Dickens and the sentimental tradition : Fielding, Richardson, Sterne, Goldsmith, Sheridan, Lamb / / Valerie Purton [[electronic resource]]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910462346403321
• Autore: Purton Valerie
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: London : , : Anthem Press, , 2012
• ISBN: 1-283-57532-9; 9786613887771; 0-85728-907-1
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xxvii, 190 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Collana: Anthem nineteenth century series Dickens and the sentimental tradition
• Disciplina: 823/.8
• Soggetti: English literature - 18th century - History and criticism; Sentimentalism in literature
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Introduction -- Sentimentalism and its discontents in the eighteenth-century novel: Fielding, Richardson and Sterne: "There was more of pleasantry in the conceit, of seeing how an ass would eat a macaroon than of benevolence in giving him one" -- Sentimentalism and its discontents in eighteenth-century drama: Goldsmith and Sheridan: "Humanity, sir, is a jewel. I love humanity" -- Dickens and nineteenth-century drama: "We would indict our very dreams" -- The early novels: "Everything in our lives, whether of good or evil, affects us most by contrasts" -- The later novels: "What the waves were always saying" -- Conclusion the afterlife of sentimentalism: "Who will write the history of tears?"
• Sommario/riassunto: ‘Dickens and the Sentimental Tradition’ is a timely study of the ‘sentimental’ in Dickens’s novels, which places them in the context of the tradition of Fielding, Richardson, Sterne, Goldsmith, Sheridan and Lamb. This study re-evaluates Dickens’s presentation of emotion – first within the eighteenth-century tradition and then within the dissimilar nineteenth-century tradition – as part of a complex literary heritage that enables him to critique nineteenth-century society. The book sheds light on the construction of feelings and of the ‘good heart’, ideas which resonate with current critical debates about literary ‘; affect’. Sentimentalism, as the text demonstrates, is crucial to understanding fully the achievement of Dickens and his contemporaries.