Orlando

by

Virginia Woolf

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Joseph Addison Character Analysis

An English essayist and poet of the 18th century. Addison is one of the poets Orlando idolizes (Nicolas Green later says that Orlando’s poem, “The Oak Tree,” reminds him of Addison’s tragic play, Cato), and she meets him after befriending Alexander Pope. Like Pope and Swift, Orlando spends much time with Addison and even keeps a book in hand to write down all the witty things he says. But nothing witty is ever said and the book remains empty. The narrator quotes a passage from the Spectator, a daily publication put out by Addison from 1711 to 1712, and claims that Addison’s “profundities” exist only in his work. Otherwise, he is just an ordinary man who likes “scented handkerchiefs” and wears “plum-coloured suits one day and grey another.”

Joseph Addison Quotes in Orlando

The Orlando quotes below are all either spoken by Joseph Addison or refer to Joseph Addison. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Writing and Literature Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

It was happy for Orlando, though at first disappointing, that this should be so, for she now began to live much in the company of men of genius, yet after all they were not much different from other people. Addison, Pope, Swift, proved, she found, to be fond of tea. They liked arbours. They collected little bits of coloured glass. They adored grottoes. Rank was not distasteful to them. Praise was delightful. They wore plum-coloured suits one day and grey another. Mr. Swift had a fine malacca cane. Mr. Addison scented his handkerchiefs. Mr. Pope suffered with his head. A piece of gossip did not come amiss. Nor were they without their jealousies. (We are jotting down a few reflections that came to Orlando higgledy-piggledy.) At first, she was annoyed with herself for noticing such trifles, and kept a book in which to write down their memorable sayings, but the page remained empty.

Related Characters: Orlando, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Addison
Page Number: 208
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Ah!” he said, heaving a little sigh, which was yet comfortable enough, “Ah! my dear lady, the great days of literature are over. Marlowe, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson—those were the giants. Dryden, Pope, Addison—those were the heroes. All, all are dead now. And whom have they left us? Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle!”—he threw an immense amount of scorn into his voice. “The truth of it is,” he said, pouring himself a glass of wine, “that all our young writers are in the pay of booksellers. They turn out any trash that serves to pay their tailor’s bills. It is an age,” he said, helping himself to hors d’oeuvres, “marked by precious conceits and wild experiments—none of which the Elizabethans would have tolerated for an instant.”

Related Characters: Nicholas Greene (speaker), Orlando, Alexander Pope, The Shabby Man / William Shakespeare, Joseph Addison, Christopher Marlowe / Kit Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Dryden
Page Number: 278
Explanation and Analysis:
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Joseph Addison Quotes in Orlando

The Orlando quotes below are all either spoken by Joseph Addison or refer to Joseph Addison. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Writing and Literature Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

It was happy for Orlando, though at first disappointing, that this should be so, for she now began to live much in the company of men of genius, yet after all they were not much different from other people. Addison, Pope, Swift, proved, she found, to be fond of tea. They liked arbours. They collected little bits of coloured glass. They adored grottoes. Rank was not distasteful to them. Praise was delightful. They wore plum-coloured suits one day and grey another. Mr. Swift had a fine malacca cane. Mr. Addison scented his handkerchiefs. Mr. Pope suffered with his head. A piece of gossip did not come amiss. Nor were they without their jealousies. (We are jotting down a few reflections that came to Orlando higgledy-piggledy.) At first, she was annoyed with herself for noticing such trifles, and kept a book in which to write down their memorable sayings, but the page remained empty.

Related Characters: Orlando, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Addison
Page Number: 208
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Ah!” he said, heaving a little sigh, which was yet comfortable enough, “Ah! my dear lady, the great days of literature are over. Marlowe, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson—those were the giants. Dryden, Pope, Addison—those were the heroes. All, all are dead now. And whom have they left us? Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle!”—he threw an immense amount of scorn into his voice. “The truth of it is,” he said, pouring himself a glass of wine, “that all our young writers are in the pay of booksellers. They turn out any trash that serves to pay their tailor’s bills. It is an age,” he said, helping himself to hors d’oeuvres, “marked by precious conceits and wild experiments—none of which the Elizabethans would have tolerated for an instant.”

Related Characters: Nicholas Greene (speaker), Orlando, Alexander Pope, The Shabby Man / William Shakespeare, Joseph Addison, Christopher Marlowe / Kit Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Dryden
Page Number: 278
Explanation and Analysis: