"We visited the tomb of the illustrious Hampden, and the field on which the patriot fell (117)."
John Hampden was an English politician in the early 1600's. He was a skilled regimental officer and a war strategist. He died from a battle wound in 1643 and is still known as a hero today. Shelly may have picked Hampden as the subject of this sentence because she perhaps looked up to him as a child and thought he would be a good name to mention in the novel.
"A good name to mention in the novel?"
ReplyDeleteIs this illuminating the meaning of the text in anyway? Considering how much thought she puts into other references in the text, is it likely she just liked his name?