Servants and Paternalism in the Works of Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell
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| Title: | Servants and Paternalism in the Works of Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell |
|---|---|
| Description: | Writing during periods of dramatic social change, Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell were both attracted to the idea of radical societal transformation at the same time that their writings express nostalgia for a traditional, paternalistic ruling class. The author shows how this tension is played out especially through the characters of servants in short fiction and novels such as Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent, Belinda, and Helen and Gaskell's North and South and Cranford. Servant characters, the author contends, enable these writers to give voice to the contradictions inherent in the popular paternalistic philosophy of their times because the situation of domestic servitude itself embodies such inconsistencies. Servants, whose labor was essential to the economic and social function of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British society, made up the largest category of workers in England by the nineteenth century and yet were expected to be socially invisible. At the same time, they lived in the same houses as their masters and mistresses and were privy to the most intimate details of their lives. Both Edgeworth and Gaskell created servant characters who challenge the social hierarchy, thus exposing the potential for dehumanization and corruption inherent in the paternalistic philosophy. the author's study opens up important avenues for future scholars of women's fiction in the nineteenth century. |
| Authors: | Julie Nash |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Household employees in literature, Social change in literature |
| Categories: | LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Gothic & Romance |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf – Type: ebook-epub Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Servants and Paternalism in the Works of Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: Writing during periods of dramatic social change, Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell were both attracted to the idea of radical societal transformation at the same time that their writings express nostalgia for a traditional, paternalistic ruling class. The author shows how this tension is played out especially through the characters of servants in short fiction and novels such as Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent, Belinda, and Helen and Gaskell's North and South and Cranford. Servant characters, the author contends, enable these writers to give voice to the contradictions inherent in the popular paternalistic philosophy of their times because the situation of domestic servitude itself embodies such inconsistencies. Servants, whose labor was essential to the economic and social function of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British society, made up the largest category of workers in England by the nineteenth century and yet were expected to be socially invisible. At the same time, they lived in the same houses as their masters and mistresses and were privy to the most intimate details of their lives. Both Edgeworth and Gaskell created servant characters who challenge the social hierarchy, thus exposing the potential for dehumanization and corruption inherent in the paternalistic philosophy. the author's study opens up important avenues for future scholars of women's fiction in the nineteenth century. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Julie+Nash%22">Julie Nash</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Household+employees+in+literature%22">Household employees in literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+change+in+literature%22">Social change in literature</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22LITERARY+CRITICISM+%2F+General%22">LITERARY CRITICISM / General</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22LITERARY+CRITICISM+%2F+Gothic+%26+Romance%22">LITERARY CRITICISM / Gothic & Romance</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 823.7 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Household employees in literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Social change in literature Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Servants and Paternalism in the Works of Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Julie Nash – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Julie Nash IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2007 – D: 04 M: 02 Type: profile Y: 2014 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780754656395 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780815396987 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781138620513 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781138355262 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781351125604 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781351125987 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781351126748 Titles: – TitleFull: Servants and Paternalism in the Works of Maria Edgeworth and Elizabeth Gaskell Type: main |
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