Romantic Sustainability: Endurance and the Natural World, 1780–1830 (Ecocritical Theory and Practice)

Romantic Sustainability is a collection of sixteen essays that examine the British Romantic era in ecocritical terms. Written by scholars from five continents, this international collection addresses the works of traditional Romantic writers such as John Keats, Percy Shelley, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and Samuel Coleridge but also delves into ecocritical topics related to authors added to the canon more recently, such as Elizabeth Inchbald and John Clare. The essays examine geological formations, clouds, and landscapes as well as the posthuman and the monstrous. The essays are grouped into rough categories that start with inspiration and the imagination before moving to the varied types of consumption associated with human interaction with the natural world. Subsequent essays in the volume focus on environmental destruction, monstrous creations, and apocalypse. The common theme is sustainability, as each contributor examines Romantic ideas that intersect with ecocriticism and relates literary works to questions about race, gender, religion, and identity. Offers a collection of sixteen essays that examine the British Romantic era in ecocritical terms. Contributors address the works of traditional Romantic writers such as John Keats, Percy Shelley, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and Samuel Coleridge but also delve into ecocritical topics related to authors added to the canon more recently, such as Elizabeth Inchbald and John Clare. The essays examine geological formations, clouds, and landscapes as well as the posthuman and the monstrous. The essays are grouped into rough categories that start with inspiration and the imagination before moving to the varied types of consumption associated with human interaction with the natural world. Subsequent essays in the volume focus on environmental destruction, monstrous creations, and apocalypse. The common theme is sustainability, as each contributor examines Romantic ideas that intersect with ecocriticism and relates literary works to questions about race, gender, religion, and identity. --From publisher description Contents List of Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction INSPIRATION AND THE IMAGINATION Coleridge’s “Deep Romantic Chasm” Strict Machine Romantic Clouds “In Some Untrodden Region of My Mind” DIETS AND CONSUMPTION Sublime Diets The Bloodless Church The Horror of Starvation ALIENATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION First Child in the Woods “The Temple of Folly” A Pauper’s Sustenance BEASTS AND MONSTERS Masculinity, Monstrosity, and Sustainability in Mary Shelley’s The Monsters of Zocotora Unnatural Woman EXTINCTION AND APOCALYPSE Shelley and the Limits of Sustainability Apocalypse Not Quite Questioning Agency Index About the Contributors