Arguing that the end of the eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of an important female poetic tradition, Knowles analyzes the poetry of the Della Cruscans, Charlotte Smith, Susan Evance, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning in the context of a mass literary culture and the move from the discourse of sensibility to the rhetoric of sentimentality. Knowles shows that Smith pioneered an autobiographical approach to poetic production that continues today.

Introduction , Claire Knowles; Chapter 1 Understanding Sensibility as Performance: The Della Cruscans, Claire Knowles; Chapter 2 Performing Sincere Sensibility: Charlotte Smith, Claire Knowles; Chapter 3 The Evolution of Sensibility: Susan Evance, Claire Knowles; Chapter 4 Fame and the Limits of Sensibility: Letitia Landon, Claire Knowles; Chapter 5 Rejecting the Script of Sensibility: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Claire Knowles; Chapter 6 Conclusion, Claire Knowles;