Reading the Eve of St.Agnes: The Multiples of Complex Literary Transaction Jack Stillinger1999

Using the 180-year history of Keats's "Eve of St. Agnes" as a basis for theorizing about the reading process, Stillinger's book explores the nature and whereabouts of meaning in complex works. A proponent of authorial intent, Stillinger argues a theoretical compromise between author and reader, applying a theory of interpretive democracy that includes the endlessly multifarious reader's response as well as Keats's guessed-at intent. Stillinger also considers the process of constructing meaning, and posits an answer to why Keats's work is considered canonical, and why it is still being read and admired.

Titre original : Reading the Eve of St.Agnes: The Multiples of Complex Literary Transaction (1999)