Great Britain Historiography, Literary Criticism - General & Miscellaneous, Politics & Literature, English Fiction & Prose Literature - 19th Century - Literary Criticism, Imperialism, British Imperialism & British Empire - History
Rule Britannia
Deirdre David
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Overview
How did Victorian women - wittingly or unwittingly - serve the cause of empire? Deirdre David here explores women's role in the literature of the colonial and imperial British nation, both as writers and as subjects of representation. Her work offers a rare close look at the intersection of gender and race in Victorian literature and empire building. David's inquiry juxtaposes the parliamentary speeches of Thomas Macaulay and the private letters of Emily Eden, a trial in Calcutta and the missionary literature of Victorian women. David shows how, in these texts and in novels such as Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens's Dombey and Son, Wilkie Collins's Moonstone, and H. Rider Haggard's She, the historical and symbolic roles of Victorian women were linked to the British enterprise abroad.Editorials
From the Publisher
"Outstanding. . . .David shines in her close readings of particular texts and her rich cross-referencing to the present. . . .Her book contributes to our understanding of the complex interrelationships of gender, class, and race. . . .The sophistication and clarity of this work provides us with a model of thoughtful, theoretically informed criticism. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Victorian literature."-Martha Vicinus, Journal of English and Germanic PhilologyBook Details
Published
December 14, 1995
Publisher
Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1995.
Pages
256
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780801482779