Masochistic Pleasures of Sentimental Literature

Marianne Noble is Associate Professor of Literature at American University, where she teaches nineteenth-century American literature and introductory courses in literary theory and creative writing. She has published widely in numerous journals.

• Acknowledgments vii Introduction "Weird Curves": Masochism and Feminism 3 One Masochistic Discourses of Womanhood 26 Two Sentimental Masochism 61 Tbe Parallel Structures of Sentimentalism and Masochism 62 "The Lineaments of the Divine Master" 85 Three "An Ecstasy of Apprehension": The Erotics, of Domination in The Wide, Wide World 94 The Making of a Masochist 96 Horsewhipping and the Exploration of Desire 113 Four The Ecstasies of Sentimental Wounding in Uncle Tom's Cabin 126 The Epistemology of Wounds 128 A Raging, Burning Storm of Feeling 136 Five The Revenge of Cato's Daughter: Emily Dickinson's Uses of Sentimental Masochism 147 The Power of Sentimental Masochism 157 The Erotics of Sentimental Masochism 164 The Presence of Sentimental Masochism 174 Conclusion The Possibility of Masochism 190 Notes 199 Works Cited 235 Index 251

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2000 "This book does an admirable job of assessing the cultural and libidinal values attached to sentimental fiction and its prevalent tropology of erotic domination in 19th century writing by women."--Virginia Quarterly Review "[A] complex, nuanced volume ...Though the author abundantly documents the oppressive aspects of fantasies of masochistic desire, she also traces the kinds of power and pleasure produced in works that eroticize female attraction to pain and submission to male domination."--Choice "Noble's flexible and dazzling close reading of Stowe, Warner, and Dickinson are artful, and she usefully demonstrates that exploring the variations of individualistic psychological response is key to understanding the work of sentimental discourse."--Rebecca Wanzo, American Literature