The New Nineteenth Century - Feminist Readings of Underread Victorian Fiction (Hardcover)

Victorian literature has been an important critical focus for feminist scholarship, but feminist criticism has also established its own canon of central authors-most frequently focusing on the rich accomplishments of Emily Bront', Charlotte Bront', and George Eliot, and the disappointments of Charles Dickens and Henry James. This collection of essays expands the canon to include works not frequently accorded attention either in literary criticism broadly conceived, or in feminist literary scholarship.
The book includes essays on writers from the 1840s to the 1890s, investigating some authors in whom readers are already interested (Anne Bront', Wilkie Collins, Bram Stoker), and those to whom they wish to gain access (Geraldine Jewsbury, Charles Reade, Margaret Oliphant, George Moore, Sarah Grand, Mary Ward, and others). The essays explore important thematic concerns: the relation between private and public realms, gender and social class, sexuality and the marketplace, and male and female cultural identity.
This collection facilitates interpretation of key underread texts for scholars who seek new information and insights. Additionally, the biographical headnote and brief bibliographic survey that accompany each essay are helpful to students and teachers of 19th-century literature, feminist literature and criticism, and cultural studies. Most importantly, the volume offers a richer conception of 19th-century literature and thus contributes both to literary history and classroom instruction.