Reviewing Sex: Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels

by N. Thompson

Overview

Reviewing Sex: Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels looks at the influence of Victorian definitions of gender on the cultural processes of reading and canon formation in nineteenth-century England, examining the reception of several mid-century works in over 100 Victorian book reviews. This study investigates four canonical and popular novelists (Emily Bronte, Anthony Trollope, Charles Reade, Charlotte Yonge), all of whom caused high cultural commotions by epitomizing or subverting contemporary definitions of 'masculine' or 'feminine' writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333622179
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	03/25/1996
Series:	Gender and the Reception of Victorian Novels
Edition description:	1996
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

NICOLE DIANE THOMPSON

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations - Acknowledgements - Introduction - Reviewing and Writing: Sex and Gender - The 'Virile Creator' Versus the 'Twaddlers Tame and Soft': Charles Reade's It Is Never Too Late To Mend - The Unveiling of Ellis Bell: Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights -'Something Both More And Less than Manliness': Anthony Trollope's Reception - 'The Angel in the Circulating Library': Charlotte Yonge's The Heir of Redclyffe - Conclusion - Appendix: Victorian Periodicals: Reputation, Readership, and Circulation - Works Cited and Consulted - Index

Editorial Reviews

Thompson (English, Kingston U., England) examines some 100 19th- century reviews of four novels published between 1847 and 1857: Charles Reade's It Is Never Too Late To Mend; Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights; Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers; and Charlotte Yonge's The Heir of Redclyffe. She observes that some male Victorian authors suffered from the gender hierarchies of Victorian literary criticism, and that some women writers benefitted from gendered evaluations. Includes b&w illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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