Overview
- Covers a broad spectrum of Wordsworth's poetry, including the major poems, the juvenilia, and the late works
Contains a clear and wideranging account of critical and theoretical approaches to the poems, from the late eighteenth century to the present
Focuses on one of the bestknown British poets, whose works are read and studied throughout the world
Part of the book series: Critical Issues (CRTI)
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Beginning with a fresh assessment of the controversies that developed around Lyrical Ballads, the chapters trace the evolution of both Wordsworth's poetry and his reputation through to his death in 1850. At each stage, Williams investigates the possible reasons why critics and readers responded as they did: enraged by his revolutionary 'Jacobinism' at the turn of the eighteenth century; insulted by the 'simplicity' of the Poems in Two Volumes of 1807; reassured by his commitment to Nature and his reverence for Church and State in the early Victorian period.
In the twentieth century, Wordsworth has been subjected to a series of extensive critical reappraisals. With reference to a wide range of the poetry, Williams goes on to discuss the way Wordsworth has been variously reconstructed as a consequence of the main critical and theoretical initiatives of the last one hundred years. He also examines the Wordsworth we have inherited for the twenty-first century: a poet many still feel has important things to say to the contemporary reader about human relationships, nature, the environment, and our imaginative life.
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: William Wordsworth
Authors: John Williams
Series Title: Critical Issues
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-26601-9
Publisher: Red Globe Press London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2002
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 267
Additional Information: Previously published under the imprint Palgrave
Topics: Nineteenth-Century Literature