Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Studies in Short Fiction

by Janet Beer

Overview

The work of Chopin, Wharton, and Gilman in the short story is more highly esteemed in contemporary critical opinion than ever before. Janet Beer illuminates their congruities as well as their diversity and demonstrates the unique, innovatory contribution that each made to the tradition of the short story. She looks at the short fiction of all three writers in terms of both genre and theme, ranging between discussions of Chopin's short stories and Wharton's novellas; between Chopin's frankly erotic writing and the homilies in which Gilman warns of the dangers of the sexually transmitted disease. Other issues addressed are ethnicity in the work of Chopin, Wharton's New England stories, Gilman's innovative use of genre and "The Yellow Wallpaper" on film. Separate aspects of the individual writers are explored, concentrating dosely on subject and style and engaging in detailed readings of a range of texts. This is the first time these writers have been compared in depth in one volume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349260171
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2005
Edition description:	1st ed. 1997
Pages:	223
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

JANET BEER is Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of Humanities, Law and Social Science at the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. She has lectured and published extensively on late nineteenth/early twentieth century American women's writing, and is currently working on a book, in collaboration with Avril Horner, on the figure of the older woman in Edith Wharton's fiction (to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2006). Her other publications include Special Relationships: Anglo-American Affinities and Antagonisms, 1854-1936 (co-edited with Bridget Bennett, 2002), American Feminism: Key Source Documents,1848-1920 (editor, 2002), and Edith Wharton (2001).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements New Preface Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Studies in Short Fiction, An Introduction 'dah you is, settin' down, lookin' jis' like w'ite folks!' Ethnicity Enacted in Kate Chopin's Short Fiction Without End: the Shape and Form of Desire in Kate Chopin's Short Fiction Kate Chopin's Short Stories, on the Verge(s) of Narrative Edith Wharton and the Coherence of the Novella: From Initiation to Disillusion Edith Wharton, Literary Ghosts and the Writing of New England The Means and Ends of Genre in the Short Fiction of Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Analogues: Reiterating the Social Health 'The Yellow Wallpaper' on Film: Dramatising Mental Illness Conclusion References and Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

Fashioned like the short stories she critiques<-->from Chopin's very short fiction (including ) to Wharton's novellas (e.g. ) and Gilman's cognate tales, Beer (English language literature, Roehampton Institute, London) provides a comparative analysis of the themes and genres of these three turn-of-the-century woman authors who "had...to negotiate a niche for themselves in the artistic and economic marketplace...." Her concluding essay is on the 1988 BBC adaptation of Gilman's . Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

Review of Hardback Edition:

'Janet Beer's work is particularly welcome in that it combines meticulously attentive generic and thematic readings... with a scrupulous ability to situate the texts both within the context of the author's oeuvre and within the wider social context of the American fin de siècle... An immensely rich and impressively sustained series of interpretative readings, which makes full use of recent relevant scholarship.' - Helen May Dennis, Journal of American Studies

'In this brilliant book, Janet Beer reinvigorates our readings of these three central authors. Concentrating on their short fiction - along a spectrum from Chopin's micro-narratives to Wharton's novellas and Gilman's social analogues - she opens up the nuances, complications and surprises at the heart of all their writings. Engaged, richly informed, and beautifully crafted, every chapter remains memorable, illuminating unexpected facets of each individual author, and stimulating fresh approaches to their work. Taken together, these subtle readings illuminate the practices and possibilities of women's writing in the 1890s and beyond, and offer original insights into the nature and art of fiction.' - Dr Pamela Knights, Department of English Studies, University of Durham, UK

From the Publisher