Angers, Fantasies and Ghostly Fears: Nineteenth-Century Women from Wales and English-Language Poetry by Catherine Brennan (review)

Abstract

MLRy 100.3, 2005 791 English literature of the Revolutionary period outside the precincts of the useful, although occasionally limiting, tag of 'Romantic'. As Wood notes, with characteristic assurance, the 'values of Romanticism?individualism, solitude, passion, imagina? tion, nonconformity?tend to conflict with prevalent ideologies of femininity of the period, or the material circumstances of women's lives'. From the pursuit of such principles, women writers are 'almost necessarily excluded' (p. 20). Wood pays particular attention to the narrative voice that her writers adopt in their novels, and, although sensitive to the nuances inherent in political terminology, largely defines a conservative approach as one that supports anti-radicalism and endorses 'containing female activity within a redefined domestic sphere' (p. 117). Her analysis is a judicious and sensitive engagement with the paradox that writers such as More wrote novels that endorsed feminine obedience and meek retirement yet were themselves vigorous public figures, successful businesswomen and self-promoters. In an incisive examination of More's Coelebs in Search of a Wife, Wood argues that More's devotion to such principles rendered her novel acceptable to the 'respectable' middle classes, who would ordinarily refuse to read fiction.As Wood neatly concludes, More's location ofthe 'power forshaping narrative events' in 'mentorial fatherfigures' works to counteract the 'potential corruption she and others perceived in the generic form' of the novel (p. 92). To her credit, Wood does not shy away from noting that the principle is complicated when the writer, as in the case of Jane West, employs a feminine narrative voice (p. 117), although she has not permitted herself quite enough pages to examine the extent of these complications. Wood's interest in narrative voice creates an organized and purposeful study and is a useful way of examining texts by authors who, as she claims, perceived both 'originality and individualism as problematic concepts' (p. 62). We might question, however, whether a text written out of a conservative agenda was necessarily read as such. Not only might a reader's individual endorsement of a conservative viewpoint encompass a spectrum of values and expectations, but those middle-class readers that Wood suggests esteemed More's traditionalism eagerly consumed many novels that suggested an expansion of female activity past the domestic sphere, albeit often through the vehicle of romance. It would have been interesting to see some of the reactions of contemporary reviewers and readers to the works of More, West, Porter, and others, and I would have particularly welcomed some investigation into the publishers and the marketing strategies used to promote the fiction of such women writers. This small caveat aside, Modes of Discipline is an impressively taut and coherent argument and an excellent introduction to texts that, as Wood notes, are mostly out of print. One hopes that criticism as compelling as this volume will encourage publishers to produce affordable editions ofthe works of Hamilton, West, More, Porter, and other conservative women writers. As Wood's study proves, these fascinating and muchoverlooked novels hold great potential rewards forthe student and the general reader alike. Somerville College, Oxford Kate Williams Angers, Fantasies and Ghostly Fears: Nineteenth-Century Women from Wales and English-Language Poetry. By Catherine Brennan. Cardiff: University ofWales Press. 2003. viii + 237pp. ?14.99. ISBN 0-7083-1764-2. The seven poets assessed by Catherine Brennan in Angers,Fantasies and GhostlyFears were selected because 'their experiences exemplify a spectrum of diverse species of Welshness' (p. 4). Her chosen writers are Jane Cave, Ann Julia Hatton, Felicia 792 Reviews Hemans, Maria James, Sarah Williams, Emily Jane Pfeiffer, and Anna Walter Thomas, and their dates span the period from c. 1754 to 1920. This was, of course, a time of momentous social change and upheaval, and Brennan writes knowledgeably about the historical background. The women were not all Welsh by birth, but the author focuses on their experiences of Wales and their strong emotional links with the country. She claims that they 'were marginalized doubly, by their gender and by their nationality, from the dominant dis? course of imperialist British patriarchy' (p. 3). Brennan is motivated by her belief that Welsh literature of the nineteenth century has been neglected; therefore, following the pioneering achievements of...