Victorian Poetry in Context: (Texts and Contexts)

Victorian Poetry in Context offers a lively and accessible introduction to the diverse range of poetry written in the Victorian period. Considering such issues as reform and protest, gender, science and belief this book sets out the social and cultural contexts for the poetry of a fast-changing era. Sections on Victorian poetics, form and Victorian voices introduce the key literary contexts of poetry's production, and poetic innovations of the period such as the dramatic monologue are highlighted . At the heart of the book is a focus on the importance of attentive close reading, with original readings offered of well-known texts alongside those that have recently received renewed attention within scholarship. The book also offers an overview of critical approaches to several key texts and discussion of how Victorian poetry has remained influential in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Introducing texts, contexts and criticism, this is a lively and up-to-date resource for anyone studying Victorian poetry.

Table of Contents:
Series Preface \ Part I: Contexts \ 1. Social and Cultural Contexts \ 2. Literary Contexts \ Review, Reading and Research \ Part II: Texts \ 3. Readings of Key Texts \ Review, Reading and Research \ Part III: Wider contexts \ 4. Critical Contexts \ 5. The Afterlife of Victorian Poetry \ Review, Reading and Research \ Bibliography and Sources \ Index.

About the Author :
Rosie Miles is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Wolverhampton, UK, where she teaches courses on Victorian Literature and Culture. She co-edited William Morris in the Twenty-First Century (2010) and is a former Editor of the Journal of William Morris Studies. Rosie is also a National Teaching Fellow (2011) and has published on English Studies, pedagogy and e-learning.

Review :
This approachable yet rigorous book is not only an excellent introduction but also contains much for those familiar with Victorian poetry to ponder. Its final two chapters are brilliant, providing a wide-ranging summary of movements in criticism and a fascinating introduction to the afterlives of Victorian verse, cropping up in the most unlikely places, from Virginia Woolf's essays to Hellboy 2. An entertaining, refreshing, and genuinely informative book that has reinvigorated my appreciation of Victorian poetry and sent me running to my poetry bookshelf with a renewed hunger. … An enjoyable and effortless read. The [Bloomsbury Texts and Contexts] series aims to introduce students to literature that they may not have encountered before, and to encourage them to read intelligently and enjoy the experience. In this, the energy and clarity of Miles's writing enables her to succeed … The reader of this book will encounter a wide variety of Victorian poetry and of critical approaches to it, including feminism, queer theory and post-colonialism, and should be encouraged by it to go on to read more widely. Rosie Miles' energetically argued book takes the form of a reliable, enthusing and lively guide for students of Victorian poetry . . . Accessible and illuminating in [its] contextual perspective, it goes on to offer a number of detailed readings of key texts which are adroitly framed and informative . . . Can be confidently placed in the hands of all students and admirers of Victorian poetry