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Jesuitism
Grub-street is a pejorative descriptor for describe hack writers and their work of low artistic or literary value. The term is derived from the eponymous Grub Street in London, which was the center of the lowbrow literary scene, housing writers, publishers, booksellers of little means. Goldsmith himself was a Grub-street hack in the earlier part of his career, drawing on this experience among others for the stories of George’s travels.
Grub-street Quotes in The Vicar of Wakefield
The The Vicar of Wakefield quotes below are all either spoken by Grub-street or refer to Grub-street. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 20 Quotes
My little piece would therefore come forth in the mist of periodical publication, unnoticed and unknown. The public were more importantly employed, than to observe the easy simplicity of my style, of the harmony of my periods. Sheet after sheet was thrown off to oblivion. My essays were buried among the essays upon liberty, eastern tales, and cures for the bite of a mad dog; while Philautos, Philalethes, Philelutheros, and Philanthropos, all wrote better, because they wrote faster, than I.
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In this passage, part of George’s narration of his travels, trials, and tribulations since leaving Wakefield and his family, he describes his failed writing career as a Grub-street hack writer. Having been found unfit to work in a school as his father had hoped he would, George is advised to put his talents to work writing for Grub-street publications. A serious and dedicated young man, he approaches his writing with painstaking craftsmanship, hoping to deliver the most ingenious of “paradoxes” to the reading public. To his dismay, his writing receives no reaction whatsoever, not because of any lack of talent Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptate
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Grub-street Term Timeline in The Vicar of Wakefield
The timeline below shows where the term Grub-street appears in The Vicar of Wakefield. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 20
...the job as brutal and unrewarding. He suggested writing instead, pointing to the success of Grub-street hack writers. George’s writing found no readers, however, and the literary establishment completely ignored it....
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