Reading The Eve of St.Agnes: The Multiples of Complex Literary Transaction

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Oxford University Press, Oct 14, 1999 - Literary Criticism - 200 pages
Using the 180-year history of Keats'sEve of St. Agnes as a basis for theorizing about the reading process, Stillinger's book explores the nature and whereabouts of "meaning" in complex works. A proponent of authorial intent, Stillinger argues a theoretical compromise between author and reader, applying a theory of interpretive democracy that includes the endlessly multifarious reader's response as well as Keats's guessed-at intent. Stillinger also considers the process of constructing meaning, and posits an answer to why Keats's work is considered canonical, and why it is still being read and admired.
 

Contents

Introduction The Literary Transaction
3
The Starting Materials Texts and Circumstances
17
The Multiple Readings
35
Why There Are So Many Meanings I Complex Readership
79
Why There Are So Many Meanings II Complex Authorship
97
Conclusion Keats among the English Poets
115
Appendixes
131
Notes
155
Bibliography
167
Index
179
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