Description: The sentimental novel has long been noted for its liberal and humanitarian interests. In The Politics of Sensibility Markman Ellis argues that sentimental fiction also consciously participated in specific political controversies of the late eighteenth century, including emerging arguments about the ethics of slavery, the morality of commerce, and the movement to reform prostitutes. He shows that sentimental fiction was a public as well as a private genre, and that the very form of the novel was recognized as a political tool of cultural significance.
Review Quotes: "This very learned study usefully analyzes the place of sentimentality in the literature and politics of late-18th- and early-19th-century England....A valuable addition to the literary history of sensibility." Choice