Comedy and the Feminine Middlebrow Novel: Elizabeth Von Arnim and Elizabeth Taylor

175 Pages·2012·0.745 MB·English

by  Erica Brown

COMEDY AND THE FEMININE MIDDLEBROW
NOVEL: ELIZABETH VON ARNIM AND
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
Literary texts and the Popular Marketplace
Series Editors: Kate Macdonald
Ann Rea
Editorial Board: Kristin Bluemel
David Carter
Stella Deen
Christoph Ehland
David Finkelstein
Faye Hammill
Nick Hubble
Phyllis Lassner
Elizabeth Maslen
Victoria Stewart
Titles in this Series
1 Th e Business of the Novel: Economics, Aesthetics and the Case of
Middlemarch
Simon R. Frost
2 Fashioning the Silver Fork Novel
Cheryl A. Wilson
Forthcoming Titles
John Buchan and the Idea of Modernity
Kate Macdonald and Nathan Waddell (eds)
William Clark Russell and the Victorian Nautical Novel:
Gender, Genre and the Marketplace
Andrew Nash
Women’s University Fiction, 1880–1945
Anna Bogen
Th e Gothic Novel and the Stage: Romantic Appropriations
Francesca Saggini
www.pickeringchatto.com/ltpm

COMEDY AND THE FEMININE MIDDLEBROW
NOVEL: ELIZABETH VON ARNIM AND
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
by
Erica Brown
PICKERING & CHATTO
2013
Published by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited
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© Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Ltd 2013
© Erica Brown 2013
To the best of the Publisher’s knowledge every eff ort has been made to contact
relevant copyright holders and to clear any relevant copyright issues. 
Any omissions that come to their attention will be remedied in future editions.
british library cataloguing in publication data
Brown, Erica, 1975–
Comedy and the feminine middlebrow novel: Elizabeth von Arnim and
Elizabeth Taylor. – (Literary texts and the popular marketplace)
1. Von Arnim, Elizabeth, 1866–1941 – Criticism and interpretation – History
– 20th century. 2. Taylor, Elizabeth, 1912–1975 – Criticism and interpretation
– History – 20th century. 3. Women in literature. 4. Middle class in literature.
5. Humor in literature. 6. Humorous stories, English – History and criticism. 7.
English fi ction – Women authors – History and criticism.
I. Title II. Series
823.9’12099287-dc23
ISBN-13: 9781848933385
e: 9781848933392
∞

Th is publication is printed on acid-free paper that conforms to the American
National Standard for the Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Th e Middlebrow and Comedy: Elizabeth Taylor and Elizabeth
von Arnim’s Cultural and Literary Context 5
2 A Comedic ‘Response’ to War? Elizabeth von Arnim’s
Christopher and Columbus (1919) and Mr Skeffi ngton (1940),
and Elizabeth Taylor’s At Mrs Lippincote’s (1945) 29
3 ‘One Begins to See what is Meant by “Th ey Lived Happily Ever
Aft er”’: Elizabeth von Arnim’s Vera (1921) and Elizabeth
Taylor’s Palladian (1946) 65
4 ‘One Shudders to Th ink what a Less Sophisticated Artist would
have Made of It’: Th e Comedy of Age in Elizabeth von Arnim’s
Love (1925) and Elizabeth Taylor’s In a Summer Season (1961) 89
Conclusion 113
Notes 125
Works Cited 147
Index 159

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Th roughout the writing of this book I have benefi ted from the support of mem-
bers of the AHRC Middlebrow Network, an invaluable community of scholars
who share my sense that the middlebrow matters. I would especially like to thank
Mary Grover, Faye Hammill and Chris Hopkins – they have been unfailingly
generous with their time and always encouraging of this project. Th anks also go
to the Document Supply Services team at the Adsetts Centre, Sheffi eld Hallam
University, for arranging copies of so many old newspaper reviews and out-of-
print books, without which this book could not have been written.
Like most books, this one has taken many years to write, and I would like to
thank my friends and family for supporting me throughout. Particular thanks go
to Helen Brown, Alan Brown, Margaret Booth and Maurice McCabe.
It is oft en thought that the surest way to kill a joke is to try and analyse it; I
have not found this to be the case. My fi nal heartfelt thanks go to Elizabeth von
Arnim and Elizabeth Taylor, for still making me laugh aft er years of thinking
about how they do it.
– ix –