Poetry—French 154 —German 174 —English 177 VII. Fiction in France Before 1914 193 Post-War Trends 204 VIII. Fiction in Germany Before 1914 218 Post-War Gleanings 229 IX. Fiction in English Introduction 240 The Age of Innocence 243 Sophistication and Dispute 255 Post-War Crescendo 269 First Peak: 1928 279 X. Fiction in English (continued) Sequel to Censorship 288 The Worm’s Turning 307 Above Reproach 314 Another War’s Shadow 324 Second Crescendo 328 Conclusion 342 Notes 355 Bibliographies 362 Index 396 INTRODUCTION This study is concerned with certain types of emotional reaction among women as these appear in literature. Its primary aim is neither psychiatric nor critical; that is, it does not pretend to solve the problems described nor to pass conventional judgment on the literature examined, though rudiments of aesthetic and psychological evaluation will inevitably be included. Its purpose is to trace historically the quantity and temper of imaginative writing on its chosen subject from earliest times to the present day, on the assumption that what has been written and read for pleasure is a fair index of popular interest and social attitude from one century to another.