Description
Book SynopsisJohn Clare, Politics and Poetry challenges the traditional portrait of ''poor John Clare'', the helpless victim of personal and professional circumstance. Clare''s career has been presented as a disaster of editorial heavy-handedness, condescension, a poor market, and conservative patronage. Yet Clare was not a passive victim. This study explores the sources of the ''poor Clare'' tradition, and recovers Clare''s agency, revealing a writer fully engaged in his own professional life and in the social and political questions of the day.
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Clare's 'Minorness' Viewing and Reviewing 'Grammar in Learning is like Tyranny in Government' 'The Cottager's Friend' 'Medlars' The Marketplace The Natural Histories of Helpstone Clare, Cobbett and 'Captain Swing' Epilogue: Clare's Agency Notes Index
