The Cambridge Companion to Women's Writing in the Romantic Period

A wide-ranging and accessible account of the pioneering professional women writers who flourished during the Romantic period.

Devoney Looser (Edited by)

9781107016682, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 March 2015

274 pages, 5 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'This excellent addition to the Cambridge Companion series does much to deepen our understanding of how gender shaped the production and reception of texts in the Romantic period while also demonstrating the sheer volume and variety of works produced by women in what editor Devoney Looser terms 'a watershed moment for British women's writing' … In addition to scholars interested in issues related to gender and authorship, this volume should interest anyone seeking to better understand the dynamics of the literary culture in the Romantic period.' Angela Rehbein, Notes and Queries

The Romantic period saw the first generations of professional women writers flourish in Great Britain. Literary history is only now giving them the attention they deserve, for the quality of their writings and for their popularity in their own time. This collection of new essays by leading scholars explores the challenges and achievements of this fascinating set of women writers, including Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, Ann Radcliffe, Hannah More, Maria Edgeworth, and Mary Shelley alongside many lesser-known female authors writing and publishing during this period. Chapters consider major literary genres, including poetry, fiction, drama, travel writing, histories, essays, and political writing, as well as topics such as globalization, colonialism, feminism, economics, families, sexualities, aging, and war. The volume shows how gender intersected with other aspects of identity and with cultural concerns that then shaped the work of authors, critics, and readers.

Chronology
Introduction
1. Poetry Stephen C. Behrendt
2. Fiction Anthony Mandal
3. Drama Catherine Burroughs
4. Essays and political writing Anne Mellor
5. The gothic Angela Wright
6. Travel writing Elizabeth A. Fay
7. History writing and antiquarianism Crystal Lake
8. Writing in wartime Catherine Ingrassia
9. Enlightenment feminism and the bluestocking legacy Caroline Franklin
10. The global context Deirdre Coleman
11. Social, familial, and literary networks Julie A. Carlson
12. The economics of female authorship Jacqueline M. Labbe
13. Age and aging Devoney Looser
14. National identities and regional affiliations Fiona Price
15. Sexualities Jillian Heydt-Stevenson
Guide to further reading.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB], Literature: history & criticism [DS]