The Romantic Reformation: Religious Politics in English Literature, 1789-1824

by Robert M. Ryan

Overview

This is the first book to examine the literature of the Romantic period as a conscious attempt to affect the religious transformation of society. Robert Ryan argues that the political quarrel that preoccupied England during the Romantic period was in large part an argument about the religious character of the nation, and that the Romantics became active and conspicuous participants in this public debate. Ryan shows how the careers of the Romantic poets are radically reconfigured when viewed in the context of the period's passionate debate on religion, politics and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521570084
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/13/1997
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Romanticism , #24
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.02(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. 'A Sect of Dissenters'; 2. Blake's orthodoxy; 3. Nature's priest; 4. The ironies of belief; 5. The politics of Greek religion; 6. The Christian monster; 7. The unknown God; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"...immensely learned, judicious, lucidly written, without a trace of structuralist, deconstructive, or postmodern jargon....The book is brilliant in places and everywhere absorbing....Highly recommended." N. Fruman, Choice

"Robert Ryan's important new book, The Romantic Reformation: Religious Politics in English Literature, 1789-1824, seeks to change this point of view, by arguing, first, that the Romantics were indeed religious poets, and, more provocatively, that religion was not invariably allied with reactionary politics." The Wordsworth Circle

"It is a welcome reassessment, and all the more welcome for Ryan's lucid style, his spirited engagement with earlier critics, his sensitive and intelligent readings of major texts, and his wide-ranging knowledge of Romantic culture." David McCracken, Christianity & Literature

"Robert Ryan's The Romantic Reformation is a significant new contribution to the growing body of scholarship on religion and the arts." John L. Mahoney, Religion and the Arts

"Ryan has written a masterful study...Condensing the wisdom of twenty-five years of teaching experience into a mature, stimulating, and sensible study, this elegantly titled work, The Romantic Reformation, will join the rank of the very best that has been thought and said on the contribution English Romantic writers made to the religious life of their nation." Jonathan Gross, Albion

"This well-written book is an important contribution to studies of romantic-period literature..." Terence Allan Hoagwood, Romantic Circles Reviews

"...it is a work self-consciously produced in the wake of new-historicist responses to an earlier tradition of scholarship that treated such topics under the guise of 'natural supernaturalism' or a 'visionary company.' Yet it would be unfortunate if Romantic Reformation came to be known simply as a study of Christian themes in romantic literature, for this ambitious book earns its full title, and develops a linked series of provocative arguments about matters that have stood at the core of romantic studies in recent decades." Journal of English and Germanic Philology

From the Publisher