Waverley and the ‘Unified Design’ (1951)

Abstract

A common criticism of the novels of Sir Walter Scott is that each is a collection of occasionally brilliant but essentially unordered and unrelated parts. In the words of a recent writer: ‘The total effect was generally marred because Scott seldom conceived a unified design. He displayed a brilliant but disorderly pageant, imposing upon this vital confusion a semblance of order by means of the artificial plot.’¹. Because so much criticism of Scott follows this pattern, it may be useful to examine a novel to see how the generalization applies to a particular case. Waverley, the first of the series, despite extravagant praise from Goethe and a few others, has had its share of attacks on its organization. Virtues are granted, but these virtues are commonly not those of a unified novel. I think it may be shown, on the contrary, that if properly read, Waverley is a well-ordered work, and that its virtues are not isolated, but in the main contribute to the whole.