Artist and Attic

Artists and Attic sees the relationship between architecture and literature as a concrete reflection of nineteenth century ideology creating an iconic picture of women's position in society and literature during that period. In the Victorian house, the attic is hidden and neglected, yet to a woman artist, it is a space of her own to produce a text of her own. The author presents the neglected attic as related to the neglected woman and the limited space symbolizes the confinement of woman and the woman writer, yet obtaining this space of her own becomes the central concern to women and women writers. This book explores the function of the attic in nineteenth century British and American women's writing, as it is given meaning and life by the writers. To many of the women, the attic created a paradoxical image of their seclusion, but also of their own poetic space for freedom in creation. Many of the writers see the attic as a retreat to escape from patriarchal oppression and a place to seek social identity.

Hsin Ying Chi is an instructor in the English Department at Troy State University.