Better Left Unsaid: Victorian Novels, Hays Code Films, and the Benefits of Censorship (The Cultural Lives of Law)

Better Left Unsaid Is In The Unseemly Position Of Defending Censorship From The Central Allegations That Are Traditionally Leveled Against It. Taking Two Genres Generally Presumed To Have Been Stymied By The Censor's Knife--the Victorian Novel And Classical Hollywood Film--this Book Reveals The Varied Ways In Which Censorship, For All Its Blustery Self-righteousness, Can Actually Be Good For Sex, Politics, Feminism, And Art. As Much As Victorianism Is Equated With Such Cultural Impulses As Repression And Prudery, Few Scholars Have Explored The Victorian Novel As A Censored Commodity--thanks, In Large Part, To The Indirectness And Intangibility Of England's Literary Censorship Process. This Indirection Stands In Sharp Contrast To The Explicit, Detailed Formality Of Hollywood's Infamous Production Code Of 1930. In Comparing These Two Versions Of Censorship, Nora Gilbert Explores The Paradoxical Effects Of Prohibitive Practices. Rather Than Being Ruined By Censorship, Victorian Novels And Hays Code Films Were Stirred And Stimulated By The Very Forces Meant To Restrain Them.--publisher's Website. Introduction : The Joy Of Censorship -- The Sounds Of Silence: W.m. Thackeray And Preston Sturges -- For Sophisticated Eyes Only : Jane Austen And George Cukor -- Beyond Censorship : Charles Dickens And Frank Capra -- The Thrill Of The Fight : Charlotte Brontë And Elia Kazan -- Postscript : Oscar Wilde And Mae West. Nora Gilbert. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 151-174) And Index.

Better Left Unsaid is in the unseemly position of defending censorship from the central allegations that are traditionally leveled against it. Taking two genres generally presumed to have been stymied by the censor's knife-the Victorian novel and classical Hollywood film-this book reveals the varied ways in which censorship, for all its blustery self-righteousness, can actually be good for sex, politics, feminism, and art.

As much as Victorianism is equated with such cultural impulses as repression and prudery, few scholars have explored the Victorian novel as a "censored" commodity-thanks, in large part, to the indirectness and intangibility of England's literary censorship process. This indirection stands in sharp contrast to the explicit, detailed formality of Hollywood's infamous Production Code of 1930. In comparing these two versions of censorship, Nora Gilbert explores the paradoxical effects of prohibitive practices. Rather than being ruined by censorship, Victorian novels and Hays Code films were stirred and stimulated by the very forces meant to restrain them This study defendins censorship from the central allegations that are traditionally levelled against it. Taking two genres generally presumed to have been stymied by the censor's knife - the Victorian novel and classical Hollywood film - it reveals the varied ways in which censorship, for all its blustery self-righteousness, can actually be good for sex, politics, feminism, and art. Rather than being ruined by censorship, Victorian novels and Hays Code films were stirred and stimulated by the very forces meant to restrain them Taking two narrative genres that are generally presumed to have been stymied by the censor's knife-the Victorian novel and classical Hollywood film-this book reveals the varied ways in which censorship, for all its blustery self-righteousness, can actually be good for sex, politics, feminism, and art.