This book tackles the age-old interpretative problem of 'pleasure' in Keat's poetry by placing him in the context of the liberal, leisured and luxurious culture of Hunt's circle. Challenging the standard narrative which attribute Keat's astonishing poetic development to his separation from Hunt, the author cogently argues that Keats, profoundly imbued with Hunt's bourgeois ethic and aesthetic, remained a poet of sensuous pleasure through to the end of his short career.

Autorentext

AYUMI MIZUKOSHI is a Lecturer at Teikyo Heisei University, Japan. She obtained her doctorate in English Literature from the University of Oxford, and her research interests include aesthetics and Romantic literature.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements Introduction: A Problem of Interpretation The Bourgeois Cultural Revolution The Aesthetics of Nature Classicism as Cultural Luxury 'A Leafy Luxury': Poems (1817) 'Wherein Lies Happiness?': Endymion (1818) 'Visions of Delight': Lamia (1820) Conclusion: The Return of the Aesthetic Notes Index