Greatness Engendered: George Eliot and Virginia WoolfThe egotism that fuels the desire for greatness has been associated exclusively with men, according to one feminist view; yet many women cannot suppress the need to strive for greatness. In this forceful and compelling book, Alison Booth traces through the novels, essays, and other writings of George Eliot and Virginia Woolf radically conflicting attitudes on the part of each toward the possibility of feminine greatness. Examining the achievements of Eliot and Woolf in their social contexts, she provides a challenging model of feminist historical criticism. |
Contents
Introduction The Great Woman Writer the Canon and Feminist Tradition | 1 |
1 Something to Do The Ideology of Influence and the Context of Contemporary Feminism | 27 |
2 The Burden of Personality Biographical Criticism and Narrative Strategy | 52 |
3 Eliot and Woolf as Historians of the Common Life | 84 |
4 Miracles in Fetters Heroism and the Selfless Ideal | 130 |
5 Trespassing in Cultural History The Heroines of Romola and Orlando | 168 |
6 God was cruel when he made women Felix Holt and The Years | 204 |
7 The Ancient Consciousness of Woman A Feminist Archaeology of Daniel Deronda and Between the Acts | 236 |
| 285 | |
| 303 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Acts appears artist associated authors become biography called characters claims collective common criticism cultural Daniel desire detail difference domestic Dorothea Eliot and Woolf English essay Esther experience fact father feel Felix Holt female feminine feminist fiction figures gender George Eliot Gwendolen hero heroines heroism human ideal individual influence Italy kind lady later less letters literary lives male masculine mind Miss mother narrative narrator nature never notes novel novelists offers ordinary origins Orlando past patriarchal perhaps political present Press privilege progress question readers reform remains representative role romantic Romola Room Saint seems selflessness sense sexual share social sphere spirit story suggests things tion tradition University Victorian Virginia vocation wish woman womanhood women women writers writers York