Romanticism is, and always has been, one of the most hotly contested terms in literary and cultural history. Some of the writers who are now labelled Romantic refused to be defined by the word: "it would be such bad taste," said Byron in 1820. Rene Wellek, on the other hand, argued that literatures called Romantic indicated common conceptions.

This collection gathers key critical discussions which explore the complex and many-sided nature of the "Romantic." The set includes a new introduction by the editors, and individual volume introductions, as well as a chronological table and an index.

University of Durham, UK Departmet of English Studies University of Durham Elvet Riverside 1 New Elvet Durham DH1 3JT