Overview

Who was Mary De Morgan and why should she be dragged out of the shadows cast by her illustrious parents, her male siblings and the members of the Arts and Crafts circle in which she moved? Why should the academic spotlight be shone onto her life and works?De Morgan (1850-1907) was undoubtedly a woman of her time: she was unmarried and therefore one of the million or so odd women who had to earn their own living, which she did mainly by writing. She was one of the many who took part in the great effort to improve the lives of the poor in the East End of London; she was caught up in the spiritualist phenomena, not only because her mother was an ardent supporter and practitioner, but also because De Morgan herself was considered to be a seer ; she, like many Victorians, suffered from the curse of tuberculosis but despite going to live in Egypt for health reasons, she then became the directress of a girls' reformatory until her death.Through the analysis of her fairy tales, her sole novel, her non-fictional articles and her unpublished short stories, De Morgan is revealed to be an early feminist and New Woman, an advocate of William Morris's philosophies and a social reformer, but also a rather disappointed and disillusioned woman. Letters to and from her family and friends paint a colourful picture of family life during the second half of the nineteenth century, and extracts from well-known people's biographies, reminiscences and diaries flesh out De Morgan's character and help explain why George Bernard Shaw considered her to be a devil incarnate.

Full Product Details

9781527534964

Table of Contents

Reviews

Out of the Shadows: The Life and Works of Mary De Morgan both makes a strong case for the recovery of this long neglected writer and provides a wealth of material for readers new to her work. Including copious quotation and other material from archives and letters as well as a plethora of original illustrations, Pemberton situates De Morgan in her social and literary context, drawing out connections with the Arts and Crafts Movement as well as the feminist and philanthropic circles in which she moved. De Morgan emerges as a complex and revisionist writer of fairy tales, who `hides her ideologies in the drapes of fantasy.' The appendices include substantial unpublished work by the author, creating an accessible text for both scholars and their students. - Dr Carolyn Oulton, Reader in Victorian Literature, Canterbury Christ Church University Finally, a biography of Mary De Morgan, the mysterious writer of Victorian fairy tales! Marilyn Pemberton has enriched literary history by exploring the mystery of her life in Out of the Shadows: The Life and Works of Mary De Morgan. Indeed, she reveals that De Morgan was much more than a gifted writer, but also a social worker, teacher, editor, directress of a girls' school, a notable member of the Arts and Crafts Circle, and activist in the Women's Franchise League. It is not unusual to read about a gifted woman slighted by history, and therefore, it is to Pemberton's credit that she brings De Morgan out of the shadows. Her biography is based on thorough research, and her analysis of De Morgan's feminist and political fairy tales will make a major contribution to understanding not only De Morgan but the flowering of experimental literary fairy tales at the end of the nineteenth century. - Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, University of Minnesota Marilyn Pemberton dedicates this well-researched and carefully written study of Mary De Morgan, `to all women everywhere - past, present, and future - who live in the shadows cast by others, whoever they may be.' Despite having little direct evidence, Pemberton constructs a convincing picture of this plucky woman's life from a large variety of sources, many of which she reproduces in full. She supplements this material with insights drawn from careful, scholarly analyses of Mary De Morgan's literary efforts. The result is a work that not only illuminates the world of Mary De Morgan, but will also be valuable resource for historians interested in the possibilities and challenges that faced unmarried middle-class women in the late Victorian period. - Joan Richards, Professor of History, Brown University

Author Information

Marilyn Pemberton (1954-) is a full-time IT Project Manager and an independent scholar. She completed her BA, MA and PhD degrees as a part-time, mature student at Warwick University. It was whilst researching for her thesis on the Glimpses of Utopia and Dystopia in Victorian Fairylands that Pemberton first came across Mary De Morgan. A fascination with her little-known fairy tales became an obsession with her life, resulting in the writing of Out of the Shadows. There are still gaps to be filled and so the search goes on.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available