Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Childhood and Early Education: The Great Experiment (1806–1820)
- 2 Company Man and Youthful Propagandist (1821–1826)
- 3 Crisis (1826–1830)
- 4 The Discovery of Romance and Romanticism (1830–1840)
- 5 The Transitional Essays
- 6 Intellectual Success (1840–1845)
- 7 Worldly Success (1846–1850)
- 8 Private Years (1850–1859)
- 9 The Memorial Essays
- 10 Public Intellectual (1859–1869)
- 11 Last Years (1869–1873)
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Discovery of Romance and Romanticism (1830–1840)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Childhood and Early Education: The Great Experiment (1806–1820)
- 2 Company Man and Youthful Propagandist (1821–1826)
- 3 Crisis (1826–1830)
- 4 The Discovery of Romance and Romanticism (1830–1840)
- 5 The Transitional Essays
- 6 Intellectual Success (1840–1845)
- 7 Worldly Success (1846–1850)
- 8 Private Years (1850–1859)
- 9 The Memorial Essays
- 10 Public Intellectual (1859–1869)
- 11 Last Years (1869–1873)
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The period of Mill's life following his great crisis was defined negatively by the death of the two great intellectual influences of his early life, Bentham in 1832 and James Mill, his father, in 1836. These deaths, coming so quickly after his crisis, created a vacuum that was shortly to be filled by the influential movements of Romanticism and conservatism. It was also defined positively by the growth of his relationship with the great love of his life, Harriet Taylor.
In 1830, Henry Taylor (not to be confused with John Taylor) described Mill as follows:
His manners were plain, neither graceful nor awkward; his features refined and regular; the eyes small relatively to the scale of the face, the jaw large, the nose straight and finely shaped, the lips thin and compressed, the forehead and head capacious; and both face and body seemed to represent outwardly the inflexibility of the inner man. He shook hands with you from the shoulder. Though for the most part plainly grave, he was as sensible as anybody to Charles Austin's or Charles Villier's sallies of wit, and his strong and well-knit body would heave for a few moments with half-uttered laughter.
Mill was now part of the larger social scene, attending the salons organized by Sarah Austin, Mrs. Grote, and Mrs. Charles Buller. Mill also frequented the salon of Lady Harriet Baring.
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- Chapter
- Information
- John Stuart MillA Biography, pp. 86 - 132Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004