Cambridge University Press Romanticism, Revolution and Language: The Fate of the Word from Samuel Johnson to George Eliot

The repercussions of the French Revolution included erosion of many previously held certainties in Britain, as in the rest of Europe. Even the authority of language as a cornerstone of knowledge was called into question and the founding principles of intellectual disciplines challenged, as Romantic writers developed new ways of expressing their philosophy of the imagination and the human heart. This book traces the impact of revolution on language, from William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, to William Hazlitt, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. A leading scholar in Romantic literature and theology, John Beer offers a persuasive new account of post-revolutionary continuities between the major Romantic writers and their Victorian successors. Review '… [a] penetrating, learned and brilliant study …' The Gaskell Journal'Romanticism, Revolution and Language is unquestionably a major achievement. It reexamines a tradition that John Beer has made peculiarly his own…' Romanticism Book Description A examination of the continuities between Romantic and Victorian authors from a highly respected senior scholar of Romanticism. About the Author John Beer is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Cambridge and Emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse.