1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910453100003321

Autore

Brown Erica <1975-, >

Titolo

Comedy and the feminine middlebrow novel : Elizabeth von Arnim and Elizabeth Taylor / / by Erica Brown

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2016

ISBN

1-317-32073-5

1-315-65499-7

1-317-32074-3

1-84893-339-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (315 p.)

Collana

Literary texts and the popular marketplace ; ; no. 3

Disciplina

823.912099287

Soggetti

English fiction - Women authors - History and criticism

Humor in literature

Humorous stories, English - History and criticism

Middle class in literature

Women in literature

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

"First published 2013 by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Ltd."--t.p. verso.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION; 1 THE MIDDLEBROW AND COMEDY: ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND ELIZABETH VON ARNIM'S CULTURAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT; 2 A COMEDIC 'RESPONSE' TO WAR? ELIZABETH VON ARNIM'S CHRISTOPHER AND COLUMBUS (1919) AND MR SKEFFINGTON (1940), AND ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S AT MRS LIPPINCOTE'S (1945); 3 'ONE BEGINS TO SEE WHAT IS MEANT BY "THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER"': ELIZABETH VON ARNIM'S VERA (1921) AND ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S PALLADIAN (1946)

4 'ONE SHUDDERS TO THINK WHAT A LESS SOPHISTICATED ARTIST WOULD HAVE MADE OF IT': THE COMEDY OF AGE IN ELIZABETH VON ARNIM'S LOVE (1925) AND ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S IN A SUMMER SEASON (1961)CONCLUSION; NOTES; WORKS CITED

Sommario/riassunto

Elizabeth von Arnim and Elizabeth Taylor wrote witty and entertaining novels about the domestic lives of middle-class women. Widely read



and enjoyed, their work was often dismissed as middlebrow. Brown argues their skilful use of comedy and irony provided the receptive reader with subversive commentary on the cruelties and disappointments of life.