The Woman Who DidThe controversial subject matter of Grant Allen’s novel, The Woman Who Did, made it a major bestseller in 1895. It tells the story of Herminia Barton, a university-educated New Woman who, because of her belief that marriage oppresses women, refuses to marry her lover even though she shares his bed and bears his child. Her ideals come into disastrous conflict with intensely patriarchal late Victorian England. Indeed, Allen intended his novel to shock readers into a serious exploration of some of the major issues in fin de siècle sexual politics, issues that he himself, in various periodical articles under the rubric of the “Woman Question,” had played a leading role in opening up to public debate. This Broadview edition contains a critical introduction as well as a rich selection of appendices which include excerpts from Allen’s writings on women, sex, and marriage; contemporary writings on the “Sex Problem”; documents pertaining to the Marriage Debate; contemporary responses to the novel; and excerpts from two parodies of the novel. |
Contents
Acknowledgements | 9 |
Introduction | 11 |
A Brief Chronology | 45 |
A Note on the Text | 49 |
The Woman Who Did | 51 |
Grant Allen on Women Sex and Marriage | 167 |
44858 | 168 |
4964 | 172 |
Swan Sonnenschein 1888 | 199 |
61736 | 201 |
A Criticism Fortnightly Review 53 April 1890 58694 | 202 |
Labour Press Society 1894 | 203 |
52033 | 204 |
The Reception of The Woman Who Did | 207 |
The Woman Who Did by Grant Allen Review of Reviews 1 February 1895 17790 | 208 |
18687 | 209 |
37792 | 177 |
18185 | 181 |
A HillTop Novel London John Lane and New York Putnams 1895 viixxiii | 182 |
Sources of Grant Allens Views on the Sex Problem | 185 |
Longmans Green Reader and Dyer 1878 | 186 |
Williams and Norgate 1885 | 187 |
Modern P 1885 22930 | 190 |
From a Socialist Point of View Westminster Review 125 January 1886 20722 | 191 |
A Selection of Essays and Lectures London T Fisher Unwin 1888 42746 | 193 |
T Fisher Unwin 1894 6785 | 194 |
The Marriage Debate 18881895 | 197 |
35877 | 198 |
215 | 211 |
31920 | 212 |
351 | 214 |
43133 | 215 |
24346 | 216 |
62531 | 218 |
An Interview with Madame Sarah Grand Humanitarian 8 March 1896 16169 | 222 |
The Woman Who Did Retrospective ReviewsA Literary Log vol II 18931895 London John Lane The Bodley Head and New York Dodd Mead 1896... | 223 |
Two Parodies | 227 |
153 | 228 |
Works Cited and Recommended Reading | 231 |