1st Edition
Mistress of the House Women of Property in the Victorian Novel
By Tim Dolin
Copyright 1997
168 Pages
by
Routledge
168 Pages
by
Routledge
168 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
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:... Read more
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.
Biography
Tim Dolin
’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
