Coleridge's Francophobia

It is no secret that Coleridge developed a deep-seated aversion to France, though so far criticism has been either too embarrassed by the prejudice, or too sympathetic to it, to consider the problem and its implications properly. In the context of new research on xenophobia and propaganda during the period, this essay first traces the key moments in the development of Coleridge's francophobia (support for peace in 1798-1802, fear of Napoleon in 1803-04, and life in Malta and Italy in 1804-06) and then suggests how Coleridge uses the rhetoric of horror and ridicule to exaggerate the foreignness of the French. Finally, this essay contends that francophobia informs Coleridge's political theory, driving in particular his notion of organicism.