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The Life of Samuel Johnson Essay

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Samuel Johnson, prominent English author, lived a life which was appears to have been unpretentious on the surface, however his life was filled with numerous complications, extreme suffering and massive psychological troubles. Also, despite all the struggles and suffering in his life, he had a “passionate concern for humanity and even said, ‘I have often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not be useful’” ( Green ). Samuel Johnson was born September 7, 1709 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England in the home above his fifty-two year old father’s struggling bookshop. His father had gained prosperity but it did not endure the enterprises he was involved in, forcing the family into …show more content…

Later in life they would cause of him to be rejected for a teaching position. He attended the Lichfield Grammar School where he would succeed in the study of Greek and Latin despite the fact that he felt different because of the poverty his family suffered. Samuel Johnson read as many books as he could from the bookshop when he working with his father. Later, he would attend Oxford where he astounded his tutors and classmates with his knowledge. He was a conservative whom was alienated from the liberal intellectual circles (Green). In 1733, he relocated to Birmingham to live his with friend Edward Hector, a surgeon supporting himself by writing for the Birmingham Journal and translating the historically significant and politically controversial Jeronymo Lobo’s Abyssinia. While in Birmingham, Hector introduced Johnson to a Harry Porter, a wool draper. Johnson married his widow less than a year after the demise of Porter; she was twenty one years his senior. In 1737, Johnson left his wife behind went to London with Davy Garrick, a former student of his who became a famous actor and often imitated Johnson to achieve laughs (Green). He began writing for the Gentleman’s Magazine which published several disguised debates, that were a means of getting around Parliament’s ban on reporting debates, became very popular. Johnson did not become known

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