Title Elizabeth Singer Rowe and the development of the English novel / Paula R. Backscheider

Published Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013

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Description 1 online resource (303 pages) : illustrations Contents Introduction: locating Elizabeth Singer Rowe -- Positioning Rowe's fiction -- Isles of happiness -- Toward novelistic discourse -- The beautiful life -- Conclusion: lifestyle as legacy Summary "Elizabeth Singer Rowe and the Development of the English Novel" is the first in-depth study of Rowe's prose fiction. A four-volume collection of her work was a bestseller for a hundred years after its publication, but today Rowe is a largely unrecognized figure in the history of the novel. Although her poetry was appreciated by poets such as Alexander Pope for its metrical craftsmanship, beauty, and imagery, by the time of her death in 1737 she was better known for her fiction. According to Paula R. Backscheider, Rowe's major focus in her novels was on creating characters who were seeking a harmonious, contented life, often in the face of considerable social pressure. This quest would become the plotline in a large number of works in the second half of the eighteenth century, and it continues to be a major theme today in novels by women. Backscheider relates Rowe's work to popular fiction written by earlier writers as well as by her contemporaries. Rowe had a lasting influence on major movements, including the politeness (or gentility) movement, the reading revolution, and the Bluestocking society. The author reveals new information about each of these movements, and Elizabeth Singer Rowe emerges as an important innovator. Her influence resulted in new types of novel writing, philosophies, and lifestyles for women. Backscheider looks to archival materials, literary analysis, biographical evidence, and a configuration of cultural and feminist theories to prove her groundbreaking argument Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Rowe, Elizabeth Singer, 1674-1737 -- Criticism and interpretation SUBJECT Rowe, Elizabeth Singer, 1674-1737 -- Criticism and interpretation Rowe, Elizabeth Singer, 1674-1737 fast Subject English fiction -- 18th century -- History and criticism English fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism Women and literature -- England -- History -- 18th century Women -- England -- History -- 18th century Social movements -- England -- History -- 18th century English fiction English fiction -- Women authors Social movements Women Women and literature England Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book LC no. 2012023931 ISBN 1421408899 9781421408897

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