|
For much of her own century, Elizabeth Gaskell was
recognized as a voice of Victorian convention&emdash;-the
loyal wife, good mother, and respected writer&emdash;-a
reputation that led to her steady decline in the view of
twentieth-century literary critics. Recent scholars,
however, have begun to recognize that Mrs. Gaskell's high
standing in Victorian society allowed her to effect change
in conventional ideology. Linda K. Hughes and Michael Lund
focus this reevaluation on issues pertaining to the
Victorian literary marketplace.
Victorian Publishing and Mrs. Gaskell's Work
portrays an elusive and self-aware writer whose refusal to
grant authority to a single perspective even while she
recirculated the fundamental assumptions and debates of her
era enabled her simultaneously to fulfill and deflect the
expectations of the literary marketplace. While she wrote
for money, producing periodical fiction, major novels, and
nonfiction, Mrs. Gaskell was able to maintain a tone of
warmth and empathy that allowed her to imagine multiple
social and epistemological alternatives. Writing from within
the established rubrics of gender, narrative, and
publication format, she nevertheless performed important
cultural work.
|
|
|
"A persuasive close analysis of Gaskell's clever
appropriation of Victorian literary form and narrative
rhythms to represent, explicitly or implicitly, the
previously unsaid about women's lives."
--Deirdre David, Temple University
|
