Enlightening Romanticism, Romancing the Enlightenment: British Novels from 1750 to 1832

In this innovative volume, scholars who typically write under the rubric of either the long eighteenth century or Romanticism examine novels claimed by both scholarly periods. Rather than simply opposing an Enlightenment of rationality, propriety, and progress to a Romantic Period of inspiration, heroic individualism, and sublime emotionality, these essays reveal a productive tension, challenging traditional definitions of 'Enlightenment' and 'Romantic.' Patricia Meyer Spacks and Stephen C. Behrendt respond, situating the essays and the stakes.