Choice 评论
Nineteenth-century women writers have often been dismissed as mere literary domestics, second class by definition. This study undermines that assumption by chronologically examining the works of a number of authors to reveal how each presents women painters, and, in turn, emerging cultural values. The authors examined include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Fanny Fern, E.D. E.N. Southworth, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Louisa May Alcott, Kate Chopin, and Edith Wharton. Each author presents women painters who move from being simple copyists to creative visionaries; this reveals a lot about society's changing cultural values. Barker (Univ. of Mississippi) argues that there is, indeed, a continuity between 19th- and 20th-century aesthetics. She examines the analogy between visual and written arts, various authors' critiques of Romanticism, identification or rejection of women's traditional "esthetic and moral" sensibility, and various attitudes toward the emergence of mass culture. This stimulating and intelligent study is accessible, though challenging. It complements the work of such scholars as Jane Tompkins (Sensational Designs, CH, Nov'85), Richard H. Brodhead (Cultures of Letters, CH, Dec'93), and Ann Cvetkovich (Mixed Feelings, CH, May'93). Barker's study includes extensive scholarly notes, a thorough bibliography, and a helpful index. This study is highly recommended for serious students of both 19th- and early-20th-century literature. S. A. Parker; Hiram College