Characteristics of Women
Moral, Poetical and Historical

Anna Jameson offers a nineteenth-century woman's perspective on the popular female characters of Shakespeare's plays.

Anna Jameson (Author)

9781108000994, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 July 2009

344 pages
22.9 x 2 x 15.2 cm, 0.51 kg

Characteristics of Women (1832) by Anna Jameson was the first attempt by a woman to analyse the characteristics of twenty-three heroines of Shakespeare's plays. In this book, Jameson, an English writer, feminist, and art historian, addresses problems of women's education and participation in public life while providing insightful and original readings of Shakespeare's women. Jameson classifies the heroines into four categories, two of which — characters of affection and historical characters — are presented in Volume 2. Hermione, Desdemona, Imogen, and Cordelia are the characters in whom moral sentiments and affections predominate, while Cleopatra, Octavia, Volumnia, Constance of Bretagne, Elinor of Guienne, Blanche of Castile, Margaret of Anjou, Katherine of Arragon, and Lady Macbeth are examples of historical characters. Illustrated with fifty attractive etchings made by the author herself, this eloquent book is a must-have for Shakespeare collectors, students of women's studies and others interested in nineteenth-century literary criticism.

Part I. Characters of the Affections: 1. Hermione
2. Desdemona
3. Imogen
4. Cordelia
Part II. Historical Characters: 5. Cleopatra
6. Octavia
7. Volumnia
8. Constance of Bretagne
9. Elinor of Guienne
10. Blanche of Castile
11. Margaret of Anjou
12. Katherine of Arragon
13. Lady Macbeth.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]