A History of Eighteenth–Century British Literature

A History of Eighteenth–Century British Literature is a lively exploration of one of the most diverse and innovative periods in literary history. Capturing the richness and excitement of the era, this book provides extensive coverage of major authors, poets, dramatists, and journalists of the period, such as Dryden, Pope and Swift, while also exploring the works of important writers who have received less attention by modern scholars, such as Matthew Prior and Charles Churchill. Uniquely, the book also discusses non–canonical, working–class writers, as well as popular and demotic works of the era.

During the eighteenth–century, Britain experienced vast social, political, economic, and existential changes, greatly influencing the literary world. The major forms of verse, poetry, fiction and non–fiction, experimental works, drama, and political prose from writers such as Montagu, Finch, Johnson, Goldsmith, and Cowper, are discussed here in relation to their historical context.

A History of Eighteenth–Century British Literature is essential reading for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of English literature.

Acknowledgments viii

Introduction 1

1 Verse in the Early Eighteenth Century, I: Pope, Gay, Swift 8

2 Verse in the Early Eighteenth Century, II: Prior, Addison, Defoe, Finch, Montagu, Thomson 59

3 English Verse, III: Mid–Century Onwards: Johnson, Gray, the Wartons, Collins, Smart, Watts, Goldsmith, Churchill, Cowper 92

4 Eighteenth–Century Verse, IV: Women, Workers, and Non–Elite Poets 132

5 Prose Fiction in the Early Eighteenth Century: Behn, Haywood, Defoe, Swift 153

6 Prose Fiction in the Mid–Eighteenth Century: Richardson, Fielding, Smollett 180

7 The Novel Past Mid–Century: New Directions and Experiments: Johnson, Sterne, Mackenzie, Walpole, Goldsmith, Burney 223

8 Non–Fictional Prose, I: Addison to Burke 254

9 Non–Fictional Prose, II: Political and Polemical Prose 291

10 Eighteenth–Century Drama: Sentimental Pathos, Melodrama, and Humor 319

Index 357

John Richetti is the A.M Rosenthal Professor (Emeritus) of English Literature, University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Professor of English (emeritus), Rutgers University. Professor Richetti has published numerous books, essays, and reviews in the field of Eighteenth–Century English Literature. He has also held visiting appointments at Stanford University, New York University, and Princeton University, and is President of the Daniel Defoe Society.