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William Morris and the Uses of Violence, 1856–1890

Ingrid Hanson author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Anthem Press

Published:15th Apr '13

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William Morris and the Uses of Violence, 1856–1890 cover

Offers a new and challenging reading of William Morris’s work, focusing on his representations of violence and arguing that the idea of regenerative battle is central to his literary and political vision.

‘William Morris and the Uses of Violence, 1856–1890’ combines a close reading of Morris’s work with historical and philosophical analysis in order to argue, contrary to prevailing critical opinion, that his writings demonstrate an enduring commitment to an ideal of violent battle. The work examines Morris’s representations of violence in relation to the wider cultural preoccupations and political movements with which they intersect, including medievalism, Teutonism, and the visionary, fractured socialism of the ‘fin de siècle’. 

‘Hanson’s work is certainly intriguing, bespeaks a careful study of a range of Morris texts, and has a refreshingly unexpected way into texts about which the critical consensus may have been too quick to form.’ —John Plotz, ‘Pre-Raphaelite Studies’


‘Hanson gracefully and effectively situates her subject – Morris and violence — within various fields including Victorian literature, Greek, Roman, and Nordic cultures, psychology, and a wide range of political and critical theorists […] Morris and the Uses of Violence so effectively moves among the multiple fields upon which Hanson draws that if I were still teaching my old introductory seminar to postgraduate study – the once-standard methods course — I would direct students to it as an example of how to conduct complex scholarly and critical arguments, particularly those that contradict orthodox received views of a subject’ —George P. Landow, editor-in-chief, www.victorianweb.org

ISBN: 9780857283191

Dimensions: 229mm x 153mm x 26mm

Weight: 454g

252 pages