Elizabeth Stoddard combines the narrative style of the popular
nineteenth-century male-centered bildungsroman with the conventions
of women's romantic fiction in this revolutionary exploration of
the conflict between a woman's instinct, passion, and will, and the
social taboos, family allegiances, and traditional New England
restraint that inhibit her. Set in a small seaport town (1862), The
Morgesons is the dramatic story of Cassandra Morgeson's fight
against social and religious norms in a quest for sexual,
spiritual, and economic autonomy. An indomitable heroine, Cassandra
not only achieves an equal and complete love with her husband and
ownership of her family's property, but also masters the skills and
accomplishments expected of women. Counterpointed with the
stultified lives of her aunt, mother, and sister, Cassandra's
success is a striking and radical affirmation of women's power to
shape their own destinies.
Embodying the convergence of the melodrama and sexual
undercurrents of gothic romance and Victorian social realism, The
Morgesons marked an important transition in the development of the
novel and evoked comparisons during Stoddard's lifetime with such
masters as Balzac, Tolstoy, Eliot, the Brontes, and Hawthorne.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!