<
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-sensation-novelist-who-exposed-the-plight-of-victorian-women-wilkie-collins-180983649/>
"When the English writer Wilkie Collins died in 1889 at age 65, the
Athenaeum
published only a lukewarm tribute:
As [Collins’] health had been irremediably broken several months before his
death, and as there was no prospect of his ever again producing books as
good as his best of former years, it is mockery for any outside his
immediate circle to profess deep sorrow at [his] death.
The magazine’s obituary paints Collins as a washed-up old hack. Reading it, one
wouldn’t know that he pioneered many aspects of the detective novel and started
the craze for sensation fiction, the hottest literary trend of the 1860s. Yet
this obituary captures the curse of Collins’ reputation: the impression that
he’s good but not great, notable enough to write about but not a genius of the
era. It’s a curse in need of breaking.
This month marks the 200th anniversary of Collins’ birth, presenting an
opportunity to revisit his legacy from a different perspective. Through his
elaborately constructed novels, Collins drew attention to the challenges faced
by Victorian women, showing how seemingly innocuous legal technicalities could
turn them into Gothic victims and England into an archaic prison."
Via Muse, who wrote "I actually was required to read
The Woman in White in
one of my English courses".
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
