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Seduction and Betrayal

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( 645 ratings, 80 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Seduction and Betrayal by Elizabeth Hardwick is a critical analysis of the lives and works of notable women in literature and theatre. Hardwick delves into the complexities of female characters and the artists behind them, exploring themes of creativity, ambition, and the often-troubled relationships between personal and professional life. The book combines literary criticism with insightful commentary on the intersection of gender and art.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you have a keen interest in exploring the intricate dynamics of women's roles in literature and the arts. With insightful essays, it delves into themes of passion, struggle, and the resilience of female characters, making it a thought-provoking read for those fascinated by literary criticism and cultural discussions.

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Seduction and Betrayal

Elizabeth Hardwick's iconic essay collection is a radical portrait of women and literature, reissued with a new introduction by Deborah Levy.

Elizabeth Hardwick's iconic essay collection Seduction and Betrayal is a radical portrait of women and literature, reissued with a new introduction by Deborah Levy.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Hardwick's sentences are burned in my brain. - Susan Sontag

Sidelined. Betrayed. Killed off. Elizabeth Hardwick dissects the history of women and literature. In her most virtuoso work of criticism, she explores the lives of the Brontës, Woolf, Eliot, and Plath; the fate of literary wives such as Zelda Fitzgerald and Jane Carlyle; and the destinies of fictional heroines from Richardson's Clarissa to Ibsen's Nora.

With fierce empathy and biting wit, Hardwick mines their childhoods, families, and personalities to probe the costs of sex, love, and marriage. Shattering the barrier between writing and life, she asks who is the seducer and who the seduced; who the victim and who the victor. Both urgently timely and timeless, Seduction and Betrayal explodes the conventions of the essay: and the result is nothing less than a reckoning.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Seduction and Betrayal by Elizabeth Hardwick has been praised for its insightful exploration of female literary characters and the complex roles of women in classic literature. Critics admire Hardwick's keen analytical skills and her ability to weave together rigorous literary criticism with personal observations, making it a compelling read for those interested in the intersection of gender, literature, and culture.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571347001

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 July 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Deborah Levy

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 133.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 195g

Pages: 224

About the Author

Elizabeth Hardwick (1916-2007) was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and educated at the University of Kentucky and Columbia University. She was one of the great critics and intellectuals of her time. As co-founder of The New York Review of Books, she contributed more than a hundred pieces to the magazine, as well as writing fiction for the Partisan Review and New Yorker. She authored three novels, a biography of Herman Melville, and four collections of essays, and was the recipient of a Gold Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Lifetime Achievement Citation from the National Book Critics Circle. Hardwick was married to the poet Robert Lowell from 1949 to 1972 and their collected correspondence, The Dolphin Letters, will be published in 2019.

Deborah Levy is a British playwright, novelist and poet, who has also written for the RSC and the BBC. She is the author of a celebrated story collection, Black Vodka, and six novels including Swimming Home, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012, and Hot Milk, shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and Man Booker Prize 2016. She is writing a three-part series of 'living autobiographies' which so far includes The Cost of Living and Things I Don't Want To Know. Her new novel, The Man Who Saw Everything, will be published in August 2019.

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