John Clare
Subtitle: a literary life
By: Roger Sales.
Series: Literary lives; Literary lives (Palgrave (Firm))
Publisher: Palgrave
Published: 2002
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 195
Subjects: Clare, John, 1793-1864.; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography.; Literature and mental illness -- England -- History -- 19th century.; Psychiatric hospital patients -- Great Britain -- Biography.; Working class writings, English -- History and criticism.; Working class authors -- Great Britain -- Biography.; Agricultural laborers -- England -- Northamptonshire -- Biography.; Pastoral poetry, English -- History and criticism.; Northamptonshire (England) -- Intellectual life -- 19th century.; Northamptonshire (England) -- In literature.; Northamptonshire (England) -- Biography.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "This book situates John Clare's long, prolific but often badly neglected literary life within the wider cultural histories of the Regency and earlier Victorian periods. The first half considers the construction of the Regency peasant-poet and pays particular attention to literary philanthropy by women.

It looks at how Clare performed this role on camp, kitschy stages such as the London Magazine and suggest that he was a much more self-consciously literary writer than is generally supposed; as well as being a very ambitious one. It also argues that he went out of fashion when urban and metropolitan Condition-of-England agendas started to dominate the scene. The second half recreates asylum culture in archival detail, contesting Michel Foucault's account of the birth of the asylum, and places Clare's performances as Regency boxers and Lord Byron within this bleak new world. Clare is seen throughout as a writer's writer: a survivor rather than a victim.

He has to experience the joy and pain of writing, no matter whether anybody was listening or not. If he was mad, then this was almost certainly produced by the very mad-doctors who claimed to be able to cure it."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 164-189) and index.