Women and Personal Property in the Victorian Novel

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Women and Personal Property in the Victorian Novel by Deborah Wynne, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Deborah Wynne ISBN: 9781134772407
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: February 17, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Deborah Wynne
ISBN: 9781134772407
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: February 17, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

How key changes to the married women's property laws contributed to new ways of viewing women in society are revealed in Deborah Wynne's study of literary representations of women and portable property during the period 1850 to 1900. While critical explorations of Victorian women's connections to the material world have tended to focus on their relationships to commodity culture, Wynne argues that modern paradigms of consumerism cannot be applied across the board to the Victorian period. Until the passing of the 1882 Married Women's Property Act, many women lacked full property rights; evidence suggests that, for women, objects often functioned not as disposable consumer products but as cherished personal property. Focusing particularly on representations of women and material culture in Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Henry James, Wynne shows how novelists engaged with the vexed question of women's relationships to property. Suggesting that many of the apparently insignificant items that 'clutter' the Victorian realist novel take on new meaning when viewed through the lens of women's access to material culture and the vagaries of property law, her study opens up new possibilities for interpreting female characters in Victorian fiction and reveals the complex work of 'thing culture' in literary texts.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How key changes to the married women's property laws contributed to new ways of viewing women in society are revealed in Deborah Wynne's study of literary representations of women and portable property during the period 1850 to 1900. While critical explorations of Victorian women's connections to the material world have tended to focus on their relationships to commodity culture, Wynne argues that modern paradigms of consumerism cannot be applied across the board to the Victorian period. Until the passing of the 1882 Married Women's Property Act, many women lacked full property rights; evidence suggests that, for women, objects often functioned not as disposable consumer products but as cherished personal property. Focusing particularly on representations of women and material culture in Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Henry James, Wynne shows how novelists engaged with the vexed question of women's relationships to property. Suggesting that many of the apparently insignificant items that 'clutter' the Victorian realist novel take on new meaning when viewed through the lens of women's access to material culture and the vagaries of property law, her study opens up new possibilities for interpreting female characters in Victorian fiction and reveals the complex work of 'thing culture' in literary texts.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Political Theory and Community Building in Post-Soviet Russia by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book School Didactics And Learning by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Possession, Power and the New Age by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Critical Thinking About Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Hippocrates' Woman by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Psychodiagnosis in Schizophrenia by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Leadership for Follower Commitment by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Multimodality Across Classrooms by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Strategic Communication by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Governing Agrobiodiversity by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book The Origins of Socialist Thought in Japan by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Beaumarchais and the Theatre by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book English Accents by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book Criminology and Criminal Justice by Deborah Wynne
Cover of the book The Incense Bible by Deborah Wynne
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy