| Mistress of Udolpho: The Life of Ann Radcliffe Contributor(s): Norton, Rictor (Author) |
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ISBN: 0718502027 ISBN-13: 9780718502027 Publisher: Leicester University Press OUR PRICE: $118.80 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 1999 Annotation: This is the first full-scale biography of the famous Gothic novelist, Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), author of The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), the world's first "best-seller." The author has unearthed new information about Radcliffe, and gives us a contextual picture of Radcliffe that is unlikely to be superseded. He clarifies Radcliffe's emergence from a Dissenting Unitarian, rather than a conventional Anglican, background. This discovery redraws the literary historical map to include Radcliffe within the circle of other women writers in radical Dissenting backgrounds (such as Wollstonecraft and Barbauld). Norton fully documents Radcliffe's childhood and family, investigates the rumors of her madness and her extraordinary reclusiveness, and evaluates the reasons for her probable mental breakdown. But it also constitutes a "cultural history" of a writing woman, demonstrating her place within radical culture and literary tradition, examining her crucial role in the rise of the professional woman writer. Her novels are analyzed mainly in the context of her biography and her sources, and some new dates for her posthumous work are established. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures - Biography & Autobiography | Historical - Biography & Autobiography | Women |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 98008412 |
| Physical Information: 0.95" H x 6.01" W x 9.14" (1.25 lbs) 307 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1800-1850 - Chronological Period - 18th Century - Cultural Region - British Isles - Sex & Gender - Feminine |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This is the biography of the Gothic novelist, Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), author of "The Mysteries of Udolpho", the world's first "best seller". The text clarifies Radcliffe's emergence from a Dissenting Unitarian, rather than a conventional Anglican, background. This places Radcliffe within the circle of other women writers nurtured in radical Dissenting backgrounds (such as Wollstonecraft, Hays, Inchbauld and Barbauld). Radcliffe's childhood and family background are documented and the rumours of her madness and reclusiveness investigated leading to an evaluation of the resons for her probable mental breakdown. The text constitutes a "cultural history" of a writing woman, demonstrating her place within radical culture, literary tradition and aesthetic discourse, and examining her role in the rise of the professional woman writer. Her novels are analyzed mainly in the context of her biography and sources. |