Romanticism, Economics and the Question of 'Culture'

The Romantic age in Britain formed one of the most celebrated moments in literary history, but it also witnessed the rise of 'political economy' as the most prestigious science of nineteenth-century capitalist society. Romanticism, Economics and the Question of 'Culture' investigates this historical conjunction, and challenges the influential idea that Romantic writers such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley were implacably opposed to the abstract, individualistic view of human nature embodied in the new science of economics. This book is interdisciplinary in its scope and methods. It will be of interest to teachers and students of both English Literature and History.