Abstract: | The paper attempts to show the features of the artist as a cultural type of 18th century British life. This cultural type defines itself in relation to other key-concepts, such as the space he/she inhabits, the public, London society, publishers and printers, the politicians, other fellow artists and, what constitutes the most important aspect, in relation to himself, to his private expectations and system of values; all this with emphasis on Tobias Smollett’s novel The Adventures of Roderick Random and on Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield. |
