‘Waverley’ by Walter Scott, first published anonymously in 1814, is noteworthy primarily for being the first historical novel. It is an interesting first novel which describes an important and fateful time in Scotland’s history.
‘Waverley’ tells the story of a young officer in the English army who finds his sympathy drawn towards the opposition when he is posted to Scotland. He becomes one of the leaders of the Jacobite insurrection directed against the English. The book is beautifully written and adheres closely to Scottish history. There is romance and adventure in this tale as our young hero is forced to test his loyalties to his country and the love of his life.
Two hundred years later, Walter Scott’s early novel remains a powerful narrative. There are three primary factors to consider when undertaking ‘Waverley’, especially the first time reading it through. First, reading Scott’s novel will help you fill your bookshelf. Readers interested in historical fiction, chivalricromance, Elizabethan drama, medieval poetry, Romantic poetry, metanarrative, folktales, satire, or irreverence and parody will find common and unfamiliar referents in ‘Waverley’. No author utilises literary allusions quite like Scott to draw thematic and formal content for his work. Second, ‘Waverley’ is recognised by many to be the first historical novel; if you are interested at all in the historical narrative genre, the controversy of its origin, Scottish history, or the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, ‘Waverley’ is a must read. Third, that ‘Waverley’ is just funny. His quixotic idealism, the intertextual jokes, the narrator’s unbreakable anxiety over “amusing” his readers, all build a humorous romantic journey in an otherwise highly serious plot. Each section of general analysis that follows will offer a flash close reading of Davie Gellatly, a relatively minor character who first appears in chapter 9. Davie encapsulates much of the overarching ideas in the novel, and in writing about him I hope to avoid slipping in any hard spoilers.
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