1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820335803321

Autore

Smith Orianne <1963->

Titolo

Romantic women writers, revolution, and prophecy : rebellious daughters, 1786-1826 / / Orianne Smith

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge ; ; New York, : Cambridge University Press, 2013

ISBN

1-107-32688-5

1-107-23674-6

1-107-33664-3

1-107-33256-7

1-139-20884-5

1-107-33332-6

1-107-33498-5

1-299-40325-5

1-107-33581-7

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 278 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; ; 98

Disciplina

823.009/9287

Soggetti

English fiction - Women authors - History and criticism

English fiction - 19th century - History and criticism

Romanticism - Great Britain

Prophecy in literature

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: Reading and writing the end of the world -- Verbal magic: an etymology of female enthusiasm -- The second coming of Hester Lynch Piozzi -- I, being the representative of liberty: Helen Maria Williams and the utopian performative -- The passion of the gothic heroine: Ann Radcliffe and the origins of narrative -- Anna Barbauld as enlightenment prophet -- Prophesying tragedy: Mary Shelley and the end of Romanticism.

Sommario/riassunto

Convinced that the end of the world was at hand, many Romantic women writers assumed the role of the female prophet to sound the alarm before the final curtain fell. Orianne Smith argues that their prophecies were performative acts in which the prophet believed



herself to be authorized by God to bring about social or religious transformation through her words. Utilizing a wealth of archival material across a wide range of historical documents, including sermons, prophecies, letters and diaries, Orianne Smith explores the work of prominent women writers - from Hester Piozzi to Ann Radcliffe, from Helen Maria Williams to Anna Barbauld and Mary Shelley - through the lens of their prophetic influence. As this book demonstrates, Romantic women writers not only thought in millenarian terms, but they did so in a way that significantly alters our current critical view of the relations between gender, genre, and literary authority in this period.