Search results for ""Author William D. Brewer""

This book explores the influence of Enlightenment and Romantic-era theories of the mind on the writings of Godwin and Shelley and examines the ways in which these writers use their fiction to explore such psychological phenomena as ruling passions, madness, the therapeutic value of confessions (both spoken and written), and the significance of dreams. Unlike most studies of Godwin and Shelley, it does not privilege their masterworks—for the most part, it focuses on their lesser-known writings. Brewer also considers the works of other Romantic-era writers, as well as the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophical and medical theories that informed Godwin’s and Shelley’s presentations of mental states and types of behavior.

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Set in Europe during the Protestant Reformation and first published in 1799, St. Leon tells the story of an impoverished aristocrat who obtains the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of immortality. In this philosophical fable, endless riches and immortal life prove to be curses rather than gifts and transform St. Leon into an outcast. William Godwin’s second full-length novel explores the predicament of a would-be philanthropist whose attempts to benefit humanity are frustrated by superstition and ignorance.This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and full annotation. The appendices include contemporary reviews of the novel; Godwin’s writings on immortality, the domestic affections, and alchemy; and selections from works influenced by St. Leon, most notably Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

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