Butler, Samuel (1835–1902)

English writer. He made his name in 1872 with a satiric attack on contemporary utopianism, Erewhon (an anagram of nowhere). He is now remembered for his unfinished, semi-autobiographical discursive novel, The Way of All Flesh, a study of Victorian conventions, the causes and effects of the clash between generations, and religious hypocrisy (written and frequently revised 1873–84 and posthumously published in 1903).

The Fair Haven (1873) examined the miraculous element in Christianity. Life and Habit (1877) and other works were devoted to a criticism of the theory of natural selection. In The Authoress of the Odyssey (1897) he maintained that Homer's Odyssey was the work of a woman.

Erewhon shows remarkable foresight into the development of some phases of 20th-century society, and has invention, wit, and grace, as well as originality. Its sequel, Erewhon Revisited (1901), is a more polished story, and its dominating theme, the origins of a religious myth, gives it more cohesion, but it lacks the spontaneity of Erewhon.

Butler was born near Bingham, Nottinghamshire, studied at Cambridge University, and in 1859 went to New Zealand and became a sheep farmer. A First Year in Canterbury Settlement (1863), composed of letters home, was his first published work; he returned to England the following year. Butler was unsuccessful as a commercial author, publishing several of his books at his own expense.

Butler, Samuel (1612–1680)

Seventeenth-century English satirist Samuel Butler.

English satirist. His best-known poem Hudibras, published in three parts in 1663, 1664, and 1678, became immediately popular for its biting satire against the Puritans and on other contemporary issues.

Butler also wrote minor poetic satires, and prose ‘characters’ not published until 1759. He was a strong influence on the poetry of Jonathan Swift.

Although the story line of Hudibras is a bare framework, the use of epigram and flippantly comic rhyme, the conversion of the tetrameter line to swift-moving semi-doggerel, and especially the virulence in expressing the contempt of a ‘good hater’, make it a memorable work.

Butler was born in Worcestershire. After being a page in the household of Elizabeth, Countess of Kent, he worked as clerk to several Puritan justices of the peace. Some of the characters in Hudibras were later based on these men. Butler travelled in France and Holland, and in 1662 was steward of Ludlow Castle, Shropshire.