Walter Pater

Walter Pater (1839-94) was an active participant in the literary marketplace as an academic, journalist, critic, writer of short stories, and novelist at a time of the rise of English and of journalism, university reform, and the professionalisation and separating out of literature from journalism. He was also a classicist whose interest in Greek studies coincided with a commitment to explore in his writings the scope of male homosexual discourse. This critical study of a key figure in Victorian literary society examines Pater’s work on art history, literature and Greek studies, as well as analysing the roles of gender and journalism in shaping his writing. Laurel Brake approaches Pater’s writings from the prospective of cultural history – including publishing and the politics of literature and gender – and covers his key works, including Studies in the History of the Renaissance, Style, Imaginary Portraits, Marius the Epicurean, and Greek Studies.