To be a heroine is to be beautiful such has been the unstated assumption from the time of chivalric romance to that of Harlequin romance. But this ideology of 'the beauty myth' was challenged as early as 1801 with the publication of this extraordinary epistolary novel-romance. Something New explores sexual roles and questions with subtlety and astonishingly modern insight the prevailing 'rights' of men over women, and their respective attitudes towards one another. The book explores how issues of beauty, femininity and self-support are central to the main character, Olivia, and her suitor Lionel. Lionel, who has always been 'the devoted slave of beauty,' becomes convinced that marriage to the 'proverbially plain' Olivia will lead them to 'a little paradise on earth.' Do they attain this paradise? The resolution to this romance retains the power to surprise the reader as much today as it did when Something New was first published.
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"Plumptre's creation of a physically unattractive heroine is indeed 'something new.' Her innovation in this epistolary novel also extends beyond the characterization of Olivia to the models of masculinity, sentimental and satiric, so tellingly grouped around her. McLeod's skillful edition includes a thought-provoking compendium of 18th-century views of beauty and ugliness." (Jennifer Thorn )
"A wonderful novel. A highly accomplished book, fresh and relevant to feminist debates today." (Isobel Grundy, co-editor of The Feminist Companion to English Literature ) --Isobel Grundy, co-editor of The Feminist Companion to English Literature
"A wonderful novel. A highly accomplished book, fresh and relevant to feminist debates today." (Isobel Grundy, co-editor of The Feminist Companion to English Literature ) --Isobel Grundy, co-editor of The Feminist Companion to English Literature
From the Back Cover
To be a heroine is to be beautiful—such has been the unstated assumption from the time of chivalric romance to that of Harlequin romance. But this ideology of 'the beauty myth' was challenged as early as 1801 with the publication of this extraordinary epistolary novel-romance. Something New explores sexual roles and questions with subtlety and astonishingly modern insight the prevailing 'rights' of men over women, and their respective attitudes towards one another. The book explores how issues of beauty, femininity and self-support are central to the main character, Olivia, and her suitor Lionel. Lionel, who has always been 'the devoted slave of beauty,' becomes convinced that marriage to the 'proverbially plain' Olivia will lead them to 'a little paradise on earth.' Do they attain this paradise? The resolution to this romance retains the power to surprise the reader as much today as it did when Something New was first published.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Feminist epistolary novel with typical subplots of the period.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Something New (Broadview Literary Texts) (Paperback)
This epistolary novel tells the tale of how twoinsensitive, superficial men reform themselves under the influence of the extremely ugly heiressOlivia Campbell and her beautiful friend. Plot does indeed avoid the cliched ending, but it isn'tenough to save the story from some tedium, especially if you're familiar with common themes of the time. Strong echoes of Richardson's classic novel,Clarissa, run throughthe book, but Plumtree's novel fails to rise to the moral glory and sadistic depths that Richardson hits. Onthe other hand, it isn't a million words long either ... The use of cliched subplots (for 1801) was one of the book's biggest weaknesses: the ghost that isn't a ghost; the persecuted, beautiful cottager; the mysteriousorphan, the contrast of the faithful old retainer and the money-grubbing, self-aggrandizing,ladder-climbing modern servant, etc. If these plots aren't familiar to you, you will enjoy this introduction to some of the common plots of the period.
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