The Female Narrator in the British Novel Hidden Agendas [Hardcover]

The Female Narrator in the British Novel studies first-person narratives and demonstrates that how a woman tells her story is crucial to our understanding of its content, for a novel's mode of narration frequently undermines its ostensible plot. Analyzing relationships between the sexes in terms of battles for narrative authority, Sternlieb argues for a rethinking of the history of the marriage plot.Acknowledgements Introduction: Designing a Narrative Jane Eyre: Hazarding Confidences Nelly Dean: Changing Tactics Marian Halcombe: Appropriating an Identity Esther Summerson: Looking Twice Molly Bloom: Acting Natural Conclusion: Refusing to Tell Notes Index

'This book is well researched...' - R.T. Van Arsdel, Choice

LISA STERNLIEB is Professor of English at Wake Forest University. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Princeton University.