Title: Myths of power : a Marxist study of the Brontës /
Authors: Eagleton, Terry, 1943-
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan,
Year: 2005
Subjects: Brontë, Charlotte, Criticism and interpretation.; Brontë, Emily, Criticism and interpretation.; Brontë, Anne, Criticism and interpretation.; Brontë family.; Literature and society England History; Women and literature England History; English fiction History and criticism; Power (Social sciences) in literature.; Marxist criticism.; LITERARY CRITICISM European English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.; English fiction; Literature and society; Marxist criticism; Power (Social sciences) in literature.; Women and literature
Abstract: Myths of Power sets out to interpret the fiction of the Bront͡ sisters in light of a Marxist analysis of the historical conditions in which it was produced. Its aim is not merely to relate literary facts, but by a close critical examination of the novels, to find in them a significant structure of ideas and values which related to the Bront͡s' ambiguous situation within the class-system of their society. Its intention is to forge close relations between the novels, nineteenth-century ideology, and historical forces, in order to illuminate the novels themselves in a radically new perspective. When originally published in 1975 (second edition in 1988), it was the first full-length Marxist study of the Bront͡s and is now reissued to celebrate 30 years since its first publication. It includes a new Introduction by Terry Eagleton which reflects on the changes which have happened in Marxist literary criticism since 1988, and situates this reissue of the second edition in current debates on literary theory.
Contents: Acknowledgements -- New Introduction to the Reissue of the Second Edition -- Introduction to the Second Edition -- Introduction -- Jane Eyre -- The Professor -- Shirley -- Villette -- The Structure of Charlotte Bront͡'s Fiction -- Wuthering Heights -- Anne Bront͡ -- Notes -- Index.