{"product_id":"ordinary-masochisms-jennifer-mitchell-9780813066677","title":"Ordinary Masochisms: Agency and Desire in Victorian and Modernist Fiction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOrdinary Masochisms\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how literary works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries frequently challenged the prevailing view of masochism as a deviant behavior, an opinion supported by many sexologists and psychoanalysts in the 1800s. In these texts, Jennifer Mitchell highlights everyday examples of characters deriving pleasure from pain in encounters and emotions such as flirtations, courtships, betrothals, lesbian desires, religious zeal, marital relationships, and affairs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMitchell begins by examining the archetypal tale of Samson and Delilah together with \u003ci\u003eVenus in Furs\u003c\/i\u003e by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from whom masochism gets its name. Through close readings, Mitchell then argues that Charlotte Bront 's \u003ci\u003eVillette\u003c\/i\u003e, George Moore's \u003ci\u003eA Drama in Muslin\u003c\/i\u003e, D. H. Lawrence's \u003ci\u003eThe Rainbow\u003c\/i\u003e, and Jean Rhys's \u003ci\u003eQuartet\u003c\/i\u003e all experiment with masochistic relationships that are more complex than they seem. Mitchell shows that, far from being victimized, the characters in these works achieve self-definition and empowerment by pursuing and performing pain and that masochism is a generative response rather than a destructive force beyond their control. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncluding readings of Octave Mirbeau's \u003ci\u003eThe Torture Garden\u003c\/i\u003e and Ian McEwan's \u003ci\u003eThe Comfort of Strangers\u003c\/i\u003e, Mitchell traces shifts in public consciousness regarding sex and gender and discusses why masochism continues to be categorized as a perversion today. The literary world, she asserts, has repeatedly questioned this notion as well as masochism's associations with passivity and femininity, using the behavior to defy heteronormative and heteropatriarchal gender dynamics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jennifer Mitchell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813066670\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813066677\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Florida\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/27\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 226\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.11lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.69d","brand":"Jennifer Mitchell","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":45482022469887,"sku":"9780813066677","price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a6bded99-e081-4f1e-8204-3a3ce248a3a2.jpg?v=1715988349","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ordinary-masochisms-jennifer-mitchell-9780813066677","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}