Table of Contents

1. Waiting 2. Meeting 3. Encounter 4. Embodiment 5. Desire 6. Language 7. Disclosure 8. Kissing 9. Gender 10. Power 11. Others 12. Jealousy 13. Selfhood 14. Proposal 15. Wedding 16. Sex 17. Marriage 18. Ending Conclusion Appendix. Ages of Fictional Characters Primary Works Cited Notes List of Illustrations List of Fictional Characters Index

About the Author

Stephen Kern is Professor of History at The Ohio State University.

Reviews

Using Heidegger's concept of authentic and inauthentic lives, Kern examines selected novels and artworks from the era 1847-1934 to show that the Victorians were inauthentic in their love relationships and the Moderns were authentic. ``Victorian'' seems to apply to all Europe and the United States during the 19th century, and the different attitudes toward love, sex, and marriage that existed in the countries whose writers and artists are cited are not described. Such sloppy thinking characterizes the entire book. Kern quotes novels out of context, distorts their meanings to fit his theory, and sometimes even gets the facts wrong. One had hoped this kind of careless, xenophobic cultural criticism was no longer being practiced. Not recommended.-- Judy Mimken, Saginaw Valley State Univ., Mich.