Romantic women's life writing : reputation and afterlife / Susan Civale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Civale, Susan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Burney, Fanny, 1752-1840--Criticism and interpretation.

Burney, Fanny.

Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797--Criticism and interpretation.

Wollstonecraft, Mary.

Robinson, Mary, 1758-1800--Criticism and interpretation.

Robinson, Mary.

Hays, Mary, 1759-1843--Criticism and interpretation.

Hays, Mary.

English literature--Women authors--History and cricitism.

English literature.

English literature--19th century--History and cricitism.

Women and literature--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Women and literature.

Women in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 292 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2019.

Summary:

In this work, Susan Civale explores how the publication of women's life writing influenced the reputation of its writers and of the genre itself during the long 19th century. She provides case studies of Frances Burney, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Robinson and Mary Hays, four writers whose names were caught up in debates about the moral and literary respectability of publishing the 'private'. Focusing on gender, genre and authorship, this study examines key works of life writing by and about these women, and the reception of these texts. It argues for the importance of life writing - a crucial site of affective and imaginative identification - in shaping authorial reputation and afterlife.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Introduction

'Nothing is so delicate as the reputation of a woman': Frances Burney's Diary (1842-46) and the reputation of women's life writing

'A man in love': Revealing the unseen Mary Wollstonecraft

'Beyond the power of utterance': Reading the gaps in Mary Robinson's Memoirs (1801)

'By a happy genius, I overcame all these troubles': Mary Hays and the struggle for self-representation

Coda: Virginia Woolf's Common reader essays and the legacy of women's life writing

Select bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on March 19, 2026).

ISBN:

9781526101280

1526101289

9781526101273

1526101270

OCLC:

1089931304