The Descent of Love: Darwin and the Theory of Sexual Selection in American Fiction, 1871-1926University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 1996 M04 3 - 456 pages Upon its publication in 1871, Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex sent shock waves through the scientific community and the public at large. In an original and persuasive study, Bert Bender demonstrates that it is this treatise on sexual selection, rather than any of Darwin's earlier works on evolution, that provoked the most immediate and vigorous response from American fiction writers. These authors embraced and incorporated Darwin's theories, insights, and language, creating an increasingly dark and violent view of sexual love in American realist literature. |
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... received in the Atlantic ( which Howells was essentially running ) and the North Ameri- can Review ( which Henry Adams began to edit that year ) . In the second of these ( in the North American Review , October 1870 ) Chauncey Wright ...
... received under the new conditions of her life with Dr. Leslie , Nan is quite strong enough to continue alone . Although Gerry finds Nan “ attractive " ( partly because she stands to receive Dr. Leslie's " fortune , ” as Darwin would ...
... received from her mother and nanny ( ix , xi - xii ) . Penetrating as such psychological analyses might be , they offer greatly oversimplified portraits of the writer at work with sexual materials during this period , as I suggested ...