title: Victorians Reading the Romantics: Essays by U. C. Knoepflmacher
author: U. C. Knoepflmacher
description: <DIV>&ldquo;As a capacious and unified work of a major nineteenth-century scholar, <I>Victorians Reading the Romantics</I> will be of interest to all advanced workers in the field of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British literature. It is a work that every nineteenth-century scholar should own, every university library should buy, and many serious undergraduates should read. Knoepflmacher is a beautiful writer&mdash;lucid, graceful, funny where funny is appropriate, moving where moving is right.&rdquo; &mdash;Judith Plotz, George Washington University<BR /> &#160;<BR /><BR /> &#160;</DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&ldquo;Bringing these essays together transforms them into a cohesive book of readings on a theme, allowing them to do the work of showing how a very fine reader can bring to present, active meaningfulness a historical issue. They collectively cover a great number of important Romantic and Victorian writers.&rdquo; &mdash;John Maynard, co-editor of <I>Victorian Literature and Culture</I></DIV>
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  >
  
  
    
  April is nearly upon us, and with it a new social season here in London.
  Ambitious Mamas can be found at dress-shops all across town with their Darling
  Debutantes, eager to purchase that one magical evening gown that they simply
  know will mean the difference between marriage and spinster-hood
  
  >
  
  
  As for their prey —the Determined Bachelors—Mr. Colin Bridgerton once again
  tops the list of desirable husbands, even though he is not yet back from his
  recent trip abroad. He has no title, that is true, but he is in abundant
  possession of looks, fortune, and, as anyone who has ever spent even a minute
  in London knows, charm.
  
  > But Mr. Bridgerton has reached the somewhat advanced age of three-and-thirty
  > without ever showing an interest in any particular young lady, and there is
  > little reason to anticipate that 1824 will be any different from 1823 in
  > this respect.
  
  > Perhaps the Darling Debutantes —and perhaps more importantly their Ambitious
  > Mamas—would do