Charles Lamb, Coleridge and Wordsworth - Reading Friendship in the 1790s

Sep 18, 2026

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A scholarly study of Charles Lamb’s, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s, and William Wordsworth’s literary and interpersonal concepts of friendship in the 1790s. The book traces how friendship is constructed, idealised, rewritten, doubted, and then reassembled through poems, sonnets, letters, and narrative experiments across specific seasons and publications. Its argument follows the movement from sensibility and benevolence toward loneliness, reproach, and solitude, culminating in readings of key works such as Rosamund Gray, John Woodvil, and Lamb’s urban romantic landscapes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages281

Reading Time7 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Permissions

Introduction: Placing Lamb

Part I Idealising Friendship

Part II Doubting Friendship

Part III Reconstructing Friendship

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Charles Lamb, Coleridge and Wordsworth Reading Friendship in the 1790s Felicity James Charles Lamb, Coleridge and Wordsworth This page intentionally left blank Charles Lamb, Coleridge and Wordsworth Reading Friendship in the 1790s Felicity James © Felicity James 2008 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–0–230–54524–3 hardback ISBN-10: 0–230–54524–6 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne Contents List of Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements xi Permissions xiii Introduction: Placing Lamb 1 Part I Idealising Friendship 1 Frendotatoi meta frendous: Constructing Friendship in the 1790s 13 December 1794 13 ‘Bowles, Priestley, Burke’: The Morning Chronicle sonnets 18 New readings of familial and friendly affection 24 Pantisocracy and the ‘family of soul’ 26 Unitarian readings of friendship 30 Sensibility and benevolence 34 Reading David Hartley 39 Readings of feeling in Coleridge and Lamb 43 Lamb’s sensibilities: two early sonnets 47 2 Rewritings of Friendship, 1796–1797 55 Spring 1796 55 Coleridge’s rewritings of Lamb 56 Trapped in the Bower: Coleridgean reflections in retirement 62 ‘Ears of Sympathy’: Lamb’s sympathetic response 71 Rewritings of Coleridge 74 Part II Doubting Friendship 3 The ‘Day of Horrors’ 83 September 1796 83 Aftermath 85 Reconstructing the poetry of familial affection 91 Nether Stowey: ‘an Elysium upon earth’? 96 vi Contents 4 ‘Cold, Cold, Cold’: Loneliness and Reproach 101 June 1797 101 ‘Gloomy boughs’ and sunny leaves: the Wordsworth-Coleridge conversation 103 Visions of unity: This Lime-tree Bower my Prison 105 The Overcoat and the Manchineel: Lamb’s response 111 The ‘Reft House’ of the ‘Nehemiah Higginbottom’ sonnets 114 5 Blank Verse and Fears in Solitude 120 February 1798 120 Blank Verse and Lyrical Ballads 125 Midnight reproach 130 ‘Living without God in the World’ 134 Edmund Oliver: forging a ‘common identity’ 136 Coleridge and the ‘lying Angel’ 139 Part III Reconstructing Friendship 6 A Text of Friendship: Rosamund Gray 145 Spring 1798 145 Anxieties of friendship: letters to Robert Lloyd 146 ‘Inscribed in friendship’: t

FAQs

What time period does the book focus on?

The study centers on the 1790s, following developments through dated sections such as December 1794, September 1796, June 1797, and later seasons.

Which major themes of friendship does the book trace?

It examines how friendship is idealised, rewritten, doubted, and reconstructed, moving through discussions of sensibility, benevolence, loneliness, reproach, and solitude.

What works are highlighted in the analysis?

The contents point to readings of poems and narratives including Rosamund Gray, John Woodvil, and Lamb’s responses in relation to Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Sep 18, 2026

Upload by Eliana