'Thinking Against the Current' : Literature and Political Resistance

Sybil Oldfie ld is the Emeritus Reader in English at the University of Sussex. She is the author of several books, including Afterwords: Letters on the Death of Virginia Woolf , The Collective Biography of Women in Britain 1550-1900 , and Spinsters of This Parish Front Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: ‘Oh England, / Sick in head and sick in heart’ (Anon, 1675) 1 ‘No Respecter of Persons’: The impact of Quaker persecution history on the radicalism of Tom Paine 2 Blake and Shelley versus Their Society 3 Hazlitt versus Malthus 4 ‘Warmint’ and ‘Gentleman’ in Great Expectations: The ambiguous ‘lowness’ of Abel Magwitch Part Two: Enter the Women 5 ‘Ourstory’ by Carole Satyamurti 6 Introduction to ‘Which Dead Should Awaken?’: From the Collective Biography of Women, 1550–1900 7 A ‘Strong-minded Woman’ – Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1890): The ‘mother’ of the 19th century British women’s movement 8 Introduction to Jeanie, an ‘Army of One’: Mrs. Nassau Senior (1828–1877), the first woman in Whitehall 9 Introduction to International Woman Suffrage News (Ius Suffragii), 1906–1914 10 Eleanor Rathbone MP (1872–1946) and Indian Girls: Cultural imperialist or friend to women? Part Three: Twentieth-Century Women and the Problem of War 11 England’s Cassandras in World War One 12 Caroline Playne (1858–1940): Cultural historian and and social psychologist 13 Jane Addams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1860–1931): The chance the world missed 14 Simone Weil (1909–1943): The wise fool 15 Virginia Woolf and Antigone: Thinking against the current 16 German Women in the Resistance to Hitler 17 Germany’s Antigone: Sophie Scholl (1921–1943) 18 Compiling the First Dictionary of British Humanitarians: Why? What? Who? How? 19 Vera Brittain (1893–1970): The dogged pacifist 20 American Visionaries: Helen Keller, and the poets Muriel Rukeyser, Denise Levertov and Sharon Olds 21 Righteous Violence – War in the Family, War in the World Index Back Cover

This collection of literary/historical essays, written 1970-2010, covers political subjects as diverse as 17th Century Quaker persecution history, the social impact of Malthus, the self-emancipation of English women, Eleanor Rathbone on the human rights of girls and German women's resistance to Hitler. The more literary subjects include the social thinking of the English Romantics, Dickens' Great Expectations, Simone Weil's great essays attacking militarism and Virginia Woolf's opposition to the State -- as well as contemporary American women poets on the problem of war. But despite all its diversity, this collection has one unifying theme -- the necessity for resistance, for 'thinking against the current', as Virginia Woolf wrote in 'Thoughts on Peace in an Air-raid'. The torch of resistance to oppression and militarism is shown to have been continuously handed on through the generations from the seventeenth century to our own day by men and women who had the courage, at whatever personal cost, to 'fight with the mind'. This book of passionate, lively essays is not merely a treasure trove for biographical researchers; it is also strengthening medicine, introducing us to unfamiliar forebears who can help us in our current struggle for a better world. As Simone Weil said: "We can find something better than ourselves in the past".

This collection of essays, written between 1970 and 2010, covers political subjects as diverse as 17th-century Quaker persecution history, the social impact of Malthus, the self-emancipation of English women, Eleanor Rathbone on the human rights of girls, and German women’s resistance to Hitler. The more literary subjects include topics such as the social thinking of the English Romantics, Dickens’ Great Expectations, Simone Weil’s essays attacking militarism, and Virginia Woolf’s opposition to the State, as well as contemporary American women poets on the problem of war. This book of passionate, lively essays is not merely a treasure trove for biographical researchers; it also introduces unfamiliar forebears who can help in the current struggle for a better world.
This Collection Of Literary/historical Essays, Written 1970-2010, Covers Political Subjects As Diverse As 17th Century Quaker Persecution History, The Social Impact Of Malthus, The Self-emancipation Of English Women, Eleanor Rathbone On The Human Rights Of Girls And German Women's Resistance To Hitler. Sybil Oldfield. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.