English Literature

Bacon was, definitely, a worldly wise man. He was the wisest and the meanest of mankind. He was truly of Renaissance; the age of accumulating knowledge, wealth and power. Being a true follower of Machiavellian principles, he led his life for worldly success. He was a man of shrewd and sagacious intellect with his eyes fixed on the main chance. And what he preached in his essays was also the knowledge, needed for worldly success. There is no doubt that Bacon's essays are a treasure house of worldly wisdom. The term worldly wisdom means a wisdom which is necessary for worldly success. It does not need any deep philosophy or any ideal morality. But Bacon was a man of high wisdom, as he himself pronounced, "I have taken all knowledge to be my province". Bacon also preached morality but his morality is subordinate to worldly success and he never hesitated to sacrifice it for worldly benefit. His essays are rich with the art which a man should employ for achieving success ...

If parts allure these think how Bacon shin'd The wisest, brightest and meanest of mankind. Bacon was the wisest because of his worldly wisdom, he was brightest owing to his powerful intellect and the art of writing terse essays, and he was meanest due to his treacherous character. The above mentioned remark on Bacon was made by a renowned and marvelous poet, "Alexander Pope". If we observe critically, this statement holds its validity. For Bacon appeared to be a true child of Renaissance. Undoubtedly he was a man of wisdom and powerful intellect. But all at once he was a calculating character, keeping an eye on the main chance. He was a true follower of Machiavelli. He failed to harmonize his mixed motives, complex principles and high aims together. He wanted to strive after the selfless scientific truth but he was conscious that nothing could be done without money and power. So, he strived after material success. Bacon belonged to the age of glory and greatness,...

The essays of Francis Bacon show the example of Dispersed Meditation. It is the style, where, though the discussing matter is same, the ideas that are coming one by one are not well organized or ideas don't come consecutively. This is why the question of dispersed meditation has been raised. Of course, Bacon does not stay away from the subject that he places before himself. There is nothing irrelevant or unrelated to the theme. He does not allow his mind or fancy to loiter and roam. But we can't describe his essays as well-knit compositions because there are no light connections between the various ideas and the ideas do not seem to flow from one another. We can't claim that an essay by Bacon has a structural unity. Ideas have been put together in his essays almost at random. In "Of Studies", we find various ideas regarding study. The author gives us ideas about the uses and abuses of reading books, ways of reading and so on. But we don't find any connection ...