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Paradoxical solitude in the life, letters, and poetry of John Keats, 1814-1818
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dc.contributor.advisor | Stabler, Jane | |
dc.contributor.author | Theobald, John | |
dc.coverage.spatial | 228 | en |
dc.date.accessioned | 2009-09-16T15:02:15Z | |
dc.date.available | 2009-09-16T15:02:15Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2009-11-30 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10023/749 | |
dc.description.abstract | This thesis proposes two distinct but connected ideas: that John Keats’s idiom of friendship was haunted by “sequestered” longings and that he ultimately valued specific, one-on-one partnerships as a basis for his poetical character. The Introduction places the thesis within its critical context and outlines “paradoxical solitude,” a concept the poet expressed by joining a “kindred spirit” in a wilderness retreat in “O, Solitude.” I begin by examining the evolving role of solitude in Keats’s literary predecessors (Chapter I). I then trace the development of ideas of creativity and solitude from his 1814-1815 verse, including his first association with a coterie and the influence of Wordsworth (Chapter II). Building on these findings, I explore the poet’s introduction to the Hunt circle in 1816, assessing his relationships with its members and their overstated roles in the production of Poems (Chapter III). I then discuss how Keats regarded the composition of Endymion in 1817 as a poetic “test,” specifically tailored to reinforce his identity as a solitary poet (Chapter IV). I contend that Keats engaged in a dialogue of independence with Reynolds, adapted the theories of Hazlitt, and restlessly travelled throughout England as a means of rejecting the highly social periods of 1818 (Chapter V). I then consider the creative gains of his northern expedition with Brown in the summer of 1818. I argue that Keats exaggerated his development into a “post-Wordsworthian” poet, positioning himself outside both the coterie’s sphere and the reach of Blackwood’s criticism, and inspiring the theme of Hyperion (Chapter VI). In closing, I analyze Keats’s advice to Shelley to be a selfish creator of his poetic identity. Only through paradoxical solitude, I argue, was Keats able to construct the poetic identity that led him to compose the poems on which his fame rests in the 1820 volume. | en |
dc.format.extent | 6248649 bytes | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | University of St Andrews | |
dc.rights | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported | |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ | |
dc.subject | Keats | en |
dc.subject | Solitude | en |
dc.subject | Coterie | en |
dc.subject | Cockney School | en |
dc.subject | Travel | en |
dc.subject | Fellowship | en |
dc.subject | Identity | en |
dc.subject | Wordsworth | en |
dc.subject | Hunt | en |
dc.subject | Partnership | en |
dc.subject | Creativity | en |
dc.subject | Independence | en |
dc.subject.lcc | PR4836.T5 | |
dc.subject.lcsh | Keats, John, 1795-1821--Criticism and interpretation | en |
dc.subject.lcsh | Solitude in literature | en |
dc.title | Paradoxical solitude in the life, letters, and poetry of John Keats, 1814-1818 | en |
dc.type | Thesis | en |
dc.type.qualificationlevel | Doctoral | en |
dc.type.qualificationname | PhD Doctor of Philosophy | en |
dc.publisher.institution | The University of St Andrews | en |
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