Mistress of the House: Women of Property in the Victorian Novel

by Tim Dolin

Overview

This exploration of gender and property ownership in eight important novels argues that property is a decisive undercurrent in narrative structures and modes, as well as an important gender signature in society and culture. Tim Dolin suggests that the formal development of nineteenth-century domestic fiction can only be understood in the context of changes in the theory and laws of property: indeed femininity and its representation cannot be considered separately from property relations and their reform. He presents original readings of novels in which a woman owns, acquires or loses property, focusing on exchanges between patriarchal cultural authority, the 'woman question' and narrative form, and on the place of domestic fiction in a culture in which property relations and gender relations are subject to radical review. Each chapter revolves around a representative text, but refers substantially to other material, both other novels and contemporary social, legal, political and feminist commentary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351917209
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/05/2016
Series:	ISSN
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Tim Dolin

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; Women, property and victorian fiction; A woman, and something more: Shirley; Cranford and its belongings; ’He could get, but not keep’: Villette; Crimes of property: The Moonstone; Hardy’s uncovered women; Mistress of herself: Diana of the Crossways; Appendix 1: A brief summary of the laws concerning women (1854); Appendix 2: The Caroline Norton affair; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Dolin (English, U. of Newcastle, Australia) covers six Victorian novels in which the woman of property questions the social forces that constrict her struggle for autonomy. He shows how the narrative structures of the works reflect the conflicts regarding femininity and property that are portrayed in them. The novels include Charlotte Bront<:e>'s and , Elizabeth Gaskell's , Wilkie Collins' , Thomas Hardy's , and George Meredith's . Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

’the readings of [Dolin’s] chosen works..are attentive to both important textual details and relevant historical contexts.’ Nineteenth-Century Literature ’Dolin does not make sustained arguements so much as a series of fine distinctions and evocative insights. But these critical coruscations are so smart, stylish, and thought-provoking, that they are bound to light up bigger ideas for each reader. It is an eciting addition to a rapidly growing field.’ Talia Schaffer, Victorian Studies

From the Publisher