Lord Byron and the Quest for Affirmation

With the rise of New Disability Studies, literary
scholars are continually reevaluating works by
disabled writers such as Lord Byron, who possessed a
club-foot. Some scholars, in addition to
reevaluating Byron s work, emphasize the legacy that
rests upon both his notorious lifestyle and his
extraordinary ability as a prolific writer.
Unfortunately, his lifestyle, and not his writing,
typically becomes the primary focus of too many
critics who ignore the value of New Disability
Studies. And yet, Byron s struggle with disability
and his consequent quest for affirmation laid the
foundation to make Byron s work exceptional and
explain why he continues to be studied as a
prominent literary genius. This book demonstrates
that disability inflects Byron s poetry to a greater
extent than Byron scholarship has hitherto
acknowledged. Furthermore, LORD BYRON AND THE QUEST
FOR AFFIRMATION will focus on and engage with the
hidden implications of disability in Byron s Manfred
and Cain and the explicit use of disability in The
Deformed Transformed while also examining Byron s
Calvinistic perspective of disability.

Autorentext

Mark William Westmoreland teaches Philosophy at Penn State-Brandywine and Neumann College, both of which are located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. His research interests, in addition to British and German Romanticism, include Continental Philosophy, Race Theory, and Philosophy of History and Culture.

Klappentext

With the rise of New Disability Studies, literary scholars are continually reevaluating works by disabled writers such as Lord Byron, who possessed a club-foot. Some scholars, in addition to reevaluating Byron's work, emphasize the legacy that rests upon both his notorious lifestyle and his extraordinary ability as a prolific writer. Unfortunately, his lifestyle, and not his writing, typically becomes the primary focus of too many critics who ignore the value of New Disability Studies. And yet, Byron's struggle with disability and his consequent quest for affirmation laid the foundation to make Byron's work exceptional and explain why he continues to be studied as a prominent literary genius. This book demonstrates that disability inflects Byron's poetry to a greater extent than Byron scholarship has hitherto acknowledged. Furthermore, LORD BYRON AND THE QUEST FOR AFFIRMATION will focus on and engage with the hidden implications of disability in Byron's Manfred and Cain and the explicit use of disability in The Deformed Transformed while also examining Byron's Calvinistic perspective of disability.