Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
54th out of 575 books
—
740 voters
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination
This pathbreaking book of feminist criticism is now reissued with a substantial new introduction by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar that reveals the origins of their revolutionary realization in the 1970s that "the personal was the political, the sexual was the textual.
Author Biography: Sandra M. Gilbert is professor of English at the University of California at Davis. Susa
...morePaperback, Second Edition, 768 pages
Published
July 11th 2000
by Yale University Press
(first published 1980)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Feb 28, 2013
Stela
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Stela by:
Carmen Irimia
Shelves:
literary-criticism-and-theory,
reviews
I keep thinking that feminism (or every other political or social movement by the way) is a narrow path to follow in a literary analysis. As part of a thorough study, literature is an interesting enough source of feminist examples, and Simone de Beauvoir used it brilliantly in The Second Sex, but the reverse is not equally advisable.
Because, in my opinion, The Madwoman in the Attic forces, like Procust once upon a time, an entire literature written by 19th century women to sleep in the bed of t...more
Because, in my opinion, The Madwoman in the Attic forces, like Procust once upon a time, an entire literature written by 19th century women to sleep in the bed of t...more
Have you ever been bothered by that host of angelically drippy Dickensian heroines? Been more satisfied by the sassy alternatives offered by Jane Eyre or Elizabeth Bennet, but couldn’t pin down exactly why? Wondered what the hell is up with Wuthering Heights? Thought Eve was shafted?
Well, act now to order your official Madwoman-in-the-Attic Goggles. Put them on, and literature will never look the same.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but there has been this confining social dichotomy that women...more
Well, act now to order your official Madwoman-in-the-Attic Goggles. Put them on, and literature will never look the same.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but there has been this confining social dichotomy that women...more
13 likes
·
like
· see review
view 2 comments
This is what my thesis adviser has called the quintessential text about Victorian women writers, and I find that statement to be absolutely true. Gilbert and Gubar begin with a generalized argument that women writers have a counterpart to the masculine "anxiety of influence" discussed by Harold Bloom. Instead, women undergo an "anxiety of authorship" because unlike male writers, women have no predecessors to emulate. Instead, women, particularly nineteenth century female writers, tended to modif...more
I thought I liked seminal 1970s feminist literary criticism, but it was too much. I mean, if you haven't just read the books they're covering it's hard to follow. I've read "frankenstein" - 20 years ago. I've read all the Austen novels, but at least a decade ago. I can't recall every character, every nuance. So this just made me feel it was time to do some re-reading. I was looking forward to the "wuthering heights" chapter, and it was good, but it helps that I've read WH 4 times. I gave up befo...more
Apr 24, 2009
Stephanie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2009-books-about-books
I've been reading this for some time, and decided to go back to it after reading Showalter's new book. I don't always agree with the authors, but generally find their analysis thought-provoking.
Update: well, I've finished, and as mentioned before, I read this over a long period of time and in some cases came back to it because I read the work in question (I reread Wuthering Heights and The Goblin Market both last year). In other cases, I wish I'd read the work more recently (as with Shirley and...more
Update: well, I've finished, and as mentioned before, I read this over a long period of time and in some cases came back to it because I read the work in question (I reread Wuthering Heights and The Goblin Market both last year). In other cases, I wish I'd read the work more recently (as with Shirley and...more
This was a fascinating read and gave me a deeper insight into some of my favourite pieces of nineteenth century literature. Gilbert and Gubar explore in detail the work of a wide variety of authors such as Austen, the Bronte's, Eliot, Dickinson, Rossetti, and Shelley. It's a huge tome of a book so does require a bit of a commitment to reading it, but I believe it is thoroughly worth it. It was a ground breaking book for feminist criticism at the time and will inform and influence the way in whic...more
The Madwoman in the Attic The Madwoman in the Attic struck one of the first blows for feminist literary criticism and a uniquely female literary tradition. It's near and dear to my heart because it's the first extended lit-crit I've ever read, and also because it's about my favorite bunch of novels: Victorian (well, 19th century) women's fiction. There's also an awesome section on Victorian poetry. Hellooo, Goblin Market!
The basic theory of the book is that women writers twisted the Madonna/who...more
The basic theory of the book is that women writers twisted the Madonna/who...more
2 likes
·
like
· see review
By far my favourite piece of criticism from my Uni days, Gilber & Gubar were full of radical suggestions. For example, their analysis of FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley posed the question, 'why should a book by a woman feature so few women characters?' Answer: because, they argued, the ability of the male characters to give life to each other (& take life away) implied that they were, in fact, stand-in women. Love it!
This pathbreaking book of feminist criticism is now reissued with a substantial new introduction by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar that reveals the origins of their revolutionary realization in the 1970s that "the personal was the political, the sexual was the textual.
Author Biography: Sandra M. Gilbert is professor of English at the University of California at Davis. Susan Gubar is professor of English and women's studies at Indiana University. They are the co-authors of the three-volume No Man...more
Author Biography: Sandra M. Gilbert is professor of English at the University of California at Davis. Susan Gubar is professor of English and women's studies at Indiana University. They are the co-authors of the three-volume No Man...more
I recently re-read this book so that I could use a few chapters in one of my literature courses. I read the first edition while studying in university; and I must say that I appreciate the study even more now. Gilbert and Gubar use clear metaphors to draw comparisons to women's authorship in a non-accepting literary community. This text is a must-read for anyone studying literature.
I know this is considered passe by most of the lit crit set, particularly post-colonial theorists. That said, it changed my life. And I really think that it's one of the best places a girl can start reading about feminist theory, even if she leaves behind this school of thinking later. If nothing else, the first essay in the book is worth a read.
Jul 16, 2009
Valerie
added it
A seminal (you should pardon the expression) book. This is not the edition I read, and I don't know how much updating has been done. I'm pretty sure this is the book which discusses Jane Eyre as a motherless child. You could read it straight through, but it's better to keep a copy for reference.
Unfortunately, I've only had time to read the Charlotte Bronte section on Jane Eyre, as it has to be returned to The British Library tomorrow, but I will certainly look for a copy elsewhere sometime in the future, as the detail and depth in which individual texts are explored is exceptional.
yeah, yeah, I know. It's super important and super influential and full of great analysis. The problems here are macro, not micro. There are huge, fundamental problems. Read Moi for a critique that really ought to have convinced me not to read this monster.
Feb 13, 2011
Becky
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Students
Recommended to Becky by:
University Lecturer
Shelves:
university-reading-list-year-one
This book has been like my bible so far during University. It's criticism of novels such as Jane Eyre and of poetry by Dante Gabriel Rossetti is both modern and can be applied to various topics making it very versatile!
This book literally saved my life when I was doing Pre-U English. I particularly liked the chapter on Snow White. Full of really interesting ideas and relatively easy to read, which is rarer than you might think.
only read Chapter 10 of this book because it was to help with my coursework but the one chapter was actually quite interesting. The feminist viewpoint seemed an obvious approach but seeing as Bertha's my favourite character in Jane Eyre, it was nice to see tthat she was acknowledged.
This is THE book on 19th century women's writing. It explores, among other things, the theme, most prevelent in Jane Eyre, of a ghostly woman trapped in and haunting a house and what that metaphor meant for women.
"Where does such an implicitly or explicitly patriarchal theory of literature leave literary women? If the pen is a metaphorical penis, with what organ can females generate texts?"
I've only read that they have to say about Edgeworth, but still, I think it is an impressive collection of feminist studies with regards to an incredible amount of authors!
This is just fantastic. All that literary criticism should be. It actually makes you look at things a new way and consider things you hadn't before.
May 17, 2013
Tori Kennedy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
phd-area-exam-women-s-writing
Not every chapter of this book is 4-star, but the several exhilarating and illuminating chapters this book contains are enough to overshadow the less persuasive readings the authors occasionally put forth.
Read this if you like classic literature written by Austen, the Bronte sisters, Shelley, etc. or teach it. Some great essays in here.
The 600+ page tome of dense literary criticism is not for the lighthearted and, to be honest, I would not recommend reading it straight through. Gilbert and Gubar fail to deliver on their promised thesis of the overarching theme of angel versus monster in texts written by female authors in the nineteenth century.
That said, if you've read the books they're discussing, it can be fascinating. My favorite parts by far were the take down of the Snow White tale and the chapters on Wuthering Heights, J...more
That said, if you've read the books they're discussing, it can be fascinating. My favorite parts by far were the take down of the Snow White tale and the chapters on Wuthering Heights, J...more
This is dated, certainly - it was published in, what, 1976? - but it's a must-read for literary critics, for students of criticism, and for women who are also readers. Gilbert and Gubar's take on Bloom's "anxiety of influence," their detailed analyses of some of the most famous works by female authors, and their creative, often poetic approach to critical/academic writing helps define the genre of feminist criticism and lay the foundation for our future explorations. Even if it's dated, even tho...more
Interesting essays. I used some for graduate papers and we use the one on Mary Shelley in AP Lang (sometimes).
Magnificent. I didn't ever look at Jane Eyre in the same way again after learning of her 'dark double'.
I didn't actually finish this book. I'm sure it was very good, but it was a bit scholarly for my tastes.
See my review on my book blog: http://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/2...
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Sandra M. Gilbert is the author of numerous volumes of criticism and poetry, as well as a memoir. She is coeditor (with Susan Gubar) of The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. A Distinguished Professor of English emerita at the University of California, Davis, she lives in Berkeley, California.
More about Sandra M. Gilbert...
Share This Book
2 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
