The Burdens of Intimacy by Christopher Lane
Why does passion bewilder and torment so many Victorian protagonists? And why do so many literary characters experience moments of ecstasy before their deaths? This text shows why Victorian fiction conveys both the pleasure and anguish of intimacy. Examining works by Bulwer-Lytton, Swinburne, Schreiner, Hardy, James, Santayana, and Forster, he argues that these writers struggled with aspects of psychology that were undermining the utilitarian ethos of the Victorian age. Christopher Lane discredits the conservative notion that Victorian literature expresses only a demand for repression and moral restraint. But he also refutes historicist and Foucauldian approaches, arguing that they dismiss the very idea of repression and end up denouncing psychoanalysis as complicit in various kinds of oppression. These approaches, Lane argues, reduce Victorian literature to a drama about politics, power, and the ego. Striving instead to reinvigorate discussions of fantasy and the unconscious, Lane offers an account of writers who grapple with the genuine complexities of love, desire, and friendship.
Lane, Christopher: - Christopher Lane is an acclaimed film and television writer, director, and producer. He is also an award-winning educator and lecturer, film and media curriculum developer for various educational institutions, and former Film Production Program Coordinator. He regularly sits on national and international film and arts discussion panels and film festival juries and currently curates and archives a large silent film ephemera and materials collection intended for exhibition.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780226468600 |
| ISBN 10 | 0226468607 |
| Title | The Burdens of Intimacy |
| Author | Christopher Lane |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | The University of Chicago Press |
| Year published | 1998-12-15 |
| Number of pages | 344 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |