A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Brontë to Lessing

When first published in 1977, __A Literature of Their Own__ quickly set the stage for the creative explosion of feminist literary studies that transformed the field in the 1980s. Launching a major new area for literary investigation, the book uncovered the long but neglected tradition of women writers in England. A classic of feminist criticism, its impact continues to be felt today. This revised and expanded edition contains a new introductory chapter surveying the book's reception and a new postscript chapter celebrating the legacy of feminism and feminist criticism in the efflorescence of contemporary British fiction by women. A Literature Of Their Own Quickly Set The Stage For The Creative Explosion Of Feminist Literary Studies That Transformed The Field In The 1980s. Launching A Major New Area For Literary Investigation, The Book Uncovered The Long But Neglected Tradition Of Women Writers And The Development Of Their Fiction From The 1800s Onwards. It Includes Assessments Of Famous Writers Such As The Brontës, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Margaret Drabble And Doris Lessing, But Also Presents Critical Appraisals Of Mary Braddon, Rhoda Broughton And Sarah Grand --- To Name But A Few Of Those Prolific And Successful Victorian Novelists - --once Household Names, Now Largely Forgotten. Ch. 1. The Female Tradition -- Ch. 2. The Feminine Novelists And The Will To Write -- Ch. 3. The Double Critical Standard And The Feminine Novel -- Ch. 4. Feminine Heroines: Charlotte Brontë And George Eliot -- Ch. 5. Femine Heroes: The Woman's Man -- Ch. 6. Subverting The Feminine Novel: Sensationalism And Feminine Protest -- Ch. 7. The Feminine Novelists -- Ch. 8. Women Writers And The Suffrage Movement -- Ch. 9. The Female Aesthetic -- Ch. 10. Virginia Woolf And The Flight Into Androgyny -- Ch. 11. Beyond The Female Aesthetic: Contemporary Women Novelists. Elaine Showalter. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 351-365. The advent of female literature promises woman's view of life, woman's experience: in other words, a new element.