ABSTRACT
Joseph Severn was obliged to reinvent himself more than once in his long life. Before considering the way in which Severn's reputation as the preeminent friend of Keats emerged, it is worth briefly considering his avowedly autobiographical writings. As 'The Friend of Keats', however, he found increasing success, attracting in his later years a steady stream of visitors in Rome, anxious to hear at first hand the truth about Keats's last days. Though it has some elements of the Bildungsroman, Severn's autobiographical presentation is not an account of his intellectual or spiritual development. William Sharp, however, Severn's first biographer, extracted parts of 'Incidents' and 'My Tedious Life', reproducing them in Life and Letters of Joseph Severnin lackadaisical or deliberately touched-up versions. Susan Wolfson has brilliantly dissected Shelley's own self-interest in promulgating the image of Keats as victim. The authentic voice of Keats cut through the accumulated patina of Severn's sentimentalized, self-important memories.
