John ShaqiResearch Library

Opening the text

Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian PeriodWhitmore, Clara Helen

History

Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian Period

Name: Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian Period
Author: Whitmore, Clara Helen

Whitmore, Clara Helen

English fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism; Women and literature -- Great Britain -- History

In her response to nature, she belongs to the Lake School. Scott said of
her: "Mrs. Radcliffe has a title to be considered as the first poetess
of romantic fiction, that is, if actual rhythm shall not be deemed
essential to poetry." Mrs. Smith describes nature as we all know it, as
it appears on the canvasses of Constable and Wilson. Mrs. Radcliffe's
descriptions of ideal and romantic nature have earned for her the name
of the English Salvator Rosa.

Mrs. Radcliffe's characters are not without interest, although they are
often mere types. All her heroes and heroines are ladies and gentlemen
of native courtesy, superior education, and accomplishments. In _The
Mysteries of Udolpho_ she has set forth the education which St. Aubert
gave to his daughter, Emily: "St. Aubert cultivated her understanding
with the most scrupulous care. He gave her a general view of the
sciences, and an exact acquaintance with every part of elegant
literature. He taught her Latin and English, chiefly that she might
understand the sublimity of their best poets. She discovered in her
early years a taste for works of genius; and it was St. Aubert's
principle, as well as his inclination, to promote every innocent means
of happiness. 'A well informed mind,' he would say, 'is the best
security against the contagion of vice and folly.'"

In all their circumstances her characters are well-bred. This type has
been nearly lost in literature, due, perhaps, to the minuter study of
manners and the analysis of character. When an author surveys his ladies
and gentlemen through a reading-glass, and points the finger at their
oddities and pries into their inmost secrets, even the Chesterfields
become awkward and clownish. But Mrs. Radcliffe, like Mrs. Smith, is a
true gentlewoman, and speaks of her characters with the delicate respect
of true gentility. Julia, Adeline, Emily, and Ellena, the heroines of
four of her books, love nature, and while away the melancholy hours by
playing on the lute or writing poetry, and are, moreover, well qualified
to have charge of a baronial castle and its dependencies. Her heroes are
worthy of her heroines. As they are generally seen in the presence of
ladies, if they have vices there is no occasion for their display.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian PeriodWhitmore, Clara Helen

History

Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian Period

Whitmore, Clara Helen

English fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism; Women and literature -- Great Britain -- History

In her response to nature, she belongs to the Lake School. Scott said of
her: "Mrs. Radcliffe has a title to be considered as the first poetess
of romantic fiction, that is, if actual rhythm shall not be deemed
essential to poetry." Mrs. Smith describes nature as we all know it, as
it appears on the canvasses of Constable and Wilson. Mrs. Radcliffe's
descriptions of ideal and romantic nature have earned for her the name
of the English Salvator Rosa.

Mrs. Radcliffe's characters are not without interest, although they are
often mere types. All her heroes and heroines are ladies and gentlemen
of native courtesy, superior education, and accomplishments. In _The
Mysteries of Udolpho_ she has set forth the education which St. Aubert
gave to his daughter, Emily: "St. Aubert cultivated her understanding
with the most scrupulous care. He gave her a general view of the
sciences, and an exact acquaintance with every part of elegant
literature. He taught her Latin and English, chiefly that she might
understand the sublimity of their best poets. She discovered in her
early years a taste for works of genius; and it was St. Aubert's
principle, as well as his inclination, to promote every innocent means
of happiness. 'A well informed mind,' he would say, 'is the best
security against the contagion of vice and folly.'"

In all their circumstances her characters are well-bred. This type has
been nearly lost in literature, due, perhaps, to the minuter study of
manners and the analysis of character. When an author surveys his ladies
and gentlemen through a reading-glass, and points the finger at their
oddities and pries into their inmost secrets, even the Chesterfields
become awkward and clownish. But Mrs. Radcliffe, like Mrs. Smith, is a
true gentlewoman, and speaks of her characters with the delicate respect
of true gentility. Julia, Adeline, Emily, and Ellena, the heroines of
four of her books, love nature, and while away the melancholy hours by
playing on the lute or writing poetry, and are, moreover, well qualified
to have charge of a baronial castle and its dependencies. Her heroes are
worthy of her heroines. As they are generally seen in the presence of
ladies, if they have vices there is no occasion for their display.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian Period

Woman's Work in English Fiction, from the Restoration to the Mid-Victorian Period

No reviews yet