Description
A deadly prison riot, a charge of infanticide: these are the dramatic events that form the central action of Walter Scott’s 1818 novel. The story begins with the historically-based uprising of Edinburgh prisoners and townspeople against a needlessly cruel warden. Our heroine Jeanie Deans emerges in contrast to this tumultuous societal backdrop. Though she is lower-class, Jeanie is admirable for her religious devotion and her moral integrity. Both of these qualities are exhibited in Jeanie’s selfless quest to save her sister Effie, who has been sentenced to die after being charged with murdering her child. Jeanie journeys from her provincial town to London to beg a royal pardon from the Queen and the Duke of Argyle. As she gets caught up in the intricacies of her sister’s dilemma, Jeanie realizes that she has the ability to save Effie—but to do so, she would have to violate her own moral and religious code. Scott’s portrayal of a society in turmoil is mirrored in the internal struggles that Jeanie goes through, and which she must overcome in order to help her family while keeping her honor intact.
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Opening Lines (Experimental)
TALES OF MY LANDLORD COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY JEDEDIAH CLEISHBOTHAM, SCHOOLMASTER AND PARISH CLERK OF GANDERCLEUGH.
SECOND SERIES.
THE HEART OF MID-LOTHIAN.
An' faith he'll prent it!
Burns.
CHAPTER ...
Ratings for 'The Heart of Mid-Lothian' by Scott, Sir Walter
The Heart of Mid-Lothian
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The Heart of Mid-Lothian
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