“…As a consequence of less scholarly education, female critics tended to emphasizes the untutored genius, and reject learning and decorum, Castle argues. “Women critics seem to have had little interest in the epic or other exalted classical genres.” (Castle, , p. 447) Wit and imagination was, according to her, what they mostly appreciated in literature. For instance Aphra Behn considered Shakespeare's genius to be a result of his lacking knowledge of Greek and Latin (and the received rules).…”
Section: Reeve's Place In 18th Century Criticismmentioning
confidence: 87%
“…The overall focus on morality is in accordance with other female critics at the time and is by Castle considered as a sign of insecurity: [F]emale critics compensated for their professional insecurity by paying exaggerated attention to the piety (or lack thereof) in the works they scrutinized. From Eliza Haywood on, eighteenth‐century women critics made a cult of their moral respectability.” (Castle, , p. 438).…”
Section: The Authoritative Protagonist and The Radical Authoressmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…[F]emale critics compensated for their professional insecurity by paying exaggerated attention to the piety (or lack thereof) in the works they scrutinized. From Eliza Haywood on, eighteenth‐century women critics made a cult of their moral respectability.” (Castle, , p. 438).…”
Section: The Authoritative Protagonist and The Radical Authoressmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They will also be an excellent point of departure for comparing Reeve's critical views and methods with other female 18th century critics: “How did women's new and somewhat vulnerable position in the ‘Republic of letters’ shape their critical views? In what ways did women's literary values differ from those of men?” (Castle, , p. 445)…”
Section: Reeve's Place In 18th Century Criticismmentioning
Clara Reeve's The Progress of Romance (1785) is of very few literary historical works written in the dialogue form by female authors in the 18th century. Extending over two volumes The Progress of Romance is significant in several ways; both as a part of the rich British tradition of literary history writing and genre theory, and as a contribution to the tradition of female literary history which was initiated by Elizabeth Rowe and Susan Dobson earlier in the 18th century. Reeve writes about the general history of romance, and of its reputation and reception. But how does the fact that she is of the underrepresented sex in scholarly work of her time affect her text? Clara Reeve's The Progress of Romance (1785) is of very few literary-historical works written in the dialogue form by female authors in the 18th century.1 Extending over two volumes The Progress of Romance is significant in several ways both as a part of the rich British tradition of literary history writing and genre theory, and as a contribution to the tradition of female literary history which was initiated by Elizabeth Rowe and Susan Dobson earlier in the 18th century. Pamela Regis, in A Natural History of the Romance Novel (2007), points to the fact that Reeve's work influenced later writes, such as those of Sir Walter Scott and Nathaniel Hawtorne in the 19th century and Joseph Conrad in the 20th, and her view that Reeve has been more influential than is usually acknowledged is strengthened by references to, among others, Deborah Ross' The Excellence of Falsehood (1991). Reeve writes about the general history of romance, and of its reputation and reception. But how does the fact that she is of the underrepresented sex in scholarly work of her time affect her text?Reeve is mainly known as the authoress of The Old English Baron (1778), a Gothic romance which made her one of the pioneers of 18th century Gothic fiction. It is an imitation in the style of Horace Walpole's well-known Gothic romance The Castle of Otranto (1764). Challenging Walpole's authority, Reeve includes a component of commenting, improving and rivalry; it is in fact an imitatio in the Roman sense. Reeve's objections against The Castle of Otranto are few, but quite serious, and they are concerned with questions of probability. This is how she formulates it in the preface to The Old English Baron:[The Castle of Otranto] palls upon the mind [. . .]; and the reason is obvious, the machinery is so violent, that it destroys the effect it is intended to excite. Had the story been kept within the utmost verge of probability, the effect had been preserved, without losing the least circumstance that excites or detains the attention." (Reeve, 1778, p. vi) It is a commonplace amongst critics to claim that Reeve by this condemns all direct appearances of the supernatural in fiction and only allows for the suggestions of it, a view which was adopted by for example Ann Radcliffe.2 With the exception of taste when it comes to supernatural machinery, Reeve was a great admirer of Walpole.
“…As a consequence of less scholarly education, female critics tended to emphasizes the untutored genius, and reject learning and decorum, Castle argues. “Women critics seem to have had little interest in the epic or other exalted classical genres.” (Castle, , p. 447) Wit and imagination was, according to her, what they mostly appreciated in literature. For instance Aphra Behn considered Shakespeare's genius to be a result of his lacking knowledge of Greek and Latin (and the received rules).…”
Section: Reeve's Place In 18th Century Criticismmentioning
confidence: 87%
“…The overall focus on morality is in accordance with other female critics at the time and is by Castle considered as a sign of insecurity: [F]emale critics compensated for their professional insecurity by paying exaggerated attention to the piety (or lack thereof) in the works they scrutinized. From Eliza Haywood on, eighteenth‐century women critics made a cult of their moral respectability.” (Castle, , p. 438).…”
Section: The Authoritative Protagonist and The Radical Authoressmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…[F]emale critics compensated for their professional insecurity by paying exaggerated attention to the piety (or lack thereof) in the works they scrutinized. From Eliza Haywood on, eighteenth‐century women critics made a cult of their moral respectability.” (Castle, , p. 438).…”
Section: The Authoritative Protagonist and The Radical Authoressmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They will also be an excellent point of departure for comparing Reeve's critical views and methods with other female 18th century critics: “How did women's new and somewhat vulnerable position in the ‘Republic of letters’ shape their critical views? In what ways did women's literary values differ from those of men?” (Castle, , p. 445)…”
Section: Reeve's Place In 18th Century Criticismmentioning
Clara Reeve's The Progress of Romance (1785) is of very few literary historical works written in the dialogue form by female authors in the 18th century. Extending over two volumes The Progress of Romance is significant in several ways; both as a part of the rich British tradition of literary history writing and genre theory, and as a contribution to the tradition of female literary history which was initiated by Elizabeth Rowe and Susan Dobson earlier in the 18th century. Reeve writes about the general history of romance, and of its reputation and reception. But how does the fact that she is of the underrepresented sex in scholarly work of her time affect her text? Clara Reeve's The Progress of Romance (1785) is of very few literary-historical works written in the dialogue form by female authors in the 18th century.1 Extending over two volumes The Progress of Romance is significant in several ways both as a part of the rich British tradition of literary history writing and genre theory, and as a contribution to the tradition of female literary history which was initiated by Elizabeth Rowe and Susan Dobson earlier in the 18th century. Pamela Regis, in A Natural History of the Romance Novel (2007), points to the fact that Reeve's work influenced later writes, such as those of Sir Walter Scott and Nathaniel Hawtorne in the 19th century and Joseph Conrad in the 20th, and her view that Reeve has been more influential than is usually acknowledged is strengthened by references to, among others, Deborah Ross' The Excellence of Falsehood (1991). Reeve writes about the general history of romance, and of its reputation and reception. But how does the fact that she is of the underrepresented sex in scholarly work of her time affect her text?Reeve is mainly known as the authoress of The Old English Baron (1778), a Gothic romance which made her one of the pioneers of 18th century Gothic fiction. It is an imitation in the style of Horace Walpole's well-known Gothic romance The Castle of Otranto (1764). Challenging Walpole's authority, Reeve includes a component of commenting, improving and rivalry; it is in fact an imitatio in the Roman sense. Reeve's objections against The Castle of Otranto are few, but quite serious, and they are concerned with questions of probability. This is how she formulates it in the preface to The Old English Baron:[The Castle of Otranto] palls upon the mind [. . .]; and the reason is obvious, the machinery is so violent, that it destroys the effect it is intended to excite. Had the story been kept within the utmost verge of probability, the effect had been preserved, without losing the least circumstance that excites or detains the attention." (Reeve, 1778, p. vi) It is a commonplace amongst critics to claim that Reeve by this condemns all direct appearances of the supernatural in fiction and only allows for the suggestions of it, a view which was adopted by for example Ann Radcliffe.2 With the exception of taste when it comes to supernatural machinery, Reeve was a great admirer of Walpole.
“…Dryden, Pope , Boileau, Johnson , Diderot, Wordsworth , Coleridge and other male writers were canonized as the great originators of the great modern literary-critical tradition; the works of Behn , Montagu, Riccoboni, Inchbald , Barbauld , Genlis and even Staël herself (not to mention those of lesser figures) were consigned to oblivion. 98 Much of this process was effected by the revitalised review culture of the early nineteenth century, which promoted certain novels' literary legitimacy while enforcing a set of critical values whose homogeneity and assured authority forestalled the possibility of disagreement or debate. The publication of the hugely influential Edinburgh Review and Quarterly Review, among others, began a new era of literary criticism that would dominate nineteenthcentury literary views.…”
Although gender differences are known to exist in the publishing industry and in reader preferences, there is little public systematic data about them. This article uses evidence from the book‐based social website Goodreads to provide a large scale analysis of 50 major English book genres based on author genders. The results show gender differences in authorship in almost all categories and gender differences the level of interest in, and ratings of, books in a minority of categories. Perhaps surprisingly in this context, there is not a clear gender‐based relationship between the success of an author and their prevalence within a genre. The unexpected almost universal authorship gender differences should give new impetus to investigations of the importance of gender in fiction and the success of minority genders in some genres should encourage publishers and librarians to take their work seriously, except perhaps for most male‐authored chick‐lit.
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