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Biographical Elements in Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus
Abandoning his Christian faith at the age of twenty-
three, Carlyle had to find a new set of beliefs to believe in.
The clothes philosophy, which was introduced in Sartor
Resartus, had brought out these beliefs in a form combined
with fiction, biography and autobiography. Herr Teufelsdröckh,
the fictional character created by Carlyle, was claimed a
total myth except for the incident in the Rue St. Thomas de
l’Enfer by Carlyle himself, but there were parts found in the
book that associates with his real life experiences (Waring,
51). So exactly which parts of the book represented Carlyle
himself, and which fragments were purely made up?
Being intertwined with fiction and non-fiction elements
makes it really confusing for readers when trying to dig out
some of Carlyle’s life events and spiritual thoughts. Why use
a fictional structure to write a book and not just an
autobiography? Carlyle even made fierce attacks on fiction
such as describing it as “the nature of lying” (Levine, 55).
Still, he could not repudiate fiction since fiction was the
way to spell out his upmost ideas and at the same time shield
himself from the public disapproval he expected. Many other
Victorians also found this indirect method of writing could
best express their thoughts. It is for us readers to read
thoroughly and dive deep into the context to see the core of
the author.
The origins of Sartor Resartus may have come from Wotten
Reinfred, which was an autobiographical novel written by
Carlyle in 1827. The novel dealt with unhappy love affairs,
such as a woman leaving to marry a rich man are similar to
those Carlyle had in real life. He wrote it in conventions
according to the time, and wasn’t satisfied with the work. The
desire for a new set of conventions was on its way since then.
Discovered in Carlyle’s 1830 journal entry was the key:” I am
going to write Nonsense. It is on ‘Clothes.’” In 1831 when his
two articles concerning this issue got rejected from Fraser’s
Magazine, he decided to create more biography for
Teufelsdröckh. In order to not write in a too innovative way
