In the light of post-structuralism and feminist theory, this book reappraises "The Prelude" using Romantic autobiography, theatrical politics and history to outline the role of gender in Romantic self-representation and pedagogy. This is the first major study of the work by a scholar distinguished both as a Wordsworthian and as a feminist critic. 'Given that we are at a breaking point in "Romantic" studies, it is difficult to know how to give a book like this the kind of praise it deserves wiuthout returning to those very "Romantic" tropes which are put at risk by the book itself. Readers interested in Romanticism, writing, or sexual difference will simply have to read the book for themselves to determine how best to rearticulate the terms of praise.' Marlon B. Ross, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Modern Philology