- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (6 Jan 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0192839349
- ISBN-13: 978-0192839343
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 13.2 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 672,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Anne K. Mellor, UCLA
"This novel is superbly edited and introduced by Adriana Craciun..."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Nineteenth-Century Literature
"Like other editions in this fine series, this one provides an informative critical introduction, as well as several notable appendixes."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those used to the gentle, passive heroines of such gothic writers as Ann Radcliffe, Victoria di Loredani, the heroine of Charlotte Dacre's "Zofloya or the Moor", makes a refreshing change. She is a strong and violent woman, very passionate and she will go to any lengths to get what she wants.
I won't go into any further details of the plot but I would recommend this novel highly if you like unconventional styles of women's writing and aren't too easily shocked.
I won't go into any further details of the plot but I would recommend this novel highly if you like unconventional styles of women's writing and aren't too easily shocked.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This tale of lust and murder, set in fifteenth century Italy, is a far cry from the novels of Jane Austen. Published in 1806, Charlotte Dacre's novel is firmly in the romantic tradition, with its theme of unbridled passion and its fatal consequences. It also has good Gothic credentials - violence, sex and magic are the key ingredients.
The basic premise is that Victoria di Loredani, an aristocrat born with a passionate nature, could have led a virtuous life had she been properly guided. Unfortunately her mother's adultery becomes the primary influence on Victoria's decelopment and we follow her descent from nobility into a life of crime, dissolution and degradation. Unfortunately the story dissipates into allegory towards the end, but despite this it is well worth reading. The plot is fairly well constructed and Dacre is an impressive stylist.
The notes to the Oxford World's Classics edition are generall helpful and unobtrusive. The introduction usefully places the novel in its literary and historical context.
Since 'Zofloya or The Moor' doesn't quite live up to its early promise I award it three stars.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
When talking of late eighteenth gothic novels Radcliffe and Lewis instantly spring to mind and the differences between their style and content. However, what is usually overlooked is Charlotte Dacre's wonderful novel that in some ways bridges the gap between the other two.
The story opens in Venice in the late fifteenth century at a birthday party for the fifteen year old Victoria. That night Count Ardolpho comes to visit, and indeed stays as a guest. Victoria's parents are deeply in love and they have accomodated and spoilt their children to excess. Ardolpho gets his kicks out of destroying families and thus sets about seducing Victoria's mother. He succeeds and after Victoria's brother has left and her father has been killed the story enters its main path.
The story mainly takes place around Victoria and her adventures of captivity, escape, infatuation and lust. Zofloya the title character himself does not appear until halfway through the tale, and is the servant of Victoria's brother-in-law. With Zofloya, Victoria is drawn deeper down the path of criminality and vice; indeed if you have ever read The Monk (Oxford World's Classics) you will easily work out who Zofloya is.
This book in some ways reads more like a Jacobean play than others of the genre. On its first publication it caused a minor scandal, as women surely weren't supposed to write about some things. Indeed, Charlotte Dacre was ahead of her time writing about strong women with sexual urgings, this had always been the domain of male authors in mainly erotic fiction. This book is really good and frenetically paced, but the main question has to be, has she out-camped Matthew Lewis?
The story opens in Venice in the late fifteenth century at a birthday party for the fifteen year old Victoria. That night Count Ardolpho comes to visit, and indeed stays as a guest. Victoria's parents are deeply in love and they have accomodated and spoilt their children to excess. Ardolpho gets his kicks out of destroying families and thus sets about seducing Victoria's mother. He succeeds and after Victoria's brother has left and her father has been killed the story enters its main path.
The story mainly takes place around Victoria and her adventures of captivity, escape, infatuation and lust. Zofloya the title character himself does not appear until halfway through the tale, and is the servant of Victoria's brother-in-law. With Zofloya, Victoria is drawn deeper down the path of criminality and vice; indeed if you have ever read The Monk (Oxford World's Classics) you will easily work out who Zofloya is.
This book in some ways reads more like a Jacobean play than others of the genre. On its first publication it caused a minor scandal, as women surely weren't supposed to write about some things. Indeed, Charlotte Dacre was ahead of her time writing about strong women with sexual urgings, this had always been the domain of male authors in mainly erotic fiction. This book is really good and frenetically paced, but the main question has to be, has she out-camped Matthew Lewis?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
