Victorian prose

"This collection of Victorian nonfiction prose juxtaposes classic texts and canonical writers with more obscure writings and authors in order to illuminate important debates in nineteenth-century Britain - inviting modern readers to see the age anew." "With fifty-six substantial selections from many writers, Victorian Prose reaches beyond the standard work of Carlyle, Newman, Mill, Arnold, and Ruskin to uncover a range of lesser-known voices of the era. Women writers are given full attention - compositions by Mary Prince, Dinah M. Craik, Florence Nightingale, Frances P. Cobbe, and Lucie Duff Gordon are among the entries." "Excerpts cover such topics of the Victorian period as British imperialism, the crisis of religious faith, and gender inequities. On the issue of colonial expansion, opinions range from Benjamin Disraeli's celebration of empire-building as evidence of Britain's glory to David Livingstone's promoting commerce with Africa as a way to restrain the slave trade and make it unprofitable. Views on "the woman question" extend from John Stuart Mill's defense of women's rights to Mrs. Humphry Ward's opposition to women's franchise and Sarah Ellis's support for the domestic ideal."--Jacket.