Names and Stories

Names And Stories is an unusual treatment of the life of Lady Dilke, an actor of importance and interest to scholars of Victorian high politics, art, social reform, and feminism. Much more than a life and times, this study demonstrates the integral, textual connections between the stories that Dilke told about herself and that others told about her on the one hand, and the political, personal, private, cultural and social life in Victorian Britain on the other. The strength of this book lies in the innovative approach it takes to the life-writing of, and by, Dilke. Based on little-used primary resources, it offers an original and stimulating interpretation of both Emilia Dilke and the writing of biography, which will be of consequence to literary scholars as well as historians.