Sensibility and Female Poetic Tradition, 1780–1860

The Legacy of Charlotte Smith

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Sensibility and Female Poetic Tradition, 1780–1860 by Claire Knowles, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Claire Knowles ISBN: 9781317057246
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: April 1, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Claire Knowles
ISBN: 9781317057246
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: April 1, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Arguing that the end of the eighteenth-century witnessed the emergence of an important female poetic tradition, Claire Knowles analyzes the poetry of several key women writing between 1780 and 1860. Knowles provides important context by demonstrating the influence of the Della Cruscans in exposing the constructed and performative nature of the trope of sensibility, a revelation that was met with critical hostility by a literary culture that valorised sincerity. This sets the stage for Charlotte Smith, who pioneers an autobiographical approach to poetic production that places increased emphasis on the connection between the poet's physical body and her body of work. Knowles shows the poets Susan Evance, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning advancing Smith's poetic strategy as they seek to elicit a powerful sympathetic response from readers by highlighting a connection between their actual suffering and the production of poetry. From this environment, a specific tradition in female poetry arises that is identifiable in the work of twentieth-century writers like Sylvia Plath and continues to pertain today. Alongside this new understanding of poetic tradition, Knowles provides an innovative account of the central role of women writers to an emergent late eighteenth-century mass literary culture and traces a crucial discursive shift that takes place in poetic production during this period. She argues that the movement away from the passionate discourse of sensibility in the late eighteenth century to the more contained rhetoric of sentimentality in the early nineteenth had an enormous effect, not only on female poets but also on British literary culture as a whole.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Arguing that the end of the eighteenth-century witnessed the emergence of an important female poetic tradition, Claire Knowles analyzes the poetry of several key women writing between 1780 and 1860. Knowles provides important context by demonstrating the influence of the Della Cruscans in exposing the constructed and performative nature of the trope of sensibility, a revelation that was met with critical hostility by a literary culture that valorised sincerity. This sets the stage for Charlotte Smith, who pioneers an autobiographical approach to poetic production that places increased emphasis on the connection between the poet's physical body and her body of work. Knowles shows the poets Susan Evance, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning advancing Smith's poetic strategy as they seek to elicit a powerful sympathetic response from readers by highlighting a connection between their actual suffering and the production of poetry. From this environment, a specific tradition in female poetry arises that is identifiable in the work of twentieth-century writers like Sylvia Plath and continues to pertain today. Alongside this new understanding of poetic tradition, Knowles provides an innovative account of the central role of women writers to an emergent late eighteenth-century mass literary culture and traces a crucial discursive shift that takes place in poetic production during this period. She argues that the movement away from the passionate discourse of sensibility in the late eighteenth century to the more contained rhetoric of sentimentality in the early nineteenth had an enormous effect, not only on female poets but also on British literary culture as a whole.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Contesting Psychiatry by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Assessment by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Learning in School-University Partnership by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Mapping Out Marketing by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Organisational Prosecutions by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book The Sociology of Healthcare by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Fundamental Liberties of a Free People by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book A Practical Guide to Teaching Foreign Languages in the Secondary School by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Wetenschap by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Plural Masculinities by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Air Transportation by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Romancing the Tomes by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Old People in Three Industrial Societies by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Beyond the Consumption Bubble by Claire Knowles
Cover of the book Environment, Planning and Land Use by Claire Knowles
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy