Rotters in literature, John Keats' poem To Autumn, The Art of Innovation at the Science Museum
Favourite rotters in fiction - why are so few of them women? And we celebrate 200 years of john Keats' poem To Autumn
We look at rotters in fiction: do women have equal status with men when it comes to being bad in books? Rotters have populated the novel since Robert Lovelace first appeared in Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa nearly two centuries ago. But what exactly is a rotter, how do rotters differ from cads and, when women are rotters, are they given equal treatment by both their writers and their readers? John Mullan, Professor of Literature at UCL and critic Alex Clark discuss the rotter's progress.
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun…”
It is 200 years, to the very day, since John Keats wrote To Autumn, distilling the sights, sounds, even smell of the season and capturing its essence in three carefully crafted stanzas that are among the best-loved in the language. We hear a reading and Alison Brackenbury explains how the poem works and her response to it as a poet.
The Science Museum and ѿý Radio 4 have been collaborating on an exploration of the relationship between art and science over 250 years. The result is The Art of Innovation: From Enlightenment to Dark Matter, which is an exhibition, a book and a 20-part radio series. Dr Tilly Blyth, Principal Curator, and one of the programme presenters tells Stig about Joseph Wright’s famous painting of a scientific lecture; how Turner captured impact of the emerging age of steam and how artists tackle depicting science that can’t be seen.
Presenter: Stig Abell
Producer: Simon Richardson
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Keats' poem To Autumn
Duration: 01:59
Rotters in literature

Images:
Main image above: Oliver Reed as the villain Bill Sikes in Carol Reed's 1968 film Oliver, based on Dickens' Oliver Twist.
Image credit: Silver ScreenCollection/ Getty images
Image to the left:Natasha Little as Becky Sharp in a ѿý adaptation of Thackeray's Vanity Fair - a literary rotter?
Image credit: ѿý
The Art of Innovation

TheArt of Innovation: From Enlightenment to Dark Matter, ѿý Radio 4's series in partnership with the Science Museumis at 1.45pm on weekdays from 23 September 2019, with an omnibus edition at 9.00pm on Fridays; and on ѿý Sounds.
The radio series is accompanied by , a free exhibition at the Science Museum, London; and a book with the same name by the series presenters, Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group, and Dr Tilly Blyth, Head of Collections at the Science Museum.
is available now in hardback and as an eBook.
Image: The Art of Innovation presenters Tilly Blyth and Ian Blatchford with Joseph Wright's Coalbrokdaleby Night, which is featured in the programme.
Image credit: Science Museum Group
Tickets for Front Row at the Contains Strong Language Festival, Hull

Hull's Contains Strong Language festival is all about poetry and performance. And both will be a part of alive broadcast of Front Row from the festival at Hull Collegeon Friday 27 September 2019, presented by Stig Abell.
You can be in the audience to hear the playwright Mark Ravenhill discuss the poetry of revolution and a performance from the hip hop poet Testament.
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You can bookfree tickets , or from the ѿý website
FRIDAY 27 SEPTMBER 2019:FRONT ROW atHULL COLLEGE - doors open at 6.45pm
Image: Testament
Broadcast
- Thu 19 Sep 2019 19:15ѿý Radio 4
ѿý Arts Digital
The best of British culture live and on demand.
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Front Row
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music