Courting disaster : reading between the lines of the Regency novel / Zoë McGee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGee, Zoë, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Courtship in literature.

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

English fiction.

English fiction--18th century--History and criticism.

Sexual consent in literature.

English fiction--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

viii, 324 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2025.

Summary:

"Ever since the novel was invented, women have used it as a platform for sharing ideas about sexual consent. Dr Zoë McGee reveals how Jane Austen, Frances Burney and their now-overlooked contemporaries used their stories to try to change society's mind about rape culture - and to reassure survivors they were not alone. Courting Disaster takes a timely deep-dive into a series of classic novels, comparing them with both historic court records and current events to show that our arguments about consent are not a new phenomenon. With the wit and wryness of a courtship novel, McGee reads between the lines to unveil a quiet feminist movement that still resonates today. Because every novel about marriage is also a novel about consent. In an era that's clamouring for a return to the values of the past, Courting Disaster asks what that would really mean, and whether anyone actually liked it back then anyway." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I: Consent. Clarissa, or The perfect victim myth

Cecilia, or Credit and credibility

Jane Doe, or Misreading the room

Part II: Innocence. Orphelia, or Resisting the unknown

Camilla and Eugenia, or What you don't know can hurt you

Evelina, or The value of virginity

Part III: Violence. Anon., or The context of the courtroom

Mary, or Violating convention

Theodora and Dorothea, or The bystander effect

Part IV: Marriage. Elinor, or Honouring engagements

Fanny, or The price of refusal

Anne, or Negotiating the future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 310-324).

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781526188854

1526188856

OCLC:

1509196071

Publisher Number:

CIPO000289428