Passion and Language in Eighteenth-Century Literature

Providing imaginatively contextualized close readings, this study focuses on three key eighteenth-century writers - Haywood, Hill and Fowke. Wilputte traces the development of the passionate language of these writers whose lives, writing careers, and interests intersected from 1720 to 1724 in the "Hillarian" coterie.

"Wilputte deepens our understanding of three figures who are receiving increasing attention in eighteenth-century literary and cultural studies; fills in missing details in the story of the rise of sensibility by analyzing instances of sociable feeling from the first half of the century; and uncovers subtleties of figurative language in often overlooked texts by Haywood, Hill, and Fowke. This book is likely to find a readership among academics with an interest in eighteenth-century literature and culture as well as graduate and advanced undergraduate students who wish to explore the uses of affect-rich rhetoric across many genres. There is much insight to be gained from the close readings of the under-explored works selected from discussion." - Kathryn R. King, Professor of English, University of Montevallo, USA

"Addressing the life and writing of a fractious coterie - Eliza Haywood, Martha Fowke, and Aaron Hill - Passion and Language in Eighteenth-Century Literature illuminates the sophisticated linguistic practices of this group as they seek to understand the psychology of the passions (including their own) and to craft the Longinian or 'aesthetic sublime.' From Wilputte's deft readings of the poetry, prose, and novels of these three writers emerges an important work of cultural history - rich in material for scholars investigating the early history of sensibility, sympathy and the sympathetic reader, generic experiments in psychological realism, and the physiology of the body stimulated by passion." - Juliette Merritt, Professor of English, McMaster University, Canada

Earla Wilputte is Professor of English at Saint Francis Xavier University, Canada.