Romanticism, Republicanism, and the Swiss Myth

Illuminating the reasons for the immense popularity of travel to Switzerland and the proliferation of images of that country during the Romantic period, this book shows how its idealized republican landscape enabled contemporaries to compare the Alps with Britain and to imagine a liberal alternative to French liberty.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. 'Not / a pastoral fable': republicanism, liberalism, and the Swiss myth; 2. Comparative republicanisms: the Swiss myth in eighteenth-century Britain; 3. Revising republicanism: revolutionary-period travel writing on Switzerland; 4. Switzerland no more: 1798 and the romantic imagination; 5. Switzerland in miniature: Wordsworth's 'visionary mountain republic'; 6. Restoration republicanism: the Swiss myth after 1815; Coda: John Ruskin's Switzerland; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

About the author

Patrick Vincent is the author of The Romantic Poetess: European Culture, Politics and Gender, 1820-1840 (2004), and has edited or co-edited several books, including an edition of Helen Maria Williams' A Tour in Switzerland (2011), Romanticism, Rousseau, Switzerland: New Prospects (2015) and The Cambridge History of European Romantic Literature (forthcoming 2023).

Summary

Illuminating the reasons for the immense popularity of travel to Switzerland and the proliferation of images of that country during the Romantic period, this book shows how its idealized republican landscape enabled contemporaries to compare the Alps with Britain and to imagine a liberal alternative to French liberty.

Foreword

A detailed treatment of Switzerland in British literature, the book shows how a republican myth contributed to Romanticism and liberalism.

Product details

• Authors: Patrick Vincent, Patrick (Universite De Neuchatel Vincent, Vincent Patrick
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 26.06.2025
• EAN: 9781009210300
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0921030-0
• No. of pages: 329
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Romanticism
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; History, PHILOSOPHY / Social, PHILOSOPHY / Political, LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, HISTORY / World, Philosophy, General & world history, Social & political philosophy, social and political philosophy, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: general, General and world history, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Literature: history and criticism, Literary studies: poetry and poets, Literary studies: plays and playwrights