A defining feature of Romantic writing, critics have long agreed, is its characterization of the self in terms of psychological depth. Many Romantic writers, however, did not conceive of the self in this way, and in Romantic Identities Andrea K. Henderson investigates Romantic writing that challenges the "depth" model, or operates outside its domain. Henderson explores various forms of discourse and their perceptions of identity, examines subjects ranging from obstetrics to gothicism, and considers writings by Radcliffe, Byron, Scott, and Shelley, among others.

A defining feature of Romantic writing, critics have long agreed, is its characterization of the self in terms of psychological depth. Many Romantic writers, however, did not conceive of the self in this way, and in Romantic Identities Andrea K. Henderson investigates Romantic writing that challenges the "depth" model, or operates outside its domain. Henderson explores various forms of discourse and their perceptions of identity, examines subjects ranging from obstetrics to gothicism, and considers writings by Radcliffe, Byron, Scott, and Shelley, among others.

In their pursuit of emotional extremes, writers of the Romantic period were fascinated by experiences of pain and misery, and explored the ability to derive pleasure, and produce creative energy, out of masochism and submission. These interests were closely connected to the failure of the industrial and democratic revolutions to fulfil their promise of increased economic and political power for everyone. Writers as different as Frances Burney, William Hazlitt, John Keats, and Lord Byron both challenged and came to terms with the injustices of modern life through their representations of...

Algebraic Art explores the invention of a peculiarly Victorian account of the nature and value of aesthetic form, and it traces that account to a surprising source: mathematics. Drawing on literature, art, and photography, it explores how the Victorian mathematical conception of form still resonates today.