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Wives and Daughters
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Wives and Daughters Paperback - 1997

by Elizabeth Gaskell; Pam Morris (Editor)

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, this narrative traces the development of two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.


Summary

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centres on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new step-sister enters Molly's quiet life – loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.

Wives and Daughters is far more than a nostalgic evocation of village life; it offers an ironic critique of mid-Victorian society. 'No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority', writes Pam Morris in her introduction to this new edition, in which she explores the novel's main themes – the role of women, Darwinism and the concept of Englishness – and its literary and social context.

From the rear cover

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centres on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new step-sister enters Molly's quiet life - loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford. Wives and Daughters is far more than a nostalgic evocation of village life; it offers an ironic critique of mid-Victorian society. 'No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority', writes Pam Morris in her introduction to this new edition, in which she explores the novel's main themes - the role of women, Darwinism and the concept of Englishness - and its literary and social context.

Details

  • Title Wives and Daughters
  • Author Elizabeth Gaskell; Pam Morris (Editor)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: Repri
  • Pages 720
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, London
  • Date 1997-01-01
  • Features Bibliography
  • ISBN 9780140434781 / 014043478X
  • Weight 1.05 lbs (0.48 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.3 in (19.56 x 12.95 x 3.30 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1800-1850
    • Cultural Region: British
  • Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, Stepfamilies
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

"No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority."
—Pam Morris

About the author

Elizabeth Gaskell was born in London in 1810 but spent most of her life in Cheshire, Stratford-upon-Avon. She married the Reverend William Gaskell and had four daughters by him. She worked among the poor, travelled frequently and wrote for Dickens'smagazine, Household Words. Elizabeth Gaskell was friends with Charlotte Bronte and consequently went on to write her biography.

Pam Norris is Reader in Literature at Liverpool John Mooores University

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Wives and Daughters (Penguin Classics)

Wives and Daughters (Penguin Classics)

by Gaskell, Elizabeth

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Wives and Daughters (Penguin Classics)

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Wives and Daughters (Penguin Classics)
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Wives and Daughters (Penguin Classics)

by Gaskell, Elizabeth

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Wives and Daughters
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by Gaskell, Elizabeth

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Wives and Daughters
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by Gaskell, Elizabeth

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by Gaskell, Elizabeth; Morris, Pam [Editor]

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