Mark Twain and the Feminine Aesthetic

by Peter Stoneley

Overview

This book traces the ways in which Mark Twain was formed by, and sought to manipulate, the ideology of gender. Peter Stoneley considers the range of Twain's writing, from classic novels such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to embittered autobiographical fragments. Twain's preoccupation with the nature and value of the "feminine" has long been recognized as a central feature of his writing. Stoneley goes beyond repeated generalizations to provide a detailed analysis; his book will be of interest to scholars and students of American literature, cultural history and gender studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521405492
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/05/1992
Series:	Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture , #54
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; List of illustrations; Introduction; 1. Mark Twain's early career; 2. The Mississippi Valley; 3. The Prince and the Pauper and Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc; 4. A Horse's Tale and Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians; 5. Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy; 6. 'To the Unborn Reader'; Conclusion; Note on the texts and list of abbreviations; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Stoneley's examination of Twain's representations of women and of feminine culture reveals the wider contradictions of his work....More than this, Stoneley offers a necessary corrective to the customary schismatic presentation of the female and marks a useful continuation of inquiry into what Alfred Habegger has called, in a phrase from Henry James, the 'Woman Business' in nineteenth-century America." Ian F. A. Bell, Language & History

From the Publisher