Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. viii, 235 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

1. "Continuing her analysis of modernism and its relation to earlier periods of literature and thought, Beryl Schlossman explores secular modernist use of female characters - "madonnas of modernism" - as emblems of forbidden desire. Although these works appear to depict characters who assume conventional gender roles, Schlossman asserts, their renderings of scenes of love ultimately blur gender identity and dissolve it in the text.
2. Through an innovative use of style, her literary examples articulate an art of seduction and an aesthetic that transforms, suspends, or erases identity - individual, gender, social, and cultural."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

1. Literature, Modern > 19th century > History and criticism
2. European literature > History and criticism
3. Sex in literature
4. Literature, Modern > 20th century > History and criticism
5. Modernism (Literature)
6. Virginity in literature
7. Women in literature
8. Love in literature
9. Desire in literature
10. Literature, Modern > Classical influences

Contents

1. Introduction: Taking the Veil -- Pt. 1. Eros the Bittersweet. Ch. 1. Platonic Love: Socrates, Diotima, and the Virgin Mary. Ch. 2. Love's Bitter Mystery: Edenville and Nighttown -- Pt. 2. The Two Loves. Ch. 3. "Che Vuoi?" Desire and the Seductions of Art. Ch. 4. Encore Performances: The End of Don Giovanni -- Pt. 3. Triangles of Desire. Ch. 5. Bloom in Church: Beautiful Figures and Virgin Brides. Ch. 6. Isolde at Sea: Jealousy, Erotics, and Poetics. Ch. 7. Writing and Erasing the Feminine: Sappho's Eros, Modernist Poetics, and the Madonna. Conclusion: Virgin or Madonna.

Owning institution

1. Columbia University Libraries

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.