Victorian Women’s Short Stories about MenFraught Interactions at the Fin de Siècle

Explores women’s short stories about troubling interactions with men in the tumultuous late-Victorian period

• Closely analyzes women’s short stories about Victorian men in the late century
• The selected works include several commonly anthologized stories and other intriguing tales
• Focuses especially on the problematic Victorian institution of marriage
• Examines multiple fascinating stories in detail by four important women authors
• Assesses several other stories devoted particularly to marriage and to unmarried women

With the explosive growth of periodicals and the decline of the three-volume novel, the short story became an invaluable venue for women writers to address controversial issues that might otherwise have been concealed. With gender concerns widely and forcefully debated at century’s end, these authors contested prevailing opinions that foreclosed possibilities and opportunities. The stories in this book study significant problems in relationships with men, primarily focused on the institution of Victorian marriage. The book examines the intriguing work of numerous authors, including George Egerton, Sarah Grand, Ella D’Arcy and Olive Schreiner, who focused an illuminating lens on the gender controversy that shaped the late century.