Women, Literature, and the Domesticated Landscape: England's Disciples of Flora, 1780-1870 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781107420236)

Combining an analysis of literature and art, this book contends that the 'domesticated landscape' is key to understanding women's complex negotiation of private and public life in a period of revolution and transition. As more women became engaged in horticultural and botanical pursuits, the meaning of gardens - recognized here both as sites of pleasure and labor, and as conceptual and symbolic spaces - became more complex. Women writers and artists often used gardens to educate their readers, to enter into political and cultural debates, and to signal moments of intellectual and spiritual insight. Gardens functioned as a protected vantage point for women, providing them with a new language and authority to negotiate between domestic space and the larger world. Although this more expansive form of domesticity still highlighted the virtues associated with the feminized home, it also promised a wider field of action, re-centering domesticity outward.

Author: Judith W. Page, Elise L. Smith
ISBN-10: 1107420237
ISBN-13: 9781107420236
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/27/2014
Pages: 338
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.61h x 6.69w x 0.70d