Public and private
Subtitle: gender, class, and the British novel (1764-1878)
By: Patricia McKee.
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Minneapolis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 243
Subjects: English fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; Social problems in literature.; Literature and society -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.; Literature and society -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.; English fiction -- 18th century -- History and criticism.; Capitalism and literature -- Great Britain -- History.; Production (Economic theory) in literature.; Consumption (Economics) in literature.; Public opinion in literature.; Social classes in literature.; Sex role in literature.; Privacy in literature.
Other titles: Public & private
Description: This groundbreaking work examines the emergent and fluctuating relationship between the public and private social spheres of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By assessing novels such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Jane Austen's Emma through the lens of the social theories of Jurgen Habermas and Michel Foucault, Patricia McKee presents a fresh and highly original contribution to literary studies.

McKee analyzes portrayals of a society in which abstract idealism belonged to knowledgeable, productive men and the realm of ignorance was left to emotional consuming women and the uneducated. Throughout, McKee highlights the unexpected configurations of the emergence of the public and private spheres and the effect of knowledge distributions across class and gender lines.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-237) and index.