AbstractsWomens Studies

Women's contribution to the development of the English novel: 1621-1818

by Bridget G. MacCarthy




Institution: University College Cork
Department:
Year: 1939
Keywords: Pastoral Romance; The epistolary novel; The domestic novel; The Gothic novel; The didactic novel; Jane Austen; Pastoral romance; Women's contribution to English literature; English fiction – Women authors – History and criticism
Record ID: 1180316
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/10468/1528


Abstract

Accepted Version Women's contribution to literature is no arbitrary or artificial distinction. However much the reformer may welcome, or the conservative lament, the growth of a harmonious sharing of ideals between men and women, that growth has been a hard-fought struggle. It has been an escape from a prison, which, when it did not entirely shut out the greater world, at least enclosed a little world of education meant for women, literature adapted to the supposed limitations of their intellect, and a course of action prescribed by the other sex. To show how the literary efforts of women developed and justified their claims to free activity is the purpose of this thesis.