Turn-of-the-Century Romance

BOOK REVIEWS relationship for years. But many of these essays deliver more than the titles seem to promise. Bardolph's work on Bandol, for example captivates , not entirely because of what she calls the "French Connection," but for her astute investigation of Mansfield's use of nature motUs. Each of the contributors of this volume seem to shed preconceived myths about Mansfield's work, and seek innovative, UiteUigent rereadings to bring Mansfield's writing "Ui from the margins" to a central place Ui literary history. Deborah Martinson ________________ Occidental College Turn-of-the-Century Romance WUliam J. Scheick. The Ethos of Romance at the Turn of the Century. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994. 198 pp. $30.00 THE BEST literary criticism has several goals. It explicates, illuminates, enlightens, and sends the reader to the original sources to verify the assertions of the critic. This book accomplishes all of those. For a critic to take a genre of fiction that is quite unfashionable as a vehicle for literary analysis, to the point of resisting clear definition, and apply the most rigorous methods to it would seem quixotic. Yet by the time Scheick has finished he has made the point of his thesis: "to reinstate ethical romance as a major mode of artistic expression." Along the way, he has an opportunity to display to the reader's delight some examples of fiction which do what romance is supposed to do: "heighten, exceed, or transcend the ordinary." The critic's range is actually broader than the titular focus of the turn of the century. In order to arrive at his intended goal of an explication of "ethical romance" he begins by laying his foundation stone with a study of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Roger Malvin's Burial" from 1832. Among the thirteen other writers under consideration are several (including John Kendrick Bangs and C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne) who have perhaps never received such serious critical attention before. The writers and stories chosen for consideration are examples of the types of romance which help the author prove his thesis. Scheick sub-divides romance as a genre into six categories: historical fiction, supernatural tales, adventure narratives, mysteries, science fiction, and holiday farces. The works of the authors chosen for his study can be fitted hito one or more of these categories. While he might have proceeded to discuss his authors within each of those dominant generic 99 ELT 38: 1 1995 categories, he prefers to deal with them as they relate to Hawthorne's tradition of the ethical romance. To clarify what he means by the ethical romance he contrasts it with two other types, the eventuary and the aesthetic. By this means he grants himself the freedom to move between categories and stories, drawing comparisons, explaining contrasts, and pointing out possible influences, which he might not have had he chosen to deal solely with the six genre sections. It is advisable for the reader of this book to keep Ui muid the points made in each chapter, for they are called up again Ui subsequent chapters to strengthen Scheick's pomts. This makes for a most refreshingly complex critical structure. Scheick's interest Ui the three types of romance is principally m terms of what may be implied about then· prospective readers. This is popular fiction, after aU, and the authors would not have been blind to what might be done to enhance sales. The use of conventions differs Ui each type. The response of the reader of the eventuary romance (exemplified by H. Rider Haggard) is to foUow the events laid down m order to achieve satisfaction at the end. The author of the aesthetic romance (such as Henry James) makes assumptions about the reader's abUity to comprehend art and shapes the story accordingly. The ethical romance, on the other hand, encourages reader response more directly. As Scheick interprets this, it is the author's intent to get the reader to reflect on some ethical problem Ui the course of the narrative. The artistry is more sophisticated than meets the eye Ui a casual reading of the fiction. WhUe the eventuary and aesthetic romances eUcit at best a passive response from the...