The Pregnancy Question and the Novel: Detection and Concealment from Richardson to Hardy

Author:   Tracy Brain
Publisher:   Palgrave Macmillan
Edition:   2025 ed.
ISBN:  

9781137276452


Pages:   272
Publication Date:   06 October 2025
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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The Pregnancy Question and the Novel: Detection and Concealment from Richardson to Hardy


Overview

Pregnancy and the Novel is a study of covert representations of pregnancy and birth in canonical eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels. The research draws on medical texts to illuminate the ways that novelists simultaneously hide and reveal problematic pregnancies and births. Grounded in narrative theory and historicism, it reveals a reciprocal influence between literature and science through the novels of Samuel Richardson, the Brontës, George Eliot, Dickens and Hardy. This project is an act of literary detective work that will uncover what can easily be missed by twenty-first century readers, bringing it into light by reconstructing historical knowledge of reproductive medicine.This is an open access book.

Full Product Details

Author:   Tracy Brain
Publisher:   Palgrave Macmillan
Imprint:   Palgrave Macmillan
Edition:   2025 ed.
ISBN:  

9781137276452


ISBN 10:   1137276452
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   06 October 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.- Part I: 'Conceal this Unhappy Body': Clarissa and the Question of Hidden Pregnancy.- 2 Medical Texts.- 3 Clarissa Before.- 4 Clarissa After.- Part II: Incorporeal Pregnancy and Disguised Labour: the Brontës and George Eliot.- 5 Emily Brontë.- 6 Anne Brontë.- 7 George Eliot.- Part III: So Visible and So Hidden: Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy.- 8 Charles Dickens.- 9 Thomas Hardy.- 10 Conclusion.

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Author Information

Tracy Brain is Professor of Creative Writing and English Literature at Bath Spa University, UK.

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