley, a leading essayist: "Like the novel, the essay is a
literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything. By
tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece, and it is
therefore impossible to give all things full play within the limits of a
single essay.
● The Oxford English Dictionary explains it as "a composition of
moderate length on any particular subject, or branch of a subject;
originally implying want of finish, but now said of a composition more
or less elaborate in style, though limited in range”.
● Britannica - an analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition
usually much shorter and less systematic and formal than a dissertation
or thesis and usually dealing with its subject from a limited and often
personal point of view.
● Hugh Walker - "Apparently”, there is no subject, from the stars to the
dust-heap and from the amoeba to man, which may not be dealt with in
an Essay”.
● W.H. Hudson - The true Essay is essentially personal. It belongs to the
literature of self-expression. Treatise and dissertation may be objective;
the Essay is subjective”.
Origin:
● attributed to the Roman writers Cicero and Seneca.
● The first author to describe his works as essays was the Frenchman
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) meaning ‘to try/attempt’
● Francis Bacon's essays, published in book form in 1597, 1612, and 1625,
were the first works in English
● At the beginning of the 17th century, social manners, the cultivation of
politeness, and the training of an accomplished gentleman became the
theme of many essayists.
● Keener political awareness in the 18th century
Types:
1. The Aphoristic Essay
● Bacon gave it an objective or impersonal turn and his writings do not
portray the man himself.
● His essays seem like a collection of short and pithy maxims with
tremendous compression. Each sentence can convey a deep and
concentrated meaning.
2. The Character-Writers
● Sir Thoman Browne and Abraham Cowley
3. The Critical Essay
● John Dryden
4. The Periodical and Social Essay
● Joseph Addison and Richard Steele – Tatler and Spectator
● To bring social reforms, teach morals
5. The Personal Essay
● Charles Lamb - Essays of Elia
● E.V. Lucas, Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, Thackeray, De Quincey, R.L.
Stevenson, J. B. Priestley
What is an Essay?
The essay represents the varied spectacle and drama of life in a more easy and
attractive manner than that of the novel, the drama or the Romance. Hazlitt says.
about the essay,
"The essay makes us familiar with the world of men and women,
records their actions, assigns their motives, exhibits their whims,
characterises their pursuits in all their singular and endless variety,
ridicules their absurdities, exposes their inconsistencies - holds
mirror up to nature and shows the very age and body of the time,
its form and pressure, takes minutes of our dress, airs, looks, words,
thoughts and actions, shows us what we are and what we are not.”
The essay has rightly been a vast popular form of literature. Not profound as the
philosophical treatise, it entertains. It is not dull with unnecessary details as the
history, it is cheery with pleasant wit and fun. Not rising to the grandeur of epic
sublimity, not soaring in the pure ether of poetic rapture; it has a kindly nod and smile
and handshake for the everyday man of all walks of life. It neither preaches nor
commands; it suggests. And suggestion is often more effective than teaching or
commanding. We may find in the essay philosophy or scholarship, but it is
represented with drawing room graces and in an easy, cheerful manner. In touch with
men and books, the essayist gives us an epic in paragraph.
Definitions
No really satisfactory and comprehensive definition of the term ‘Essay’ has yet
been given. From Bacon up to the modern age there have been a number of masters
of this art, who wrote in different environments and circumstances.
(1) According to Montaigne, the father of Essay, it is a trial, an attempt.

(2) Bacon took it in a serious way and defined, “certain brief notes, set down rather
significantly than curiously, which I have called Essay?”
(3) The Oxford English Dictionary explains it as “a composition of moderate length
on a particular subject.”
(4) In the words of W. H. Auden. "The true essay is essentially personal. It belongs
to the literature of self-expression. Treatise and dissertation may be objective,
the essay is subjective."
All these definitions seem to us um incomplete because they emphasise on one

aspect or the other. We find that the 20th Century essayists are more careful about
defining the essay. Hugh Walker, for example, writes,
“Apparently there is no subject, from the stars to dust heaps, and
from amoeba to man, which may not be dealt within an essay.”
J.B. Priestley says,
“It is a genuine expression of an original personality, an artful and
enduring kind of talk".
Characteristics of the Essay: -
1) Brevity - Comparative brevity is the first & quality of the essay. It would be a
necessary condition of a good essay that it should not attempt too much. Artistically
also it will suffer from overloading. Both the material, as well as, the method must
be adjusted. Selection and the proper distribution will be found in elementary
principles of essay writing. It should be limited to only one aspect of its subject, and,
in spite of its loose form, must impress us as a complete within itself. Bacon in this
regard is the best essayist.
2) Freedom and informality - Another commonly accepted quality is that it is

marked by considerable freedom and informality. This brings it well within
Johnson's definition – “a loose sally of the mind, an irregular, indigested piece" The
essayist's the most delightful talker in the world. He starts with a certain subject and
follows that comes to his any line of thought that comes to his mind. It is the
capricious talk of a man who likes to talk. Sometimes. digressions are also
appropriate in the familiar style of essay. They are like `the careless shoe strings’ or
‘the loosely flowing ribbons.’
3) Vast Range of subjects - The range of subject matter is vast as the world itself –
in the words of Hugh Walker ‘from stars to dust heap, and from amoeba to man’. No
subject is special to him, and none outside his range. He is a dreamer of innumerable
dreams. The most trivial occurrences will serve to write an essay – the crowing of a
Cock, or the book on his shelf. He follows it into courts and camps, into town and
country, into rustic sports and learned discussions.
4) Subjectivity and personal element – The real subject of the essayist is – he

himself, for the reason that his business is to talk about himself. Quite often the
subject in hand is just a starting point, an excuse, a mere peg on which the writer
hangs his thoughts. Whatever the amount, mood, subject or scene, the essayist takes
the occasion to talk about himself, - his likes and dislikes, his tastes and preferences,
weakness and foibles and to share them with his readers. The key note of his essay
self-portrait - his personality.
Thus, the modern essayists have made the scope of the essay unlimited. After
discussing the various definitions and aspects of the essay, we come to explain the
essay in our own way. A minimum definition would be to say that
"The Essay is a piece of prose, usually short, which is not devoted
to narrative. The essayist may use anecdotes; he may even create
characters, to make his opinions expressed, but his chief interest is
not of the storyteller. The essayist's usual role is that of the social
philosopher, the critic, the annotator.

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Essay

Definition and Characteristics:

(1) According to Montaigne, the father of Essay, it is a trial, an attempt.

All these definitions seem to us um incomplete because they emphasise on one

2) Freedom and informality - Another commonly accepted quality is that it is

4) Subjectivity and personal element – The real subject of the essayist is – he

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