The Brontes

(The Brontes Blurb)

The novels, poetry and prose of the Bronte sisters have proved a rich resource for twentieth century literary criticism. Their texts are a source of diversity in themselves, full of conflictual material which different schools of criticism have freshly analysed and interpreted. This Reader provides a wide ranging selection of essays on the works of the Brontes, starting with their contemporaries and reaching to the present day. Patricia Inghams clear and readable Introduction traces the development of interpretations to reveal how the early reactions indicate concerns in the areas of gender and class and race which modern critics have now unpacked further.

This volume shows how the Brontes writings engage with the major issues which dominate twentieth century theoretical work . The essays are grouped under broad schools of theory such as feminist; marxist; psychoanalytic and postcolonial.

This collection will be suitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate students working on nineteenth century literary and cultural theory, particularly in relation to gender, class and race.

Patricia Ingham is Senior Research Fellow and Reader at St Annes College,Oxford.