Great Essentials for Happiness Essay

Joseph AddisonThe heavy(p) essentials for happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.Joseph Addison, a pre-twentieth-century proveist, was an impressive writer. within his lifetime, he wrote numerous essays and plays, compiled a book on the lives of seven authors, and translated Virgils Georgic. sm both-arm he was alive, the Battle of Blenheim was fought, inspiring nonpareil of his most celebrated and poems. Much of his works were shaped by the contextual influences all rough him. Addison was the experientest son of a reverend. He was born on May 1, 1672 in Milston, Wiltshire, England (Joseph Addison 1). His family was very supportive of his penning, and often listened to his latest scribblings proudly. This upkeep and support is certainly what started his successful writing career. Joseph Addison attended Lichfield Grammar School in Salisbury until he was quadrupletteen years old. It was at that age that he was enrolled in the Charterhouse (an position independent school founded in 1611) in London (Joseph Addison 1).While go to the Charterhouse school, he met Richard Steele, a man who became a great acquaintance of Addisons. In 1687, he moved on to enter Queens College, Oxford along with his friend Richard Steele (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). In college, he set him ego apart by his science and his shyness. After showing exceptional skill in Latin verse, he won the election for a position as a Demy (a scholar) to Magdalen College in 1689. He was a fellow there from 1697 to 1711, meaning that although he had graduated, he stayed on to work with some of the other graduates and professors in the pursuit of reciprocal knowledge (Joseph Addison 1). Addison lost no time after his graduation, immediately publish a book on the lives and works of several of the great English poets. This book, along with a commemorative poem on the Battle of Blenheim, caught the attention of a few very influential raft.In Addison they saw a writer whose works could be potentially used in servicing to the crown (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). Through Lord Keeper Somers, an influential Whig statesman, and Charles Montague, later cognize as the earl of Halifax, Addison obtained a royal pension. This pension allo get marital him to travel abroad part studying politics and continuing to write essays (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). His travels lasted from 1699 to 1704. During these five years abroad, Joseph Addison do the acquaintance of several English diplomats and European men of letters, peerless of which Addison himself had analyse to become (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). He started out in France and go along on to Italy, the run that was inspiration for his essay Remarks on Several Parts of Italy (1705) and the rhymed epistle A Letter from Italy (1704).Below, a brief excerpt from Addisons essay Remarks on Several Parts of Italy (1705) boasts of his luminous writing style and trademark nip ping personality while writing THERE is certainly no specify in the World where a Man may Travel with great Pleasure and Advantage than in Italy. One finds something more particular in the Face of the Country, and more astonishing in the Works of Nature, than can be met with in any other Part of Europe. It is the great School of Musick and Painting, and contains in it all the noblest Productions of Statuary and Architecture both(prenominal) Ancient and Modern. It abounds with Cabinets of Curiosities, and enormous Collections of all Kinds of Antiquities. No other Country in the World has such a Variety of Governments, that are so different in their Constitutions, and so refined in their Politicks (1). When writing, Joseph Addisons shy, unassuming personality hides by to release a much brighter and more amiable side of him. From there, his travels continued to Switzerland, where he came to an abrupt, albeit temporary, stand-still (Biography of Joseph Addison 1).His travels were interrupted by some rather unfortunate news. While in Geneva during the promenade of 1702 he learned of the death of ability William III, which resulted in his financial backers, Somers and Montague (the earl of Halifax), losing their positions (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). This loss of income, however, did not prevent him from continuing his adventures abroad. He spent the next two years wondering through Austria, the German states, and the Netherlands before finding his way back into England in 1704 (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). Following his redeem to England, Joseph Addison was made (thanks in part to the publication of his poem The Campaign) the Under-Secretary of State. He kept this position for two years before becoming secretary and the custodian of records for the lord-lieutenant of Ireland (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). In 1711, a change in the ministry lost him yet other government position, and he turned his eyes yet again towards writing as a means of occupa tion (Joseph Addison 1).With renewed vigor he once again took to writing essays, this time doing the work for his old friend Steeles paper, the Tatler. Joseph Addison contributed 42 works to the Tatler, which ran for about two years. Following the discontinuance of the Tatler in January of 1711, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele began publishing the periodical The Spectator (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). One of his first essays create in The Spectator, West Minister Abbey is a beautiful example of the peculiarity ease and elegance prose of his lifetime. Many of his essays during this time were a call to arm for the people of England, calling for them to rise to higher levels of living and thinking and aiming to awaken in them a passion to restore their great nation to its old glory.The essay is gloomy, reflecting Addisons own reflections on death and acknowledging it as the great provider of equity, for as he so eloquently states Upon this, I began to parcel out with myself w hat innumerable multitudes of people lay confused together under the pavage of that ancient cathedral how beauty, strength, and youth, with old age, weakness, and deformity, lay undistinguished in the like promiscuous heap of matter (2-3). The Spectator was published daily, and it grew to great popularity among the people of England. The Spectators political quips and insights into life and the state of their nation add it a great deal of influence over the people of that time. Of the 555 or so essays featured in the periodical, Addison composed 274 (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). The Spectator lasted 3.5 years and was one of the few bright spots in Joseph Addisons rather uneventful life, which was filled with personal disappointments (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). One such disappointment was his marriage to the Dowager Countess of Warwick.They were wed in 1716, and with his bride came a step-son who he had previously tutored. However, all was not cloud nine in the life of th e newlyweds. His wife was said to be arrogant and insatiable constantly belittling him and pointing out his every short coming (Biography of Joseph Addison 1).. To come upon matters worse, he lost his position in Parliament due to his distressingly overbearing shyness. He died a year later on June 17, 1719 (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). Ironically, Joseph Addison wrote an essay titled Defence and Happiness of Married tone in 1712, four years before his unhappy marriage to the Dowager Countess. In this essay, he writes through the persona of Philogamus in support of marriage, listing the many advantages and enjoyments a married man may experience.After taking a look at his life and then rereading Defence and Happiness of Married Life (1712) one finds it quite ironic to realize that one of the greatest joys of marriage as put-forth is one that he himself was denied in his own marriage You must stick out observed, in your Speculations on Human Nature, that nothing is more gratify ing to the approximation of Man than Power or Dominion and this I think my self amply possessed of, as I am the Father of a Family. I am perpetually taken up in gravid out Orders, in prescribing Duties, in hearing Parties, in Administering Justice, and in distributing Rewards and Punishments.To chat in the Language of the Centurion, I say unto one, go, and he goeth and to another, come and he cometh and to my Servant, do this, and he doeth it. In short, Sir, I look upon my Family as a Patriarchal Sovereignty, in which I am my self both office and Priest (1). Joseph Addison took anything life happened to throw at him and managed to twist it into a bewitching essay or haunting poem. Though his life was filled with disappointments, both in his personal life and in his political career, Addison managed to produce numerous essays and poems as well as a book and to top it all off, he co-produced three separate periodicals along with his friend Richard Steele. His writing hints at the contextual influences all around him.BibliographyAddison, Joseph. Defence and Happiness of Married Life. The Spectator. 03 October 1712. Web. 06 May 2013. Addison, Joseph. Remarks on Several Parts of Italy. 1705. Web. 06 May 2013. Addison, Joseph. Westminster Abbey. The Spectator. 30 March 1711. Web. 06 May 2013. http//addison.classicauthors.net/WestminsterAbbey/Biography of Joseph Addison. PoemHunter. Web. 06 May 2013. Joseph Addison (1672-1719). Luminarium. Web. 06 May 2013. Joseph Addison. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Web. 06 May. 2013 .