Description
Book SynopsisIn this strikingly original treatment of the rise of the novel, Nancy Armstrong argues that the novels and non- fiction written by and for women in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England paved the way for the rise of the modern English middle class. Most critical studies of the novel mistakenly locate political power exclusively in the official institutions of state, ignoring the political domain over which women hold authority, which includes courtship practices, family relations, and the use of leisure time. To remedy this, Armstrong provides a dual analysis, tracing both the rise of the novel and the evolution of female authority as part of one phenomenon.
Trade Review`The provocative thesis Armstrong....develops challenges traditional descriptions of the rise of the novel...The result is a genuine contribution to the growing shelf of feminist criticism.' Choice `Armstrong offers a complicated scholarly feminist view of literary history just when you thought this burgeoning academic industry was running out of steam.' Library Journal
