‘[A literary work] is not a mere play of the imagination, the isolated caprice of an exited brain, but a transcript of contemporary manners and customs and the sign of a particular state of intellect.  The conclusion derived from this is that, through literary monuments, we can retrace the way in which men and women felt and thought many centuries ago.’ – Hippolyte Tain, Histoire de la literature anglaise, Quot. in AVI English Literature by Jonathan Bate, p81.