British Women Writers and the Short Story, 1850-1930 : Reclaiming Social Space

This book addresses a critically neglected genre used by women writers from Gaskell to Woolf to complicate Victorian and modernist notions of gender and social space. Their innovative short stories ask Britons to reconsider where women could live, how they could be identified, and whether they could be contained The emergence of the short story in Britain in the Victorian and modernist period coincided with the rise of the professional woman writer. Circulating through the periodical press, short stories contributed to ongoing debates regarding 'the Woman Question'. By addressing a critically neglected form, this book reveals the ways in which women writers incited social change by complicating Victorian and modernist notions of gender and social space. Short stories by Elizabeth Gaskell, Rhoda Broughton, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, George Egerton, Charlotte Mew, Evelyn Sharp, Barbara Baynton, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and Jean Rhys hinge upon catalytic moments. When heroines surmount the limitations of their prescribed roles by redefining their boundaries, they revise dominant narratives of femininity. These writers' innovative works ask Britons to reconsider where women could live, how they could be identified, and whether they could be contained. "Wide-ranging, incisive and thoroughly readable, this will be essential reading for anyone interested in women writers' contribution to the short story tradition." - Ailsa Cox, Edgehill University, UK The Emergence Of The Short Story In Britain In The Victorian And Modernist Period Coincided With The Rise Of The Professional Woman Writer. Circulating Through The Periodical Press, Short Stories Contributed To Ongoing Debates Regarding 'the Woman Question'. By Addressing A Critically Neglected Form, This Book Reveals The Ways In Which Women Writers Incited Social Change By Complicating Victorian And Modernist Notions Of Gender And Social Space. Short Stories By Elizabeth Gaskell, Rhoda Broughton, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, George Egerton, Charlotte Mew, Evelyn Sharp, Barbara Baynton, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, And Jean Rhys Hinge Upon Catalytic Moments. When Heroines Surmount The Limitations Of Their Prescribed Roles By Redefining Their Boundaries, They Revise Dominant Narratives Of Femininity. These Writers' Innovative Works Ask Britons To Reconsider Where Women Could Live, How They Could Be Identified, And Whether They Could Be Contained. Introduction Feminine Occupations -- 1. The Spinster Re-drawing Rooms In Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford -- 2. M.e. Braddon, Rhoda Broughton, And The Specter Of Social Critique -- 3. Possessing London: The Yellow Book's Women Writers -- 4. Barbara Baynton And Katherine Mansfield's Unsettling Women -- Conclusion Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys, And Narratives Of Obscurity. Kate Krueger. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 9 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Feminine Occupations 11 1 Spinsters Re-Drawing Rooms in Gaskell's Cranford 28 Hosting crises in the drawing room 36 Telling secrets by the fireside 45 Economic parlor games 55 Conclusion 64 2 Braddon, Broughton, and Specters of Social Critique 68 Haunting the country house 79 Borrowing trouble in the rented townhome 95 Conclusion 108 3 Possessing London: The Yellow Book's Women Writers 111 The Yellow Book's brief innovations 116 Narrating impressions in the fin de siècle 120 Repulsing slum sisters 130 Conveying femininity 140 Conclusion 149 4 Baynton and Mansfield's Unsettling Women 152 Placing colonial modernism 158 Barbara Baynton's pregnant silences 164 Katherine Mansfield's colonial Rhythm 177 Conclusion 197 Conclusion: Woolf, Rhys, and Narratives of Obscurity 200 Notes 216 Bibliography 249 Index 266 Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Feminine Occupations....Pages 1-17 Spinsters Re-Drawing Rooms in Gaskell’s Cranford....Pages 18-57 Braddon, Broughton, and Specters of Social Critique....Pages 58-100 Possessing London: The Yellow Book’s Women Writers....Pages 101-141 Baynton and Mansfield’s Unsettling Women....Pages 142-189 Conclusion: Woolf, Rhys, and Narratives of Obscurity....Pages 190-205 Back Matter....Pages 206-260