Victorian Sensational Fiction: The Daring Work of Charles Reade PDF
Preview Victorian Sensational Fiction: The Daring Work of Charles Reade
Victorian Sensational Fiction Previous Publications Co-editor (with Kimberly Harrison). Victorian Sensations: Essays on a Scandalous Genre. 2006. Editor. Straight Writ Queer: Non-Normative Expressions of Heterosexuality in Literature. 2006. Author: Ernest Hemingway: Machismo and Masochism. Palgrave Macmillan. 2005. Victorian Sensational Fiction The Daring Work of Charles Reade Richard Fantina VICTORIAN SENSATIONAL FICTION Copyright © Richard Fantina, 2010. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-62037-7 All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-38277-4 ISBN 978-0-230-10215-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230102156 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fantina, Richard. Victorian sensational fiction : the daring work of Charles Reade / Richard Fantina. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-38277-4 (alk. paper) 1. Reade, Charles, 1814–1884—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Sensationalism in literature. 3. Literature and society—Great Britain— History—19th century. I. Title. PR5217.F36 2009 823(cid:2).8—dc22 2009014071 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: January 2010 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Martha Tejada Cotero Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Sensation Fiction and the Emergence of the Victorian Literary Field 11 2 Saying “No” to Power: It Is Never Too Late to Mend and Hard Cash 39 3 Sex and Sexuality, Gender and Transgender 77 4 Sensational Paradigms: Reade’s Griffith Gaunt and Braddon’s Aurora Floyd 125 5 Reade, Race, and Colonialism 147 Coda: Recovering Reade 161 Notes 165 Works Cited 189 Index 201 Acknowledgments Ic ould not have produced this book without the help of many friends, colleagues, and professionals, beginning with those at the University of Miami. My first and greatest acknowledgment goes to Frank Palmeri who worked tirelessly with me as this book evolved over a period of years. His knowledge, wisdom, and kindness are as extensive as my debt to him is incalculable. Special thanks also go to Pamela Hammons, Gema Pérez-Sánchez, and Zack Bowen, who read and commented extensively on an early draft of this book. Their comments proved invaluable as I revised the work for publication. I would also like to thank Mihoko Suzuki, Pat McCarthy, Anthony Barthelemy, Lindsey Tucker, and John Paul Russo, all of UM, who offered me their support at every turn. I also extend a note of thanks to Kathleen McCormick and Kimberly Harrison at Florida International University. Kathleen introduced me to Victorian literature while Kimberly introduced me to the sensation novel. Thanks also to other colleagues at FIU, including Tometro Hopkins, Bruce Harvey, Jeffrey Knapp, Jean Rahier, Barbara Watts, Richard Sugg, Marta Lee, Terese Campbell, and Rosa Henriquez. I would like to thank my current colleagues at the Union Institute & University for their support of my work: Brian Webb, Woden Teachout, Loree Militch, Ashgar Zomorrodian, Elden Golden, President Roger Sublett, and Provost Rich Hansen. Thanks to Wayne Burns for his encouragement, and for his 1961 book, Charles Reade: A Study in Victorian Authorship, that provided a starting point from which I could develop ideas on Reade’s work. Thanks also to James Rusk, whose excellent website on Reade (at http://www.digitalpixels.org/jr/cr/index.html) provided me with a valuable searchable database of Reade’s major works. Sincere thanks go to Charles Greene and the staff at the Princeton University Library. I could not have completed this work without
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