Mistress of Udolpho : the life of Ann Radcliffe / Rictor Norton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Norton, Rictor, 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Radcliffe, Ann, 1764-1823.

Radcliffe, Ann.

Women and literature--England--History--18th century.

Women and literature.

England.

History.

Novelists, English--18th century--Biography.

Novelists, English.

Gothic revival (Literature)--Great Britain.

Gothic revival (Literature).

Great Britain.

Horror tales--Authorship.

Horror tales.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 307 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Leicester University Press, 1999.

Summary:

This is the first full-scale biography of the famous Gothic novelist, Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), author of The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), the world's first "best-seller." The author has unearthed new information about Radcliffe, and gives us a contextual picture of Radcliffe that is unlikely to be superseded. He clarifies Radcliffe's emergence from a Dissenting Unitarian, rather than a conventional Anglican, background. This discovery redraws the literary historical map to include Radcliffe within the circle of other women writers in radical Dissenting backgrounds (such as Wollstonecraft and Barbauld). Norton fully documents Radcliffe's childhood and family, investigates the rumors of her madness and her extraordinary reclusiveness, and evaluates the reasons for her probable mental breakdown. But it also constitutes a "cultural history" of a writing woman, demonstrating her place within radical culture and literary tradition, examining her crucial role in the rise of the professional woman writer. Her novels are analyzed mainly in the context of her biography and her sources, and some new dates for her posthumous work are established.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 288-301) and index.

ISBN:

0718502019

0718502027

OCLC:

39217781