John Keats : A Literary Life

by White, R.S.

• ISBN13: 9781137030474
• ISBN10: 113703047X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-21
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

At the heart of this 'Literary Life' are fresh interpretations of Keats's most loved poems, alongside other neglected but rich poems. The readings are placed in the contexts of his letters to family and friends, his medical training, radical politics of the time, his love for Fanny Brawne, his coterie of literary figures and his tragic early death.

Author Biography

R.S. White has taught at the University of Newcastle on Tyne, UK, and is now Australian Professorial Fellow and Winthrop Professor of English and Cultural Studies at the University of Western Australia. He is also Programme Leader (Meanings) of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. He has published books of Shakespeare, Keats and Hazlitt. Natural Law in English Renaissance Literature (1996) was followed by Natural Rights in Romanticism of the 1790s (Palgrave, 2005) and Pacifism and English Literature: Minstrels of Peace (Palgrave, 2008).

Table of Contents

'A great strength of this impressive biography is the way it accompanies Keats's life narrative with critical and interpretative passages on the poetry - there is much in these pages that will provoke thought for students and more experienced Keatsians. Keats's childhood, school years and medical career are exceptionally well done, and among many highlights the account of Keats's plays, letters, and Endymion are especially rewarding.'   - Professor Nicholas Roe, University of St. Andrews, UK
 
'. . . makes significant contributions at the most advanced level of research and, at the other end of the scale, would be an excellent introduction for college undergraduates and general readers. . . a fine piece of research and writing. . .' - Jack Stillinger, New Books Online
 
'. . . White's John Keats: A Literary Life allows us to see Keats as an active/creative agent, forging an identity between the competing demands of the actual and the imagined. This places Keats firmly within his own time, but it also brings his life into fascinating dialogue with the present. The book, a most welcome addition to the literature on John Keats, is certain to draw a wide and appreciative audience.' - Peter Otto, Australian Book Review