Coulson, V. (2005) Teacups and Love Letters: Constance Fenimore Woolson and Henry James. The Henry James Review, 26 (1). pp. 82-98. ISSN 0273-0340
Abstract
This article explores the textual relationship between Woolson and James and the trope of the tea ceremony in their texts (including The Portrait of a Lady and Woolson's surviving letters to James) in order to identify the characteristic gestures of realist representation. Realism is a gendered structure of signification which thrives on a disavowal of symbolic meaning: this makes it an ideal form for mediating covert relations of power and desire. Topics addressed include Barthes's "reality effect," the theoretical assumptions of "reconstructive" biographers such as Leon Edel, James's Partial Portraits assessment of Woolson's fiction, and critical interpretations of Woolson's suicide.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > English and Related Literature (York) |
Depositing User: | York RAE Import |
Date Deposited: | 11 Feb 2009 09:25 |
Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2009 10:00 |
Published Version: | http://muse.jhu.edu/ |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
Identification Number: | 900RN |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:7608 |