30 Great Myths about the Romantics

Were the Romantics a bunch of drug–addled atheists who believedin free love? Was Blake a madman? And did Wordsworthreally sleep with his sister? Few literary periods areless understood yet include more mythologized figures than theBritish Romantics and most of the myths swirling about themare far from romantic. 30 Great Myths About theRomantics features a collection of thought provokingessays that address a range of commonly–held beliefs about keyfigures of the Romantic era and about Romanticismitself.

Author Duncan Wu s goal is twofold: to correct some of thebiases and misconceptions about the Romantics that have crept intomodern critical discussion and to celebrate the mythic concepts,characters and objects that have passed down from the Romanticsinto contemporary culture (fromBlake s Jerusalem and the person fromPorlock to Shelley s elusive heart). Brimming with thefoibles, follies, and eccentricities of the greatest writers inliterary history, 30 Great Myths About theRomantics brings clarity to what we know or think we know about one of the mostimportant periods in literary history.

Duncan Wu is Professor of English at GeorgetownUniversity in Washington, DC. He is the editorof Romanticism: An Anthology, 4th edition (WileyBlackwell, 2012), and the author of books about Romanticism,Wordsworth, and Hazlitt.