George Gissing’s The Odd Women dramatizes key issues relating to class and gender in late-Victorian culture: the changing relationship between the sexes, the social impact of ‘odd’ or ‘redundant’ women, the cultural impact of ‘the new woman,’ and the opportunities for and conditions of employment in the expanding service sector of the economy. At the heart of these issues as many late Victorians saw them was a problem of the imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the population. There were more females than males, which meant that more and more women would be left unmarried; they would be ‘odd’ or ‘redundant,’ and would be forced to be independent and to find work to support themselves. In the Broadview edition, Gissing’s text is carefully annotated and accompanied by a range of documents from the period that help to lay out the context in which the book was written.
In Gissing’s story, Virginia Madden and her two sisters are confronted upon the death of their father with sudden impoverishment. Without training for employment, and desperate to maintain middle-class respectability, they face a daunting struggle. In Rhoda Nunn, a strong feminist, Gissing also presents a strong character who draws attention overtly to the issues behind the novel. The Odd Women is one of the most important social novels of the late nineteenth century.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Arlene Young is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Manitoba. Since receiving her PhD from Cornell University she has published widely on British and American nineteenth-century fiction.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 155111111X-11-30147183
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. New edition. Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! UPS shipping for most packages, (Priority Mail for AK/HI/APO/PO Boxes). Seller Inventory # 000472996N
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 155111111X-2-1
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6160211-n
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9781551111117
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think155111111X
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover155111111X
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 416 pages. 8.50x5.50x1.00 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __155111111X
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6160211-n
Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # CA-9781551111117