The Seduction Narrative in Britain, 1747–1800 - Hardcover

Binhammer, Katherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 052111134X ISBN 13: 9780521111348

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Eighteenth-century literature displays a fascination with the seduction of a virtuous young heroine, most famously illustrated by Samuel Richardson's Clarissa and repeated in 1790s radical women's novels, in the many memoirs by fictional or real penitent prostitutes, and in street print. Across fiction, ballads, essays and miscellanies, stories were told of women's mistaken belief in their lovers' vows. In this book Katherine Binhammer surveys seduction narratives from the late eighteenth century within the context of the new ideal of marriage-for-love and shows how these tales tell varying stories of women's emotional and sexual lives. Drawing on new historicism, feminism, and narrative theory, Binhammer argues that the seduction narrative allowed writers to explore different fates for the heroine than the domesticity that became the dominant form in later literature. This study will appeal to scholars of eighteenth-century literature, social and cultural history, and women's and gender studies.

About this title

Book Description

The seduction of a virtuous young heroine was an immensely popular plot in eighteenth-century literature, most famously in Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. This book surveys seduction narratives within the context of the new ideal of marriage-for-love and shows how these tales tell varying stories of women's emotional and sexual lives.

About the Author

Katherine Binhammer is Associate Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 052111134X
• ISBN 13: 9780521111348
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254