Twayne's Galsworthy

31:2, Book Reviews and Katharine Hilbery's escape to the country with her lover, where she plans to study mathematics. In her reading of Mrs. Dalloway, Squier focuses on the important street scenes, and in each case her analysis is surprising and convincing . She illuminates the differences between Clarissa Dalloway and her daughter through an examination of their respective walks through the city; and she sees the figure of Septimus Warren Smith as the casualty of a gendered, zoned, and restrictively partitioned society. Her reading of Flush makes the analogy between Flush and his mistress (and, as an appealing sidelight, another analogy between Mr. Barrett and Jack the Ripper). Squier takes Flush's journey from confinement in London to freedom as a classless street dog in Italy as an allegory of the woman writer's timely evolution, like the allegory of Orlando's transformations. (If Woolf argues in A Room of One's Own that women "have not had a dog's chance of writing poetry," then Squier's witty analysis of Flush shows that is precisely the sort of chance they Aave had.) Finally, Squier argues that in TAe Years Woolf was ready "to consider the full scope of female life in the city" (138). In this last reading, she again presents a canny analysis of Woolf's deletions and revisions, concentrating on her treatment of "street love" and her use of Cleopatra's Needle as a feminist symbol before going on to analyze two urban images which operate fully in the published version: the pillar box and the bridge. After the richness of her readings Squier's concluding chapter is disappointingly brief, especially since it is asked to bear the weight of her concluding argument that Woolf's death, as well as her failure to finish Between the Acts, were due to the wartime transformations of London and all that they stood for in terms of Woolf s psychic topology . Still, this is suggestive and plausible. And the book as a whole is more than suggestive; it is persuasive and original. Carolyn Williams Boston University TWAYNE'S GALSWORTHY Sanford Stemlicht. John Galsworthy. Twayne's English Author Series 477. Boston: Twayne, 1987. $17.95 During his lifetime John Galsworthy enjoyed a respect and popularity afforded few writers. Shortly after his death in 1933 his reputation began to wane and attention given to his work since then has been minimal. The portraits he gave of the British upper-middle classes, however, defined their very character for the rest of the world and for themselves as well. In this way, as Sanford Stemlicht asserts, "Galsworthy's subtle influence lives on" (preface, no pagination). More important than Stemlicht's recognition of the tenacity of the Galsworthy stereotype is his assertion that Galsworthy's "star is beginning to rise once more" (preface). Certainly the release of this particular book in the Twayne series at this time adds luster to that rising star. 235 31:2, Book Reviews In this volume the author bifurcates his attention in order to present a balanced study of both the man and his works. The Twayne format, which includes a chronology, short biography, summary and analysis of works, and a comprehensive bibliography, necessitates a dual focus of this nature. It assumes an oeuvre closely aligned to personal concerns developed out of the author's interaction with social and historical reality. In Galsworthy's case the assumption is appropriate. Galsworthy's highly developed social conscience impelled his creative endeavors. Though the experiences of a lifetime produced results that varied in form and subject, the essential plea to alleviate the human suffering occasioned by institutionalized callousness remains a constant. Stemlicht conscientiously details the causes that concemed Galsworthy throughout his career and often notes thematic similarities in dissimilar works. For example, he observes that Clara Desmond in the tragic drama "The Fugitive" encounters an injustice similar to that endured by Irene Forsyte in the satiric novel TAe Man of Property. In addition, Stemlicht's chapter on Galsworthy's essays mentions specifically the subject matters under discussion in each collection, so the relationship between fiction and nonfiction becomes immediately evident. Galsworthy's social commitment as evidenced by his writing , his personal...