The Flirt's Tragedy: Desire without End in Victorian and Edwardian Fiction

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Many individuals helped with the writing of this book. I would like to thank U. C. Knoepflmacher for his patient, expert, and always spirited attention , Talmudic in its intensity, to the details and substance of my writing . To Elaine Showalter, whose good humor, erudition, and warm encouragement have been everywhere in evidence, my fondest gratitude. Special thanks to Deborah Epstein Nord, whose enthusiasm and learning about all matters Victorian greatly helped me in formulating my ideas. Jane Eldridge Miller read the entire manuscript and provided much helpful advice. Suzanne Churchill again and again proved herself a tremendous friend and a cogent critic. Others who offered their insights or suggestions at various stages in my writing include Eric Anderson, Rachel Asher, Nina Auerbach, JeanneMarie Baron, Robert Caserio, Doreen Cooper, Nick Cull, Joshua David, Richard Dellamora, Maria DiBattista, Caryl Emerson, Laura Engelstein, Casey Finch, Billy Finnegan, Carter Foster, George Ganat, Michelle Gittelman , Ken Halpern, Beth Harrison, Anthony Heilbut, Stephen Hirsh, Elizabeth Hollander, Anne Humpheries, Claudia Johnson, Jennie Kassanoff, Carole Kaye, Kevin Kopelson, Joshua Landy, George Levine, Vittorio Lingiardi , A. Walton Litz, Mary Long, James Longenbach, Chris-Ann Matteo, Michael McKeon, Mark Melchior, Lee Clark Mitchell, Nick Moschkovakis , Adrienne Munich, James Najarian, Thomas Pavel, Arnold Rampersad , Bruce Redford, Katie Roiphe, Charles Rosen, Marcia Rosh, Talia Schaffer, Todd Shepard, Kathy Silberger, Jonathan Smith, Katherine Stern, Lisa Sternlieb, Katherine Stevens, Maja Thomas, Mark Turner, Marilyn Walden, Susan Wolfson, and Phoebe Zerwick. At Eugene Lang College and the Parsons School of Design, Bea Banu, Caroline Payson, and Arnold Klein offered invigorating conversation. At Davidson College, Jonathan Berkey, Vivien Dietz, Ramón Figueroa, Ann Fox, Gail Gibson, Cynthia Lewis, Maggie McCarthy, Shelley Rigger, and Mary Thornberry offered advice and friendship, while David Boraks, Michael Oldani, Deidre Prosen, and Chris Wooten supplied much-needed distractions. At Hunter College, Richard Barickman, Nico Israel, Margaret Laurino, Harriet Luria, Kate Parry, Thom Taylor, and Sylvia Tomasch have offered a lively academic environment. I know that for many of my friends and colleagues, as with so many of the coquettes and flirts I deal with in these pages, the anticipation has been maddening—and exquisite. Over the years, many of my students have galvanized my thinking on the history of the novel and Victorian fiction, and I have space here to thank only Merritt Abney, Alexis Boehmler, Vic Brand, Jamey Heit, Robert Hester, Rhonda Hinds, Sam Kuykendall, Erin Smith, and Jim Stuntz. To Jill R. Hughes, Carolyn Sherayko, and the anonymous readers at the University Press of Virginia, I am grateful for astute suggestions. To Cathie Brettschneider, who expressed interest in my manuscript at a very early stage in its conception, I offer my salute to an ideal editor. Finally, my family has been a constant source of encouragement throughout my work on this project. This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Walter Kaye. viii Acknowledgments The Flirt’s Tragedy ...