Caricature and Realism in the Romantic Novel

What was caricature to novelists in the Romantic period? Why does Jane Austen call Mr Dashwood's wife 'a strong caricature of himself'? Why does Mary Shelley describe the body of Frankenstein's creature as 'in proportion', but then 'distorted in its proportions' - and does caricature have anything to do with it? This book answers those questions, shifting our understanding of 'caricature' as a literary-critical term in the decades when 'the English novel' was first defined and canonised as a distinct literary entity. Novels incorporated caricature talk and anti-caricature rhetoric to tell readers what different realisms purported to show them. Recovering the period's concept of caricature, Caricature and Realism in the Romantic Novel sheds light on formal realism's self-reflexivity about the 'caricature' of artifice, exaggeration and imagination. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

List of contents

Part I. Caricature Talk: 1. Defining Caricature; 2. Denying Caricature; 3. Caricature Talk and the Spectator; Part II. Novel Caricatures; Caricature Talk and Characterisation Technique: 4. Jane Austen and Anti-Caricature; 5. Walter Scott and Historical Caricatures; 6. Mary Shelley, Flesh-caricature and Horrid Realism.

About the author

Olivia Ferguson is an editorial consultant, writer and independent scholar based in North East Scotland. She has degrees in Literature and Linguistics from McGill University, the University of Victoria, and the University of Edinburgh. She has published research articles in Studies in Romanticism, Persuasions On-Line, Notes and Queries and Gothic Studies, and has a chapter in the forthcoming Edinburgh Companion to Jane Austen and the Arts. Olivia was a research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, in 2018–19, and Lecturer in Romanticism at Birkbeck College, University of London, in 2019–20.

Product details

• Authors: Olivia Ferguson
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 02.11.2023
• EAN: 9781009274265
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0927426-5
• No. of pages: 228
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Romanticism
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Fiction: special features, FICTION / Classics, Classic fiction (pre c 1945), LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / General, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, Classic fiction: general and literary