The Romantic Lakes from Wordsworth to Beatrix Potter

When Daniel Defoe rode through the Lake District in the early 18th century, he described the area as 'the wildest, most barren and frightful of any that I have passed over in England.' But for Victorians such as Matthew Arnold and John Ruskin, the Lakes offered a landscape of supreme beauty. How did this change come about?

Jonathan Bate will follow in the footsteps of the 18th-century inventors of the 'picturesque' and show how Wordsworth shaped the vision of his native region, leading to the foundation of the National Trust and the idea of a National Park.

A lecture by Sir Jonathan Bate, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric 11 December 2018

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/romantic-leakes-wordsworth-beatrix-potter

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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