French Revolution Debate in English Literature and Culture

In the struggle for democratic reform, and in its ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, the French Revolution represented a broad humanistic spirit that swept across Europe at the close of the 18th century. The Revolution fostered one of the largest and broadest debates in literary and cultural history, a war of ideas that encompassed philosophy, theories of history, the study of language, and the history of art. This debate is reflected in a large body of literature that extends well into the 19th century. Within this volume, expert contributors address the English response to the French Revolution, with special attention to the works of Edmund Burke, William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Thomas Carlyle.