Barbara Baynton Criticism
Barbara Baynton (1857-1929) was a pioneering Australian novelist and short story writer, renowned for her unflinching portrayals of life in the Australian outback, particularly as experienced by women. Her works stand in stark contrast to the romanticized ideals of mateship and independence often celebrated in Australian literature of the 1890s. Instead, Baynton depicted a malevolent landscape fraught with isolation and danger, especially for women, as seen in her story "The Chosen Vessel," discussed by Vance Palmer and Kay Schaffer.
Baynton's major work, Bush Studies (1902), is a collection of short stories that delve into the harsh realities faced by women in rural Australia. Stories like "The Chosen Vessel" and "Squeaker's Mate" highlight the terror and isolation that pervade the lives of her female characters. As noted by A. Phillips, Baynton's narratives challenge the "robust nationalism" of her contemporaries by exposing the grim realities behind the bush's supposed allure.
Her only novel, Human Toll, continues this exploration of a hostile and barren landscape, focusing on the bleak existence of an orphan in the outback. As Shirley Walker observes, the novel is both "exciting and disturbing," offering a passionate and outraged response to the bush experience.
Baynton's works, initially sensational in Australia, gained international attention after English critic Edward Garnett advocated for Bush Studies. Her stories are celebrated for their "stark" and "savage" realism, offering a rare glimpse into the social conditions of rural women during her time, as further examined by Lucy Frost and in the works of Krimmer and Lawson.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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Barbara Baynton
(summary)
In the following essay, Palmer reminisces about his acquaintance with Baynton and discusses her story 'The Chosen Vessel', highlighting its themes of horror and the powerful climax experienced by a woman left alone with her child.
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Barbara Baynton and the Dissidence of the Nineties
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In the following essay, Phillips assesses Baynton's works in the context of Australian writing of the 1890s.
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An introduction to Barbara Baynton
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In the following excerpt, Krimmer and Lawson discuss themes and imagery in Bush Studies and Human Toll.
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Barbara Baynton: Woman as 'The Chosen Vessel'
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In the following essay, Schaffer analyzes 'The Chosen Vessel.' She discusses the lack of mention of women in the context of Australian literature's democratic nationalism and examines Barbara Baynton's writing, particularly her short story 'The Chosen Vessel,' in relation to contemporary theoretical questions concerning narrative and gender.
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Barbara Baynton: An Affinity with Pain
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In the following excerpt, she identifies emotional pain as the primary inspiration for Baynton's works.
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Gender and Genre in Barbara Baynton's Human Toll
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In the following essay, Sheridan discusses Human Toll in the context of nineteenth-century women's fiction and in the tradition of realistic narrative.
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Barbara Baynton's Human Toll: A Modernist Text?
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In the following essay, Walker focuses on Modernist narrative techniques in Human Toll.
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Barbara Baynton
(summary)
- Further Reading