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Haroian-Guerin, Gil
The Fatal Hero
Diana, Deity of the Moon, as an Archetype of the Modern Hero in English Literature
Series: Writing About Women - Volume 21
Year of Publication: 1996
New York, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt/M., Paris, Wien, 1996. 272 pp.
ISBN 978-0-8204-3025-6 hardback
(Hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-8204-4083-5 pb.
(Softcover)
Weight: 0.540 kg, 1.190 lbs
available Softcover
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- Hardcover
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Book synopsis
The Fatal Hero explores the genesis of a dynamic new female hero in English literature. With imaginative and forceful arguments, it investigates the radical revision of the figure of Diana as an ideal model for the heroic woman. This ground-breaking analysis opens new vistas on the novels of Charlotte Brontë, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Joyce, Henry James, George Eliot, and Edith Wharton. This study transforms the way we see modern literature, its language and images, and its themes and heroic characters. The Fatal Hero demonstrates a hitherto unidentified but profound nexus between women's studies and modern literature.
About the author(s)/editor(s)
The Author: Gil Haroian-Guerin received her Ph.D. in English Literature from The Graduate Center of The City University of New York. She has published widely in scholarly and literary journals. Her fiction has won the Jerome Lowell DeJur Award and a Goodman Fund Grant. Currently, she teaches at Syracuse University and is an advisory editor to the literary quarterly Ararat.
Reviews
«'The Fatal Hero' is a brilliant and original study that offers a new way of reading texts. Gil Haroian-Guerin demonstrates how the use of Diana is highly significant in the revolutionary myth-making of modern authors eager to recast our sense of the world. This creative scholarly book is a convincing example of how a feminist approach can lead to a rich world of new discoveries.» (Eve Sourian, Director of Women's Studies, The City College of New York)
«This is a wonderful, fertile book, impeccable in its scholarship, sweeping in its scope, daring in its argument and entirely convincing. It will change the way we think about modern literature (and in modern I include the literature of the past two centuries), the structure of the modern novel, the role of myth in modern narrative, and the intricate relationship between fictional characterization and the parameters of gender.» (Felicia Bonaparte, Professor of English, The Graduate Center of The City University of New York)
«'The Fatal Hero' documents the dynamics of the female hero with great verve and charm. This is a landmark study, a thought-provoking work which will change a reader's perception of women in literature.» (Diana Der Hovanessian, Board Member of P.S.A. and winner of the Columbia/P.E.N. Translation Center Prize)
«Gil Haroian-Guerin explores the vital role that feminine images derived from the ancient archetypal moon goddesses play in refashioning the woman as hero in fiction from Charlotte Brontë to Edith Wharton. Her use of the Diana archetype provides a new and exciting feminine-centered basis for understanding these novels.» (Robert Gates, Professor of English, Syracuse University)
«...Haroian-Guerin's argument is intelligent and unique...This book would be a suitable addition to any academic library's collection in gender studies.» (S.A. Inness, Choice)
Series
Writing About Women: Feminist Literary Studies. Vol. 21
General Editor: Esther Labovitz