Customer Reviews

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-century Literacy Imagination

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I took this book out of the library just over a month ago, in the hope of finding a few useful bits and bobs for an coursework essay on women in Victorian literature. Last year, I became vaguely aware that Gilbert and Gubar must be pretty influential, since so many other critics seemed to be referring to them, but I don't think any amount of recommendation could have prepared me to be quite so blown away.
This book went so far above and beyond my expectations that I'd bought my own copy and taken the library book back within a week. I pretty well devoured it, and had to make myself stop reading so that I didn't neglect writing the essay for which I'd obtained it.
It's a rare and magical thing when you discover a critic who not only writes a fascinating and compelling argument, but actually makes it readable and accessible. As to the reviewers who found it verbose and poorly written, Lord help you if you have to wade through anything of the usual density of pretentious academics. I often find reading critical material a pretty depressing experience for that reason, but Gilbert and Gubar managed somehow to make it all seem incredibly exciting.
Five stars also for sheer comprehensiveness - something on this scale must have taken a phenomenal amount of work. The book might present itself as an examination of nineteenth-century literature exclusively, but it definitely goes way beyond that, analysing the mythology that has been defining women in Western culture for centuries. I can, as a result, see myself returning to this again and again, both for university essays, and for my own personal benefit.
An absolute must-read for anyone remotely interested in feminist theory and/or the social functions of the myths and images that recur time and again in English literature.

What scholar of the Gothic, particularly the Female Gothic, could do without Madwoman?

Named for Bertha, the mad wife locked in the attic of Thornfield Hall in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Gilbert and Gubar's work on nineteenth-century women writers and their texts is essential in this field.

Well written, insightful, imaginative, and authoritative, Madwomen in the Attic is, in my opinion, a seminal text in Gothic literary scholarship.

I highly recommend this book, and its companion book "No Mans Land."

Could this have been titled "The Misreading of 19th Century Female Novelists"? "The Madwoman" is not an easy read: it's an academic effort and a superb effort at that. But the casual bronteelioteyre fan will be lulled into a sense of familiarity -- "yes, I remember reading that" -- only to discover too late that he / she has completely missed the point of all those famous 19th century novels, at least from the perspective of these two clever, insightful, witty women who somehow came together to write perhaps the definitive feminist view of 19th century female novelists. Taking just one example out of hundreds: after reading their discussion of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," I re-read the novel and couldn't stop laughing at this parody. Even more entertaining was the fact that so many critics panned "Northanger" when it came out, misreading that it was a parody of the entire genre of the romantic (with a small "r") novel of that era.

[Added later (November 11, 2008)]: this is one of the landmark books in "feminist studies." Whether one agrees with these authors, the fact is that any newer work on feminist studies will quote this book. Someone remarked that the authors are very verbose; they needed a better editor with a red pen, but that's fine. Sometimes it takes multiple explanations before the reader understands the concept. I find myself going back to this book often to look up a specific author / specific work. I continue to highly recommend it.

If you're looking to study literary criticism, specifically on 19th-century writings of any kind, Gilbert & Gubar's feminist critical collection "The Madwoman in the Attic" is completely indispensible. This particular copy of the book, too, is excellent, with clear text, a helpfully modern introduction, and a well-organized index. Even if you're not interested in its critical aspect, Gilbert & Gubar's pinpoint analyses of 19th-century writings (Bronte, Eliot, Dickinson, etc.) will open your eyes to new meanings behind the female characters & writers, and their worlds.

As a former student of Susan Gubar, I would have to recommend this book to anyone interested in a deeper understading of the novels covered and also finding a different perspective to the traditional critical approaches. As a groundbreaking work, this collection critically looks at and analyzes many different aspects approaching the anxiety of female authorship. This work is truly interesting, and to all of the naysayers, I can vouch that the authors are have a very compelling and informed perspective. The second edition proves that it is a work that will be around for a very long time and that the work will not fall into obscurity, for it is a inspired work of literary criticism. I would recommend this to anyone who seeks a deeper look into the popular women novelists.

This is a great re-structuring view of Women artists in the Victorian era. Once you've read this, everything looks different and it makes you want to re-visit novels like Jane Eyre and Middlemarch and Sense and Sensibility just to see how much they have changed. Madwomen is a work of creativity as much as criticism. It changes you. Once you have read this, you find yourself in a whole different ocean.

As a former student of Prof. Gubar, I can attest to the importance of this book within feminist literary circles: Gilbert and Gubar, Inc. created a piece of scholarship that transformed the way students of literature read literature. The book's place among feminist literary criticism today attests to the importance of their mission--were it not for Gilbert and Gubar, someone else, perhaps today, would be performing this kind of work. The fact remains, however, that the proliferation of feminist critique, whether from Robyn Wiegman or Lauren Berlant, makes this text an essential primer for feminist criticism, but not as compelling as the works it tacitly bore.

Gilbert and Gubar's work is invaluable to anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at women writers of the nineteenth century. It is a comprehensive investigation of the difficulties women writers faced.

I apply a very simple standard to literary criticism: Read the critique then reread the original. If the critique improves my appreciation and understanding of the original, then I have spent my time wisely. This book fails that test.

Gilbert & Gubar seem to have little appreciation for the artistry of literary criticism. They seem incapable of writing concise, insightful sentences. They seem to have little appreciation for the rhythms and patterns of English; their sentences read approximately the same way a lopsided trash-can rolls down a hill. There's a lot of noise but not much is actually accomplished. This book cries out for a patient and caring First Year english instructor with a red pen.

Individual chapters seem to have promise, quickly drained by the authors inability to focus, summarise, analyse and bring their subject to life. Their analysis of the Bronte's had the astonishing effect of reducing my interest in these enthralling authors and their works. The Authors insight into the nineteenth century gothic is at best weak. They make much of minor issues and ignore broader themes linking their chosen authors and works.

At its best, reading literary criticism is an electrifying experience, one that inspires you to reach for the nearest great book and savor it as you would fine wine and great food. In the case of the Madwoman in the Attic, it inspires you to regard the library with weariness and a heavy heart. Simply stated, this is book is as tired as Kathy Lee's latest CD and equally awash in mawkish sentiment. I recommend any book by another, better critics - Harold Bloom, Camille Paglia, Cleanth Brooks, T. S. Eliot.