Research Catalog

Title

The subversion of romance in the novels of Barbara Pym / Ellen M. Tsagaris.

Author

Tsagaris, Ellen M.

Publication

Bowling Green, OH : Bowling Green State University Popular Press, [1998], ©1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

188 pages; 24 cm

Summary

• This book seeks to explore how Barbara Pym subverts the discourse of the romance novel through her use of food, clothes, heroine and hero characterizations, and marriage customs. The text begins with a brief history of the romance novel and how that history relates to the writing of Barbara Pym. The discussion will compare Pym's writing techniques with those of romance writers, particularly those who write for the British publisher Mills and Boon, and Barbara Cartland.
• Through this and all of Pym's writings, there resounds the question, "Can single women of a certain age live a full life?" Through rewriting and subverting the romantic paradigm, Pym answers with a resounding, but heartfelt, "Yes!"

Subjects

• Pym, Barbara > Criticism and interpretation
• Literature and society > England > History > 20th century
• Manners and customs in literature
• Single women in literature
• Women and literature > England > History > 20th century
• Man-woman relationships in literature
• Middle-aged persons in literature
• Social norms in literature

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-180) and index.

Contents

Introduction: "Something Very Barbara Pym" -- 1. The History and Definition of Romance Fiction -- 2. The Virtue of a Single Woman -- 3. The Excellent Cinderella -- 4. Romantic Appetites, or the Study of Men Embracing Women -- 5. Suitably Unsuitable Attachments -- 6. The Bittersweet Desserts of Excellent Women: What to Do When Mr. Rochester Has Left the Building -- 7. Trivia as a Full Life.

ISBN

• 0879727632 (cloth)
• 0879727640 (pbk.)

LCCN

98002630

OCLC

• 38239154
• ocm38239154

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries