ABSTRACT

No major novel of Scott is totally unconcerned with the phenomenon of social change, or with conflicts between disparate social groups. The subject is in fact so often to the fore that it has the closest links with nearly all of Scott's other favourite topics. What we found to say about the effect of ‘the ‘45’ on Highland culture, for example, or the appearance of urban commercialism in the shape of Bailie Nicol Jarvie, could quite appropriately be included in this section. In some books, however, the stresses and strains resulting from changes in the social order are so very prominent as to invite special attention on their own.