The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination
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Book Overview
An analysis of Victorian women writers, this pathbreaking book of feminist literary criticism is now reissued with a substantial new introduction by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar that reveals the origins of their revolutionary realization in the 1970s that "the personal was the political, the sexual was the textual."
"The classic argument for a women's literary tradition."--Scott Heller, Chronicle of Higher Education
"The authors force us to take a new look at the grandes dames of English literature, and the result is that they will never seem quite the same again."--Le Anne Schreiber, New York Times Book Review
"Imperative reading."--Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Washington Post Book World
"A masterpiece."--Carolyn See, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"The Madwoman in the Attic, The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century, originally published in 1979, has long since become a classic, one of the most important works of literary criticism of the 20th century. This new edition contains an introduction titled 'The Madwoman in the Academy' that is, quite simply, a delight to read, warmly witty, provocative, informative and illuminating."--Joyce Carol Oates, Princeton University
"A groundbreaking study of women writers. . . . The book brought the concerns of feminism to the study of female writers and presented the case for the existence of a distinctly feminine imagination."--Martin Arnold, The New York Times
"The authors are brilliant academics but they wear their erudition lightly. It remains imperative reading for those who want to understand better the grandes dames of English literature, and is still one of the most powerful pieces of writing from a feminist point of view. Argumentative, polemical, witty and thought-provoking, this is a book which will make the reader return to the original texts." --Yorkshire Post (Leeds)
"A feminist classic and still one of the best books on the female Victorian writers."--Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review
"The classic argument for a women's literary tradition."--Scott Heller, Chronicle of Higher Education
"The authors force us to take a new look at the grandes dames of English literature, and the result is that they will never seem quite the same again."--Le Anne Schreiber, New York Times Book Review
"Imperative reading."--Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Washington Post Book World
"A masterpiece."--Carolyn See, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"The Madwoman in the Attic, The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century, originally published in 1979, has long since become a classic, one of the most important works of literary criticism of the 20th century. This new edition contains an introduction titled 'The Madwoman in the Academy' that is, quite simply, a delight to read, warmly witty, provocative, informative and illuminating."--Joyce Carol Oates, Princeton University
"A groundbreaking study of women writers. . . . The book brought the concerns of feminism to the study of female writers and presented the case for the existence of a distinctly feminine imagination."--Martin Arnold, The New York Times
"The authors are brilliant academics but they wear their erudition lightly. It remains imperative reading for those who want to understand better the grandes dames of English literature, and is still one of the most powerful pieces of writing from a feminist point of view. Argumentative, polemical, witty and thought-provoking, this is a book which will make the reader return to the original texts." --Yorkshire Post (Leeds)
"A feminist classic and still one of the best books on the female Victorian writers."--Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0300084587
ISBN13:9780300084580
Release Date:July 2000
Publisher:Yale University Press
Length:768 Pages
Weight:1.37 lbs.
Dimensions:1.9" x 5.0" x 7.9"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Another gem.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Could this have been titled "The Misreading of 19th Century Female Novelists"? "The Madwoman" is not an easy read: it's an academic effort and a superb effort at that. But the casual bronteelioteyre fan will be lulled into a sense of familiarity -- "yes, I remember reading that" -- only to discover too late that he / she has completely missed the point of all those famous 19th century novels, at least from the perspective of these two clever, insightful, witty women who somehow came together to write perhaps the definitive feminist view of 19th century female novelists. Taking just one example out of hundreds: after reading their discussion of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," I re-read the novel and couldn't stop laughing at this parody. Even more entertaining was the fact that so many critics panned "Northanger" when it came out, misreading that it was a parody of the entire genre of the romantic (with a small "r") novel of that era. [Added later (November 11, 2008)]: this is one of the landmark books in "feminist studies." Whether one agrees with these authors, the fact is that any newer work on feminist studies will quote this book. Someone remarked that the authors are very verbose; they needed a better editor with a red pen, but that's fine. Sometimes it takes multiple explanations before the reader understands the concept. I find myself going back to this book often to look up a specific author / specific work. I continue to highly recommend it.
A Former Student's Opinion
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
As a former student of Susan Gubar, I would have to recommend this book to anyone interested in a deeper understading of the novels covered and also finding a different perspective to the traditional critical approaches. As a groundbreaking work, this collection critically looks at and analyzes many different aspects approaching the anxiety of female authorship. This work is truly interesting, and to all of the naysayers, I can vouch that the authors are have a very compelling and informed perspective. The second edition proves that it is a work that will be around for a very long time and that the work will not fall into obscurity, for it is a inspired work of literary criticism. I would recommend this to anyone who seeks a deeper look into the popular women novelists.
Gibraltor
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This is a great re-structuring view of Women artists in the Victorian era. Once you've read this, everything looks different and it makes you want to re-visit novels like Jane Eyre and Middlemarch and Sense and Sensibility just to see how much they have changed. Madwomen is a work of creativity as much as criticism. It changes you. Once you have read this, you find yourself in a whole different ocean.
A Seminal Text in Gothic Scholarship
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
What scholar of the Gothic, particularly the Female Gothic, could do without Madwoman? Named for Bertha, the mad wife locked in the attic of Thornfield Hall in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Gilbert and Gubar's work on nineteenth-century women writers and their texts is essential in this field.Well written, insightful, imaginative, and authoritative, Madwomen in the Attic is, in my opinion, a seminal text in Gothic literary scholarship.I highly recommend this book, and its companion book "No Mans Land."
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