Eighteenth Century English Literature

by Sussman, Charlotte

• ISBN13: 9780745625140
• ISBN10: 0745625142
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-11-14
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

This engaging book introduces new readers of eighteenth-century texts to some of the major works, authors, and debates of a key period of literary history. Rather than simply providing a chronological survey of the era, this book analyzes the impact of significant cultural developments on literary themes and formsNtilde;including urbanization, colonial and mercantile expansion, the emergence of the "public sphere," and changes in sex and gender roles. In eighteenth-century Britain, many of the things we take for granted about modern life were shockingly new: women appeared for the first time on stage; the novel began to dominate the literary marketplace; people entertained the possibility that all human beings were created equal, and tentatively proposed that reason could triumph over superstition; ministers became more powerful than kings, and the consumer emerged as a political force. Eighteenth-Century English Literature: 1660-1789 explores these issues in relation to well-known works by such authors as Defoe, Swift, Pope, Richardson, Gray and Sterne, while also bringing attention to less familiar figures, such as Charlotte Smith, Mary Leapor and Olaudah Equiano. It offers both an ideal introduction for students and a fresh approach for those with research interests in the period.

Author Biography

Charlotte Sussman is Associate Professor of English at Duke University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vi
Introduction	p. 1
National Identity and a National Literature	p. 9
Print Culture and the Public Sphere	p. 41
The City	p. 63
The Countryside	p. 90
Individuality and Imagination	p. 114
Religious Experience	p. 136
Female Sexuality and Domesticity	p. 156
Wit and Sensibility	p. 185
Trade and Travel	p. 205
Colonialism and Slavery	p. 232
Notes	p. 262
Index	p. 280
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