Overview

Few stories capture the unique interplay of critical theory, mass media and public taste better than the story of the Spasmodics. These earnest, youthful and largely self-educated neo-Romantics hoped to become prophets who would influence literary society on a grand scale. From about 1850 to 1860, the Spasmodics successfully cast a long shadow over virtually every serious discussion of Victorian poetry. Many mid-nineteenth-century writers, including Tennyson, both Brownings and Matthew Arnold, were either adherents or outspoken detractors of the Spasmodic School. This work is an attempt to document, in the appropriate social context, the trajectory of the Spasmodic School in both its original incarnation and in subsequent appraisals. Examining the various personalities and aesthetic principles that fashioned the movement, it does not champion any particular critical stance or verdict. The scholarly apparatus contained within cites a number of competing Victorianist interpretations, approaches and judgments with varying degrees of expertise.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lori A. Paige
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Weight:   0.363kg
ISBN:  

9781476682969

ISBN 10:   1476682968
Pages:   277
Publication Date:   30 November 2022
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. ""Some Special Providential Purpose"": The Tale of the Spasmodic School 2. ""Fearless Strains"": British Literary Culture at Mid–Century 3. ""Barbaric Jewelry"": Bailey's Festus and the Birth of the Spasmodic Ideal 4. ""With a Halo Crowned"": Gerald, A ­Life-Drama, and the Coming of the Vates 5. ""The Unstable Bubble of Inflated Thought"": Dobell, Bigg, and the Flowering of High Spasmody 6. ""All High Poetry Is and Must Be Spasmodic"": The ­Anti-Spasmodic Reaction 7. ""A Cloud of Poisonous Flies"": After the Spasmodics Epilogue: ""Vast Displays of Critic Wit"": The Future of the Spasmodic School A Spasmodic Timeline Chapter Notes Bibliography Index"

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Author Information

Lori A. Paige, an associate professor and chair of the English Department at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, teaches courses in British and vampire literature.

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