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How Eighteenth-Century Women Fended-Off Sexual Violence by Writing and Talking. A Study of Four British Novels by Delarivier Manley, Jane Barker, Eliza Haywood, and Samuel Richardson

Author: 
Year:
Pages:116
ISBN:1-4955-0272-4
978-1-4955-0272-9
Price:$119.95
An integrated and comprehensive study of the ways that female characters in early eighteenth-century novels used letter writing and verbal narration as a strategy for coping with sexual violence. The novels studied are groundbreaking works in the history of feminist literature.

Reviews

“Jan Stahl, in her study of the ways female characters in early eighteenth-century novels cope with and resist sexual violence through talking and writing, demonstrates experiential common sense and a salubrious, deep understanding of the human condition…Dr. Stahl’s book can be especially helpful to persons faced with crises and to persons who are dealing with problems for which a bridge needs to be created to connect one’s expectation and reality.”
-Dr. Richard Brower,
Associate Professor of Psychology,
Wagner College


“Stahl’s book is an insightful and compelling analysis of the ways women in early eighteenth-century novels respond to marital and sexual violence through writing letters and talking about their experiences…She grounds her study within feminist and psychological studies of the ways survivors of trauma use writing or speaking about a violent experience as ‘an important step towards a survivor’s sense of well-being and recovery’.”
-M. Claire Pamplin, PhD.,
Associate Professor of English,
CUNY-BMCC


“I highly recommend Dr. Stahl’s book for scholars of eighteenth century literature, gender studies, and as a reference for practitioners who work with or who are treating women who have been in abusive relationships. The book also would be of great interest to any reader who is seeking to gain a deeper understanding of women in violent relationships and the coping mechanisms they construct to recover and survive.”
-Vivian Ferraro Campbell, MSW, ACSW, LCSW (NY/NJ),
Private Practitioner,
Adjunct Lecturer College of Staten Island//CUNY


Table of Contents

FOREWORD BY RICHARD BROWER
INTRODUCTION
Language and Agency
Violence against Women in the Eighteenth-Century
CHAPTER ONE:
Charlot and Delia: Passive Victim and Active Narrator in Delarivier
Manley’s The New Atlantis
Charlot
Delia
Delia-Manley
CHAPTER TWO:
Speaking Out Against Father: Jane Barker’s Exilius
Defiance
Forgiveness
Reframing Morality
CHAPTER THREE
The Deadly Marriage Market in Eliza Haywood’s Love in Excess
Alovisa
Camilla
CHAPTER FOUR:
The Voyeur and the Scribbler in Samuel Richardson’s Pamela
Pamela and Mr. B
Pamela and Richardson
EPILOGUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX