The Trope of the Tortured Genius: An Examination of 19th Century British and American Poetry (thesis)
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Author
Wolf, Elizabeth R.
Subject
Washington and Lee University -- Honors in English
Genius and mental illness
Epic poetry, English
Heroes in literature
Tropes (Philosophy)
Nineteenth century
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Thesis; [FULL-TEXT FREELY AVAILABLE ONLINE] Elizabeth R. Wolf is a member of the Class of 2018 of Washington and Lee University. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the trope of the tortured genius in the transatlantic ninetieth century landscape. For the purposes of this paper, a genius is an individual or position that affords perspective, power, everlasting life, or some designation that separates one entity from another in a meaningful way. I will be focusing on the figure of the reclusive, inventive, or dark genius. These traits are often synonymous with the 19th century Romantic era genius. The Romantic genius pushes back against the established traits of both the epic hero and the traditional genius. [From Introduction]