Charlotte Smith: Romanticism, Poetry and the Culture of Gender

Covering all Smith's major poetry (Elegiac Sonnets, The Emigrants and Beachy Head), as well as the prose apparatus to the poetry (prefaces, dedications, and footnotes), this book reads her work in light of her self-representations as a poet, mother, and social critic, and uncovers a hitherto-unexamined coherence in both content and style. Smith is shown to be both an innovator and a significant figure in understanding Romantic conceptions of gender.