Tale of Two Cities, A.—A novel, by Charles Dickens, originally produced in All the Year Round for 1859, and afterward republished in complete form. The author says he first conceived the main idea of the story when acting, with his children and friends, in Wilkie Collins’ drama of The Frozen Deep. His narrative is drawn from the scenes of the French revolution of 1789; and it was one of Dickens’ hopes, he says, to add something to the popular and picturesque means of understanding that terrible time; “though no one,” he continues, “can hope to add anything to the philosophy of Carlyle’s wonderful book.”
Tales of a Wayside Inn.—Name given by Longfellow to a collection of short poems arranged by himself and collected together much in the same form as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. These “tales” were mostly gathered from old literature and translated into Longfellow’s own verses—only one, The Birds of Killingworth, being said to be entirely original. Seven narratives are represented: the Landlord, the Student, the Spanish Cavalier, the Jew, the Sicilian, the Musician, and the Theologian. Four colonial tales are included in the work: Paul Revere’s Ride, Elizabeth, Lady Wentworth, and The Rhyme of Sir Christopher.
Taming of the Shrew, The.—A comedy by Shakespeare. The incident of Vincentio’s personation by the pedant was borrowed by Shakespeare from George Gascoigne’s Supposes. The chief characters are Petruchio and his wife Katharine, the shrew.
Tam O’Shanter.—The title of a poem by Burns, and the name of its hero, a farmer, who, riding home very late and very drunk from Ayr, in a stormy night, had to pass by the kirk of Alloway, a place reputed to be a favorite haunt of the devil and his friends and emissaries. On approaching the kirk, he perceived a light gleaming through the windows; but, having got courageously drunk, he ventured on till he could look into the edifice, when he saw a dance of witches. His presence became known, and in an instant all was dark; and Tam, recollecting himself, turned and spurred his horse to the top of her speed, chased by the whole fiendish crew. It is a current belief that witches, or any evil spirits, have no power to follow a poor wight any farther than the middle of the next running stream. Fortunately for Tam, the River Doon was near, and he escaped, while the witches held only the tail of his mare Maggie. It has been said of Tam O’Shanter that in no other poem of the same length can there be found so much brilliant description, pathos, and quaint humor, nor such a combination of the terrific and the ludicrous.
Tancred (tang´kred).—In Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, was the greatest of all the Christian warriors, except Rinaldo.
Tartufe, or Tartuffe (tār-tūf´).—One of Molière’s best known comedies. Tartuffe is a religious hypocrite and impostor, who uses “religion” as the means of gaining money, covering deceit, and promoting self-indulgence. He is taken up by one Orgon, a man of property, who promises him his daughter in marriage; but, his true character being exposed, he is not only turned out of the house, but is lodged in jail for felony.
Isaac Bickerstaff adapted Molière’s comedy to the English stage, under the title of The Hypocrite. Tartuffe he calls “Dr. Cantwell,” and Orgon “Sir John Lambert.” It is thought that “Tartuffe” is a caricature of Père la Chaise, the confessor of Louis XIV., who was very fond of truffles (French, truffes), and that this suggested the name to the dramatist.
Task, The.—A poem by William Cowper. “The Task,” says Southey, “was at once descriptive, moral, and satirical. The descriptive parts everywhere bore evidence of a thoughtful mind and a gentle spirit, as well as of an observant eye; and the moral sentiment which pervaded them gave a charm in which descriptive poetry is often found wanting. The best didactic poems, when compared with The Task, are like formal gardens in comparison with woodland scenery.” “The Task,” says Hazlitt, “has fewer blemishes than The Seasons; but it has not the same capital excellence, the ‘unsought grace’ of poetry, the power of moving and infusing the warmth of the author’s mind into that of the reader.”
Teazle (tē´zl), Lady.—The heroine of Sheridan’s comedy The School for Scandal, and the wife of Sir Peter Teazle, an old gentleman who marries late in life. She is represented as being “a lively and innocent, though imprudent, country girl, transplanted into the midst of all that can bewilder and endanger her, but with enough of purity about her to keep the blight of the world from settling upon her.”
Teazle, Sir Peter.—A character in Sheridan’s play The School for Scandal, husband of Lady Teazle.