William Wordsworth The Prelude

The Prelude is now seen as a central text in the Wordsworth corpus. This Guide identifies and gathers significant critical perspectives, interpretations and debates connected with the poem, contextualising and explaining criticism from the Victorian period right through to the present day. The Prelude is William Wordsworth's great autobiographical poem. Commenced in 1798, and periodically expanded and revised throughout Wordsworth's life, it was published in 1850 after the poet's death. This Reader's Guide: • begins with a discussion of the complex textual history of The Prelude • covers the full range of critical responses surrounding the poem, from the first Victorian reviewers to Modernist polemicists, and from the 'theory wars' of the 1970s and 1980s to the emergence of recent 'green' criticism • identifies and gathers significant critical perspectives, interpretations and debates connected with the work, contextualising and explaining the material under discussion. Comprehensive and approachable, this is an invaluable introduction to a widely-studied work which has come to assume a central place in Wordsworth's literary output. The Prelude is now seen as a central text in the Wordsworth corpus. This Guide identifies and gathers significant critical perspectives, interpretations and debates connected with the poem, contextualising and explaining criticism from the Victorian period right through to the present day.