Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton first Baron Lytton
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Standard Name: Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton,,, first Baron
Birth Name: Edward George Earle Bulwer
Self-constructed Name: Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton
Titled: Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, first Baron Lytton
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
, who began his prolific career as Edward Bulwer, wrote many kinds of novels—from the silver-fork genre (whose name derived from a derisive reference to Bulwer himself as a silver fork polisher
qtd. in
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
103
in Fraser's Magazine ) and domestic fiction to crime or Newgate
novels (the forerunner of sensation fiction), science fiction, and occult stories. He also wrote three plays, several books of poetry, and an Arthurian epic, as well as editing The New Monthly Magazine from 1831 to 1833.
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
RB
's vitality, sincerity, and pungent wit gained her the friendship of some of the most notable people of her day.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2024, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Her wide circle of friends and acquaintances included Henry James
(the two became extremely...
Friends, Associates
Harriette Wilson
Back in England, HW
attempted to cultivate new friendships. She corresponded with Bulwer Lytton
in letters full of acute criticism of his writing, but never persuaded him to know her socially.
Wilson, Frances. The Courtesan’s Revenge. Faber, 2003.
274-7
Friends, Associates
Augusta Ada Byron
AAB
remained close friends with Mary Somerville's family, and particularly with her eldest son by her first marriage, Woronzow Greig
, for the rest of her life. Somerville not only fostered Ada's mathematical aptitude, but...
Intertextuality and Influence
Dinah Mulock Craik
Sally Mitchell
compares The Head of the Family to the large-cast family story
Macready
praised the play, but then undermined the value of his own praise, calling it a wonderful tragedy—an extraordinary tragedy for a woman to have written.
qtd. in
Pigrome, Stella. “Mary Russell Mitford”. The Charles Lamb Bulletin, Vol.
66
, Charles Lamb Society, Apr. 1989, pp. 53-62.
57
Its popularity in London was such as to...
Intertextuality and Influence
Harriet Smythies
In a critical preface HS
reveals her gender though not her name. She opens by invoking the author of Rienzi (either, Mary Russell Mitford
or Edward Bulwer Lytton
). The two groups of lovers and...
Intertextuality and Influence
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
MEB
was encouraged to write from an early age, particularly by her mother. She would later recall how when she was eight and had just learned to write, her godfather bought her a beautiful brand...
Intertextuality and Influence
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
It was dedicated to novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton
with thanks for his literary advice.
Intertextuality and Influence
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
MEB
hoped her friend and mentor Edward Bulwer-Lytton
would find her next novel an improvement over Lady Audley and Aurora Floyd, but noted that I fear I shall never write a genial novel. The...
Intertextuality and Influence
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
There are occasional moments of wit, as when destitution reveals that the family servants think terms of practical life rather than sentimental fiction: the old-fashioned type of servant, who appears so frequently in Morton
's...
Intertextuality and Influence
Charlotte Mary Brame
The novel is structured around recurrent references to two other texts: Longfellow
's The Courtship of Miles Standish, which is used to structure the debate between Phillipa and Arleigh over whether a woman may...
Intertextuality and Influence
Catherine Gore
In an extraordinary passage near the end of the book, Cecil lists a number of people who might, if they could only work together, revolutionize the country.
qtd. in
Farrell, John P. “Toward a New History of Fiction: The Wolff Collection and the Example of Mrs. Gore”. The Library Chronicle of the University of Texas at Austin, Vol.
37
, 1986, pp. 28-37.
36
The names he mentions include actual...
Intertextuality and Influence
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
She took the title from a poem by Nora Perry
called Norine, and aimed to equal the success of Lucile (a drama by Edward Bulwer Lytton
which was later, after the appearance of Maurine...
In London, Eliza Lynn drank in artistic life. She championed the singing of Jenny Lind
against those who preferred Alboni or Malibran. She performed for Samuel Laurence
the role of uninformed art critic or foolometer...