1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910272354603321

Autore

Booth Alison

Titolo

Greatness Engendered : George Eliot and Virginia Woolf / / Alison Booth

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, NY : , : Cornell University Press, , [2018]

©1992

ISBN

0-8014-2628-6

1-5017-2279-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (313 pages)

Collana

Reading Women Writing

Disciplina

823/.8099287

Soggetti

English fiction - Women authors - History and criticism

Women and literature - Great Britain

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Frequently Cited Works -- Introduction: The Great Woman Writer, the Canon, and Feminist Tradition -- 1 . Something to Do: The Ideology o f Influence and the Context of Contemporary Feminism -- 2. The Burden of Personality: Biographical Criticism and Narrative Strategy -- 3. Eliot and Woolf as Historians of the Common Life -- 4. Miracles in Fetters: Heroism and the Selfless Ideal -- 5. Trespassing in Cultural History: The Heroines of Romola and Orlando -- 6. "God was cruel when he made women" : Felix Holt and The Years -- 7. "The Ancient Consciousness of Woman": A Feminist Archaeology of Daniel Deronda and Between the Acts -- Works Cited -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The egotism that fuels the desire for greatness has been associated exclusively with men, according to one feminist view; yet many women cannot suppress the need to strive for greatness. In this forceful and compelling book, Alison Booth traces through the novels, essays, and other writings of George Eliot and Virginia Woolf radically conflicting attitudes on the part of each toward the possibility of feminine greatness. Examining the achievements of Eliot and Woolf in their social contexts, she provides a challenging model of feminist historical criticism.