George Eliot and Herbert Spencer : feminism, evolutionism, and the reconstruction of gender / Nancy L. Paxton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Paxton, Nancy L., 1949- author.

Series:

Princeton Legacy Library

Princeton legacy library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Feminism and literature.

Literature and science--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Literature and science.

Evolution (Biology) in literature.

Gender identity in literature.

Sex role in literature.

Women in literature.

Eliot, George, 1819-1880--Criticism and interpretation.

Eliot, George.

Spencer, Herbert, 1820-1903--Criticism and interpretation.

Spencer, Herbert.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1991]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This analysis of the writings of two major Victorian intellectuals examines the crucial place of gender in the larger Victorian debate about nature, religion, and evolutionary theory. Demonstrating the primacy of Herbert Spencer's influence on George Eliot's thought, Nancy Paxton discloses the continuous dialogue between this profoundly learned novelist and one of the most formidable and influential scientific authorities of her time. Using rarely cited first editions of Spencer's published works, Paxton reveals that Eliot and Spencer initially agreed in supporting several of the goals of early Victorian feminism when they met in 1851. Paxton surveys all of Spencer's writing to show when and why he repudiated his early feminism and demonstrates Eliot's determined resistance to the most conservative tendencies of evolutionary theory in her representation of female sexuality, motherhood, feminist ambition, and desire. In comparing Eliot's and Spencer's evolutionary "reconstruction of gender," the book draws on a wide variety of biographical, literary, and critical texts and on interdisciplinary scholarship about the relation between scientific and literary discourse in the nineteenth century. By thus reassessing Eliot's contribution to feminist thought, it presents a revolutionary reading of her novels which is informed by contemporary feminist criticism and the new historicism. "This is an important book because of the questions it raises, the issues it covers, and the illumination it brings to Eliot and Spencer and to crucial problems in the nineteenth century: Paxton looks at the ways scientific data get turned into arguments about the nature of women in society, about women and education, about women and sexuality. This work shows how truly current Eliot's novels are, no matter what their setting."--Barry Qualls, Rutgers UniversityOriginally published in 1991.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgment

1. Introduction

2. Feminism, Evolutionism, and the Reconstruction of Gender

3. Beauty, Sexuality, and Evolutionary Process: Adam Bede and "Personal Beauty"

4. Feminism and the Problem of Authority: The Mill on the Floss and "Physical Training"

5. The Origins of Morality: Silas Marner and First Principles

6. Feminism, History, and Cultural Determinism: Romola and The Principles of Biology I

7. Women's Suffrage and Women's Suffering: Felix Holt and The Principles of Biology II

8. Theories of Origin and Knowledge: Middlemarch and The Study of Sociology

9. Civilization and Degeneration: Daniel Deronda and Spencer's Later Writing

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [261]-274) and index.

ISBN:

1-4008-6166-7

OCLC:

1013937193