Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reconstructs the theological landscape regarding poverty in which William Wordsworth lived and uncovers the hidden and complex religious attitudes towards poverty in his poetry. The first step in a reconstruction of the theological atmosphere of his day is to identify those congregations that had an impact on Wordsworth. Certainly the Anglican Church clearly played a role in his youth, and so orthodox Anglicanism must be considered. The theological attitudes towards the poor in the Anglican Church showed the tension inherited from its Judaic/Catholic background in its attempts to reinforce the social system of the day through messages to both the haves and have-nots. The book discusses the theological imprecision that reduces the diverse religious landscape into a single Christianity and disregards the complexity of the theological landscape appears to have three results in Wordsworthian criticism.