Overview

This open access book seeks to explain how the literary commentary of the Lives of the Poets speaks to us today because of its ethical goals. Edward Tomarken elucidates this element of Johnson’s literary criticism by using Ralph Cohen’s genre method, the topic of Chapter One, “Why Genre”. Chapters two to five address the most prevalent genres of the Lives: tragedy, metaphysical poetry, the epic, the pastoral elegy, and the mock epic. Chapter six considers the rise of literary criticism as a genre. Chapter Seven demonstrates how ethical genre criticism relates literature to life. And the final chapter explains why, although Johnson considers ‘moral’ and ‘ethical’ as nearly interchangeable terms, Tomarken prefers ‘ethical’ because it relates genre criticism to present problems in literary and non-literary worlds.

Full Product Details

9783031618444

Table of Contents

Reviews

“I enjoyed this book ... . Tomarken shows that Johnson is a more flexible critic than he is often given credit for, and several of his chapters contain valuable insights.” (Phil Jones, Johnsonian News Letter, Vol. 77 (1), March, 2026)

Author Information

Edward L. Tomarken is Professor Emeritus at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK. He has written ten books, one on the sublime, two on Shakespeare, a trilogy on literary theory in films and television, and four studies of Samuel Johnson.

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