Vernon Lee: Decadence, Ethics, Aesthetics (Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture)

Focusing On The Work Of The Aesthete And Intellectual Vernon Lee, This Collection Offers A Wide Range Of Critical Writings That Reflect The Diversity Of Lee's Own Interests. Organized In A Broadly Chronological Order These Essays Examine Key Pieces In Lee's Oeuvre, Offering Original Approaches To A Number Of Lee's Works Including Euphorion, Hauntings: Fantastic Stories, Prince Albert And The Lady Snake, Louis Norbert, The Ballet Of The Nations, The Handling Of Words, And Music And Its Lovers. The Book Will Also Shed New Light On Lee's Relationship With Contemporaries Such As Her Brother, The Poet Eugene Lee-hamilton, Her Friend And Mentor Walter Pater, And The Art Historian And Fellow Intellectual Bernard Berenson.--provided By Publisher. Vernon Lee And Eugene Lee-hamilton / Catherine Maxwell -- Vernon Lee And The Pater Circle / Laurel Brake -- 'warming Me Like A Cordial' : The Ethos Of The Body In Vernon Lee's Aesthetics / Catherine Anne Wiley -- Vernon Lee, Decadent Contamination And The Productivist Ethos / Dennis Denisoff -- Vernon Lee And The Gender Of Aestheticism / Stefano Evangelista -- The Snake Lady And The Bruised Bodley Head : Vernon Lee And Oscar Wilde In The Yellow Book / Margaret Stetz -- Duality And Desire In Louis Norbert / Patricia Pulham -- Performing Pacifism : The Battle Between Artist And Author In The Ballet Of The Nations / Grace Brockington -- Plural Anomalies : Gender And Sexuality In Bio-critical Readings Of Vernon Lee / Jo Briggs -- The Handling Of Words : Reader Response Victorian Style / Christa Zorn. Edited By Catherine Maxwell And Patricia Pulham. This Collection Of Essays Stems From An International Conference 'vernon Lee: Literary Revenant', Organized By Catherine Maxwell And Patricia Pulham, And Held In London At The Institute Of English Studies In June 2003--pref. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 193-204) And Index. This timely book is the first collection of critical essays on Vernon Lee (Violet Paget, 1856-1935), the author of forty-three volumes, and a major literary figure and leading European cosmopolitan intellectual whose contribution to the literature and culture of the Victorian fin de siecle and to an emergent twentieth-century modernism is currently under re-evaluation. New light is shed on Lee's personal and professional relationships with contemporaries such as Eugene Lee-Hamilton, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde and Bernard Berenson, and original and exciting approaches taken to key works including her essays on the Italian Renaissance, Euphorion (1884), two of her short stories of 'Oke of Okehurst' and 'Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady', her fascinating historical detective novel Louis Norbert (1914), her pacifist drama, The Ballet of the Nations (1915), and her innovative book on literary theory, The Handling of Words (1923). Using new archival material, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of Victorian literature and culture, gay and lesbian studies, aesthetics, literary decadence, art history and women's studies, among others Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 10 Preface and Acknowledgements......Page 11 Notes on Contributors......Page 14 Vernon Lee: A Brief Chronology......Page 17 Introduction......Page 22 1 Vernon Lee and Eugene Lee-Hamilton......Page 42 2 Vernon Lee and the Pater Circle......Page 61 3 ‘Warming Me Like a Cordial’: The Ethos of the Body in Vernon Lee’s Aesthetics......Page 79 4 Vernon Lee, Decadent Contamination and the Productivist Ethos......Page 96 5 Vernon Lee and the Gender of Aestheticism......Page 112 6 The Snake Lady and the Bruised Bodley Head: Vernon Lee and Oscar Wilde in the Yellow Book......Page 133 7 Duality and Desire in Louis Norbert......Page 144 8 Performing Pacifism: The Battle between Artist and Author in The Ballet of the Nations......Page 164 9 Plural Anomalies: Gender and Sexuality in Bio-Critical Readings of Vernon Lee......Page 181 10 The Handling of Words: Reader Response Victorian Style......Page 195 Bibliography......Page 214 Index......Page 226 This, the first collection of essays on the aesthete and intellectual Vernon Lee, offers a wide range of critical writings by scholars. Key works are examined including Euphorion, Hauntings: Fantastic Stories and Music and Its Lovers . New light is shed on Lee's relationships with contemporaries such as Lee-Hamilton, Pater and Wilde.