Masculinity in four Victorian epics : a Darwinist reading / Clinton Machann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Machann, Clinton., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861. Aurora Leigh.

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett.

Browning, Robert, 1812-1889. Ring and the book.

Browning, Robert.

Clough, Arthur Hugh, 1819-1861. Amours de voyage.

Clough, Arthur Hugh.

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882--Influence.

Darwin, Charles.

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892. Idylls of the King.

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson.

English poetry--19th century--History and criticism.

English poetry.

Masculinity in literature.

Narrative poetry, English--History and criticism.

Narrative poetry, English.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (166 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

Offering provocative readings of Tennyson's Idylls of the King, Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh, Clough's Amours de Voyage, and Browning's The Ring and the Book, Clinton Machann brings to bear the ideas and methods of literary Darwinism to shed light on the central issue of masculinity in the Victorian epic. This critical approach enables Machann to take advantage of important research in evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, among other scientific fields, and to bring the concept of human nature into his discussions of the poems. The importance of the Victorian long poem as a literary genre is reviewed in the introduction, followed by transformative close readings of the poems that engage with questions of gender, particularly representations of masculinity and the prevalence of male violence. Machann contextualizes his reading within the poets' views on social, philosophical, and religious issues, arguing that the impulses, drives, and tendencies of human nature, as well as the historical and cultural context, influenced the writing and thus must inform the interpretation of the Victorian epic.

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Tennyson's Arthur and manly codes of behavior

3. Barrett Browning's construction of masculinity in Aurora Leigh

4. Clough's ambivalent Victorian manhood

5. Browning's chivalrous Christianity

6. Conclusion.

Notes:

"First published 2010 by Ashgate Publishing"--t.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786612454387

9781317099789

1317099788

9781315594187

1315594188

9781282454385

1282454382

9780754699897

0754699897

9781317099796

1317099796

OCLC:

1022780217