Bacchus in romantic England : writers and drink, 1780-1830 / Anya Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Anya.

Series:

Romanticism in perspective

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--19th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

English literature--18th century--History and criticism.

Drinking customs--England--History--19th century.

Drinking customs.

Drinking customs--England--History--18th century.

Drinking of alcoholic beverages in literature.

Authors, English--19th century--Biography.

Authors, English.

History.

England.

Authors, English--18th century--Biography.

Romanticism--England.

Romanticism.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 264 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Macmillan Press ; New York, N.Y. : St. Martin's Press, 1999.

Summary:

Although many books have studied writers and alcohol in modern American literature, the rich culture of drinking and the many poems and narratives about it in the Romantic period in England have been entirely neglected. "Bacchus in Romantic England: Writers and Drink 1780-1830 is the first study to describe the bulk and variety of writings about drinking; to set these poems, novels, essays, letters and journals in a historical, sociological, and medical context; to demonstrate the importance of drunkenness in the works of a number of major and minor writers of the period; and to suggest that during these years, for a short time, the pleasures and pains of drinking are held in a vivacious balance. The book argues that the figure of the drinker tests the margins of the human being, either as a beast, savage, or thing or, on the other edge of the human range, as a free, inspired spirit.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-258) and index.

ISBN:

0312214995

OCLC:

38504269