Women, Writing, and Revolution, 1790-1827 (Hardcover)

Gary Kelly

ISBN 10: 0198122721 / ISBN 13: 9780198122722

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993

About this Item

Hardcover. The French Revolution stirred a bitter debate in Britain about the nature of civil society and the political nation. This is an original and lively study of contemporary women writers' efforts to base a reformed state and national culture on virtues and domains traditionally conceded to women. The pre-Revolutionary call for the feminization of culture acquired new and controversial meaning during the Revolution debate with the claims of MaryWollstonecraft and others for intellectual, vocational, sexual, and even political equality with men. But women writers of the period were faced with a literary discourse that assigned learned, sublime, andcontroversial genres and public and political themes to men. Women writers therefore undertook bold literary experiments which were derided and suppressed in their time, and which are still misunderstood. Gary Kelly investigates this hitherto neglected achievement by combining a wide survey of women's writing in its historical context with detailed analyses of three leading women writers: Helen Maria Williams, Britain's most widely-read eyewitness to the Revolution; the determined feministand self-styled `female philosopher' Mary Hays; and Elizabeth Hamilton, relentless `feminizer' of supposedly `masculine' discourse, from satire to social reform, classics to theology. This isa wide-ranging and lucid contribution to current debates concerning the intersections between women's writing, revolution, and Romanticism. Women, Writing, and Revolution 1790-1827 combines an illuminating survey of women's writing in this period with detailed analyses of the critically neglected work of three important women writers: Helen Maria Williams, Mary Hays, and Elizabeth Hamilton. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780198122722

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Women, Writing, and Revolution, 1790-1827 (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198122721
• ISBN 13: 9780198122722
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The French Revolution stirred a bitter debate in Britain about the nature of civil society and the political nation. This is an original and lively study of contemporary women writers' efforts to base a reformed state and national culture on virtues and domains traditionally conceded to women.
The pre-Revolutionary call for the feminization of culture acquired new and controversial meaning during the Revolution debate with the claims of Mary Wollstonecraft and others for intellectual, vocational, sexual, and even political equality with men. But women writers of the period were faced with a literary discourse that assigned learned, sublime, and controversial genres and public and political themes to men. Women writers therefore undertook bold literary experiments which were derided and suppressed in their time, and which are still misunderstood. Gary Kelly investigates this hitherto neglected achievement by combining a wide survey of women's writing in its historical context with detailed analyses of three leading women writers: Helen Maria Williams, Britain's most widely-read eyewitness to the Revolution; the determined feminist and self-styled `female philosopher' Mary Hays; and Elizabeth Hamilton, relentless `feminizer' of supposedly `masculine' discourse, from satire to social reform, classics to theology.
This is a wide-ranging and lucid contribution to current debates concerning the intersections between women's writing, revolution, and Romanticism.

About the Author

Gary Kelly is Professor of English at the University of Alberta.