Review by Choice Review
These 14 essays (all but one written for this volume) exemplify the changing critical fortunes of Mary Shelley, once neglected or treated as a writer who had almost accidentally produced a single odd masterpiece, but now taken seriously as a major author, with increasing attention being accorded her other works. This critical rediscovery stems in large part from the work of feminist scholars who see Shelley as a trenchant critic of her culture and, in particular, of the excesses of Romantic individualism. Both established scholars and younger critics are represented in these essays, and the overall quality is high. S. Wolfson demonstrates the important role Mary played as editor of Percy Shelley's works, arguing persuasively that it was she who defined her husband and his canon for subsequent readers. P. Cantor illuminatingly reads Shelley's tale "Transformation" as a response to Byron's unfinished The Deformed Transformed and a critique of the darker side of Romanticism. M. Paley and Fisch offer contrasting readings of Shelley's apocalyptic novel The Last Man--Paley seeing an ironic rebuke to Romantic optimism, and Fisch viewing Shelley's novel of a devastating plague in terms of our contemporary plague, AIDS. One caveat: several essays are marred by excessive indulgence in critical jargon, thus effectively limiting their audience to a tiny academic elite. Recommended for graduate-level collections in Romanticism and women's studies. K. P. Mulcahy; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
