M.H. Abrams takes his title from Carlyle's Sartor Resartus and though he shines his lamp on that work briefly, for the most part this is a critical study which focuses on the key German and English romantics (philosophers and poets)and certain formal attributes they all shared -- namely a penchant for circular structure (golden age of mans innocence/fall from innocence/redemptive return to the beginning). What is most surprising about this study is how pervasive this circular pattern was in the romantic... more info
English and German Romantic Criticism on a high order.:
A book that takes no account of women writers, ignores Byron (for which NS was later taken to task), and one that simply predated the New Historicism, the mere fact of NS's academic survival is testament to Abrams' giftedness as a writer and the power of his understanding.
Abrams deals with a few very large concepts that were important to the Romantic poets in England and Germany (most especially Wordsworth--the concept of the life-cycle in the Prelude and the Prospectus to the Recluse, for instance).... more info
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