Mrs Humphry Ward, Marcella

Gisela Argyle (York University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1894

Places

United Kingdom (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Marcella

(1894) is the third of Ward’s five originally bestselling and best-regarded novels, with

Sir George Tressady

(1896) its weaker sequel. The quick, cheap, one-volume reprint of

Marcella

ended the dominance in Britain of the expensive three-decker and the major lending libraries’ consequent near-monopoly and power of censorship (Sutherland, 1990, pp. 147-8). Like the previous two novels,

Robert Elsmere

and

The History of David Grieve

Marcella

is a

bildungsroma

n, but this time about a female protagonist. Developing from aspiring Lady Bountiful in the country to socialist district nurse in London, to reformist bride of the leading aristocrat of the county, Marcella rehearses the conflicting roles of the Victorian woman and the New Woman. Linking a romance plot with a political…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1940 words

Citation: Argyle, Gisela. "Marcella". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 September 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3742, accessed 19 April 2024.]

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Mrs Humphry Ward, Marcella

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback