How did the Victorian woman cope with the image of herself as a writer?
What were the constraints on female friendships in a world centred on the pre-eminence of the husband?
How significant for an ambitious woman were her politics about men?
At the heart of this book, originally published in 1990, is a friendship between two women: Jane Carlyle and the novelist Geraldine Jewsbury. But it was a difficult friendship, and in its difficulty lies much that is illuminating: about nineteenth-century domestic ideology; about writing for a market, and female fame; and about the complex ambivalences between women.
Examining aspects of their lives, writing, and relationships, alongside those of two other writers – Felicia Hemans and Geraldine’s sister, Maria Jane – Norma Clarke provides a subtle and illuminating discussion of the possibilities that were open to women in the Victorian age.
Author(s): Norma Clarke
Series: Routledge Library Editions: Women and Writing, 1
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 258
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Original Title Page
Original Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Contrary to Custom
2 The Pride of Literature
3 Dragoon Kinds of Women
4 Difficulties and Danger
5 Work
6 The Comforts of Others
7 Of the Female Persuasion
8 Telling Truths
Appendix
Notes
Further Reading
Index
