feminism, evolutionism, and the reconstruction of gender
- Categories
- Book/Boek
- Creator
- Paxton, Nancy L.
- Publish Year
- 2014
- Shelfmark
- GR BR 54 2014 - B
- Thesaurus
- schrijvers, romans, vrouwenkiesrecht, feminisme, seksualiteit, Verenigd Koninkrijk, 19e eeuw
- Description
- This analysis of the writings of two major Victorian intellectuals examines the crucial place of gender in the larger Victorian debate about nature, religion, and evolutionary theory. Demonstrating the primacy of Herbert Spencer's influence on George Eliot's thought, Nancy Paxton discloses the continuous dialogue between this profoundly learned novelist and one of the most formidable and influential scientific authorities of her time. Paxton reveals that Eliot and Spencer initially agreed in supporting several of the goals of early Victorian feminism when they met in 1851. Paxton looks at the ways scientific data get turned into arguments about the nature of women in society, about women and education, about women and sexuality.