Communities of Women: An Idea in Fiction

by Nina Auerbach

In this classic work of feminist and literary criticism, Auerbach explores how the fellowship of sisterhood as it occurs or hails to occur in historical reality is reflected in famous novels such as those of Louisa May Alcott( Little Women ), Charlotte Bronte( Villette ), Henry James ( The Bostonians ), Jane Austen ( Pride and Prejudice ) and Muriel Spark ( The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ). This is a fascinating study of the complex attitudes of communities of women which are distinct from the long honored traditions of the banding of "brothers." "However prized friendship has been in our philosophical tradition...it has been viewed...as the exclusive privilege of men... Communities of An Idea In Fiction is the first book I know of that ventures into the domain of the novel to explore this particular inequity..." ¡ªFrancine du Plessix Gray
The New York Times Book Review

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

236 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 1978

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very shallow study that reaches few, if any, conclusions. Auerbach points out that communities of women can be seen in several American and British fictions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but she doesn't go so far as to try to explain the significance(s) of the similarities and differences she points out. A useful jumping-off point for future scholarship, but not a must-read by any stretch of the imagination.

[Clare Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of creative and insightful comparative readings in this book.