Search results for ""author rachel feder""

What if we've been reading Jane Austen and romantic classics all wrong? A literary scholar offers a funny, brainy, eye-opening take on how our contemporary love stories are actually terrifying. Covering cultural touchstones ranging from Normal People to Taylor Swift and from Lord Byron to The Bachelor, The Darcy Myth is a book for anyone who loves thinking deeply about literature and culture whether it s Jane Austen or not. You already know Mr. Darcy at least you think you do! The brooding, rude, standoffish romantic hero of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy initially insults and ignores the witty heroine, but eventually succumbs to her charms. It s a classic enemies-to-lovers plot, and one that has profoundly influenced our cultural ideas about courtship. But what if this classic isn t just a grand romance, but a horror novel about how scary love and marriage can be for women? In The Darcy Myth, literature scholar Rachel Feder unpacks Austen s Gothic influences and how they ve led us to a romantic ideal that s halfway to being a monster story. Why is our culture so obsessed with cruel, indifferent romantic heroes (and sometimes heroines)? How much of that is Darcy s fault? And, now that we know, what do we do about it?

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Arguably the most famous vampire story in all of literature, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) is the chilling tale of a monster of incomprehensible evil and the band of heroes who desperately hunt him. With twists and turns that unfold through journal entries, letters, and other “found” writings, Stoker stages a dramatic struggle between forces of good and evil, insanity and reason, and fear and desire as the group contends with the mysterious Count Dracula and his terrifying nature. This unforgettable masterpiece of Gothic horror inspired several iconic adaptations and has become the archetype for the vampire lore that continues to grip audiences across countless genres and mediums.

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