Overview
"During the fin de siecle, the spinster figure played an integral role in the development of modern female identities, serving as a transitional figure between the late Victorian era and early twentieth century. Four emerging female identities are discussed in this book. The first chapter examines the connection between the spinster and the New Woman, a feminist construct that became wildly popular in the 1890s. Chapter two analyzes the way that spinsterhood was used as a punitive presence in the debate over woman's education, culminating in the assumption that female academics were no more than (future) spinsters. Chapter three argues that sexologists used the spinster figure as a template for the invert, a nineteenth century sexologi-cal term for someone with same-sex interests. The final chapter examines the spinster explorer, a figure that claimed a number of freedoms for it'self while abroad, but returned to the status quo upon returning ""home."" Each of these emerging female identities drew upon the spinster figure in the process of their development."
Full Product Details
Author: Carrie Wadman (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Publisher: The Edwin Mellen Press
Imprint: The Edwin Mellen Press
ISBN: 9781495502972
ISBN 10: 149550297
Pages: 360
Publication Date: January 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
"""... this study is particularly timely and relevant to both Victorian studies as a discipline as well as current feminist efforts to revise cultural narratives about women's social roles to include increasing numbers of women who do not ultimately fall into the identity categories of wife and mother. What this project offers readers... it the opportunity to understand the history and legacy of the Victorian spinster and to begin charting her relationship to modern Western society's single woman."" -Lisa Hager, Assistant Professor University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. ""Carrie Wadman's book makes a clear contribution to the scholarship on 19th century literature. Wadman shows how the often under-acknowledged figure of the spinster was central in the debates about the roles of women in Victorian England. [lt] makes it makes a compelling case that the construction of the spinster in the cultural discourses of the day was inextricably connected to the appearance of new identities for women. -Kate Hafley, Assistant Professor University of Mary Washington."
... this study is particularly timely and relevant to both Victorian studies as a discipline as well as current feminist efforts to revise cultural narratives about women's social roles to include increasing numbers of women who do not ultimately fall into the identity categories of wife and mother. What this project offers readers... it the opportunity to understand the history and legacy of the Victorian spinster and to begin charting her relationship to modern Western society's single woman. -Lisa Hager, Assistant Professor University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. Carrie Wadman's book makes a clear contribution to the scholarship on 19th century literature. Wadman shows how the often under-acknowledged figure of the spinster was central in the debates about the roles of women in Victorian England. [lt] makes it makes a compelling case that the construction of the spinster in the cultural discourses of the day was inextricably connected to the appearance of new identities for women. -Kate Hafley, Assistant Professor University of Mary Washington.
Author Information
Dr. Carrie Wadman received her PhD. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Wadman specializes in late Victorian literature, Gender Studies and Theory of the Novel.
