Fatherhood is a new area of investigation in literary, historical and cultural studies. This lively collection penetrates the stereotype of the Victorian paterfamilias to reveal intimate and involved, authoritarian and austere fathers. Examining how paternal power was embedded in social institutions, it argues that fatherhood invoked more anxiety and debate than hitherto acknowledged. As these innovative, interdisciplinary essays show, the history of fatherhood can illuminate our understanding of class society and empire as well as gender and the family.

Product Description: Trev Lynn Broughton takes an in-depth look at the developments within Victorian auto/biography, and asks what we can learn about the conditions and limits of male literary authority. Providing a feminist analysis of the effects of this literary production on culture, Broughton looks at the increase in professions with a vested interest in the written Life; the speeding up of the Life-and-Letters industry during this period; the institutionalization of Life-writing; and the consequent spread of a network of mainly male practitioners and commentators...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: "What I like most about this book is the fine balance between theory and pedagogy it achieves. The theoretical discussions are carefully developed, thoughtful, and richly provocative, drawing on complex theories to unpack the subtleties and contradictions of women’s autobiography in its many forms...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)