Charity and Condescension - Victorian Literature and the Dilemmas of Philanthropy (Paperback)

Charity and Condescension explores how condescension, a traditional English virtue, went sour in the nineteenth century, and considers how the failure of condescension influenced Victorian efforts to reform philanthropy and to construct new narrative models of social conciliation. In the literary work of authors like Dickens, Eliot, and Tennyson, and in the writing of reformers like Octavia Hill and Samuel Barnett, condescension—once a sign of the power and value of charity—became an emblem of charity’s limitations. This book argues that, despite Victorian charity’s reputation for idealistic self-assurance, it frequently doubted its own operations and was driven by creative self-critique. Through sophisticated and original close readings of important Victorian texts, Daniel Siegel shows how these important ideas developed even as England struggled to deal with its growing underclass and an expanding notion of the state’s responsibility to its poor.

General

Imprint:	Ohio University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Series in Victorian Studies
Release date:	February 2023
First published:	2012
Authors:	Daniel Siegel
Dimensions:	229 x 152mm (L x W)
Format:	Paperback - Laminated cover / Card cover
Pages:	232
ISBN-13:	978-0-8214-2519-0
Categories:	Books
LSN:	0-8214-2519-6
Barcode:	9780821425190

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