Male-male rivalry and female passive choice, the two principal
tenets of Darwinian sexual selection, raise important ethical
questions in The Descent of Man--and in the decades since--about
the subjugation of women. If female choice is a key component of
evolutionary success, what impact does the constraint of women's
choices have on society? The elaborate courtship plots of 19th
century Spanish novels, with their fixation on suitors and
selectors, rivalry, and seduction, were attempts to grapple with
the question of female agency in a patriarchal society. By reading
Darwin through the lens of the Spanish realist novel and vice
versa, Travis Landry brings new insights to our understanding of
both: while Darwin's theories have often been seen as biologically
deterministic, Landry asserts that Darwin's theory of sexual
selection was characterized by an open ended dynamic whose
oxymoronic emphasis on "passive" female choice carries the
potential for revolutionary change in the status of women.
Travis Landry is assistant professor of Spanish at Kenyon
College.
"Travis Landry has an enviable gift for selecting the best quote
to support an argument and it is truly a pleasure to read a book
about canonical novels that has something new to say on every
page." -Lou Charnon-Deutsch, State University of New York at Stony
Brook
"A fascinating book. Landry's work is groundbreaking because he
never leaves Darwin behind to explore Spanish literature outfitted
merely with a couple of Darwinian catchphrases. Rather, he has read
and reread The Descent, and, much like Darwin working in nature,
comes to see the workings of Darwinian principles infusing ideas
and practices in Spanish culture, far more deeply than has
previously been shown." -Dale Pratt, Brigham Young University
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