Gail Godwin Criticism
Gail Godwin's literary career offers a profound examination of identity, autonomy, and the intricacies of human relationships. Her works, often situated against the backdrop of the Southern United States, draw deeply from her own roots, crafting narratives that intertwine personal and cultural histories. Godwin's ability to explore the interplay between literature and life is vividly captured in Susan E. Lorsch's analysis of The Odd Woman. This theme resonates throughout her oeuvre, with novels like A Mother and Two Daughters achieving critical acclaim for their exploration of family dynamics and personal growth, as noted by Paul Gray.
Godwin's storytelling is marked by a rich narrative style that blends classical structures with a modern sensibility, inviting comparisons to Victorian novelists. Her work has been praised for its nuanced characterizations and its ability to transform commonplace situations into compelling stories. This is particularly evident in The Odd Woman, which Katha Pollitt describes as a novel that skillfully navigates the connections between the past and present. Similarly, Joyce Carol Oates highlights the thematic depth of Godwin's work, recognizing her ability to craft narratives of personal and societal constraints.
Recognized as a significant Southern novelist, Godwin's contributions to literature have been acknowledged with prestigious awards, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim fellowship. Her experimentation with narrative techniques and persistent exploration of feminine themes are extensively discussed in Mary Ann Wimsatt's critique, which positions Godwin as a pivotal author in late 20th-century American literature. Despite some criticism for works like Violet Clay and The Good Husband, Linda C. Pelzer's analysis underscores her enduring portrayal of authentic female experiences and their quests for identity.
Her novel A Mother and Two Daughters is celebrated for its emotive depth and narrative complexity, likened to the broad character spectrum typical of Victorian literature—a point commended by both Jonathan Yardley and Anne Tyler. In Mr. Bedford and the Muses, Godwin delves into autobiographical territory, examining the artist's existential struggles with humor and introspection, as noted by Judith Gies and Rebecca Radner.
Ultimately, Godwin's unique voice in literature lies in her ability to weave complex narratives that reflect on personal growth amidst societal constraints. Her exploration of female autonomy, as discussed by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, remains a testament to her narrative prowess and her insightful reflection on the human condition.
Contents
- Principal Works
- Godwin, Gail (Vol. 5)
- Godwin, Gail (Vol. 8)
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Godwin, Gail (Vol. 31)
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Gail Godwin: A Novelist at the Height of Her Powers
(summary)
In the following essay, Jonathan Yardley argues that Gail Godwin's novel A Mother and Two Daughters is a masterful work of emotional depth and narrative complexity, exploring themes of family, life, and societal survival with a compelling blend of compassion and intellect, establishing Godwin as a significant American novelist.
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Gail Godwin's Third Novel: The 'Odd Woman' Wises Up
(summary)
In the following essay, Brigitte Weeks praises Gail Godwin's growth as a writer, highlighting her latest novel, A Mother and Two Daughters, for its engaging, relatable characters and narrative pace, while acknowledging minor flaws, and commending Godwin's ability to reflect ordinary life with depth and authenticity.
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Renovated Lives
(summary)
In the following essay, Josephine Hendin analyzes Gail Godwin's novel "A Mother and Two Daughters" as a nuanced exploration of American individualism and community through the lives of three women coping with personal crises, while critiquing the novel's emotive balance and its portrayal of societal challenges.
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All in the Family
(summary)
In the following essay, Anne Tyler praises Gail Godwin's novel A Mother and Two Daughters for its insightful depiction of modern society and domestic life, highlighting Godwin's generosity as a storyteller and her successful portrayal of well-rounded male characters alongside her traditionally strong female protagonists.
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John B. Breslin
(summary)
In the following essay, John B. Breslin examines Gail Godwin's novel "A Mother and Two Daughters," highlighting its intricate portrayal of familial relationships amidst social changes, while acknowledging its stylistic imperfections and emphasizing the novel's depth in capturing late 20th-century American themes of identity, societal transition, and psychological insight.
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Mr. Bedford and the Muses
(summary)
In the following essay, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt examines Gail Godwin's collection "Mr. Bedford and the Muses," considering the role of muses, particularly a turtle named Mr. Bedford, in inspiring her writing, while exploring themes of artistic creation, authenticity, and the classical structure of her stories.
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Gail Godwin: Autobiography into Art
(summary)
In the following essay, Jonathan Yardley explores how Gail Godwin's "Mr. Bedford and the Muses" blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, highlighting the role of creativity and the artist's necessity to transform real-life experiences into unique fictional narratives.
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Obligation, Fascination and Intrigue
(summary)
In the following essay, Judith Gies critiques Gail Godwin's collection "Mr. Bedford and the Muses," praising the novel "Mr. Bedford" for its vivid character portrayal and narrative depth while noting that the short stories suffer from an overly constructed form and self-indulgent tone.
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Reinterpreting Her Own Past
(summary)
In the following essay, Radner critiques Gail Godwin's collection, Mr. Bedford and the Muses, arguing that while her prose is often too measured for short stories and suffers from a lack of variety, her reinterpretation of personal history and exploration of complex themes remain compelling.
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Gail Godwin: A Novelist at the Height of Her Powers
(summary)
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Godwin, Gail (Vol. 22)
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The Perfectionists
(summary)
In the following essay, Joyce Carol Oates examines Gail Godwin's first novel "The Perfectionists," highlighting its classical narrative structure and exploring the theme of self-destructive perfectionism and the modern obsession with self-analysis, which is portrayed through the disintegration of the protagonist, Dane Empson.
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'The Perfectionists'
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Scholes critiques Gail Godwin's novel The Perfectionists as an accomplished exploration of domestic and sexual partnership, characterized by a satiric and symbolic approach akin to Jane Austen and D. H. Lawrence, while suggesting that Godwin could broaden her portrayal of male characters to achieve greater narrative depth.
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Fables and Fabliaux of Our Time
(summary)
In the following essay, George Garrett praises Gail Godwin for her skillful use of contemporary experimental fiction techniques in Dream Children, highlighting her ability to transform commonplace situations into compelling narratives, thereby demonstrating her prowess and offering a model for other writers.
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Her Own Woman
(summary)
In the following essay, Katha Pollitt argues that Gail Godwin's novel "The Odd Woman" stands out among feminist fiction for its nuanced portrayal of a protagonist grappling with romantic and personal challenges, while "Violet Clay" offers a less satisfying exploration of artistic ambition despite its engaging narrative.
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Women in Love
(summary)
In the following essay, Martha Duffy critiques Gail Godwin's Violet Clay for its schematic plot and lack of emotional impact, arguing that the novel struggles with balance and complexity, hindered by predictable character arcs and an overly nostalgic treatment of its protagonist's journey towards redemption.
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Books Considered: 'Violet Clay'
(summary)
In the following essay, Edith Milton critiques Gail Godwin's novel Violet Clay for its lack of believable characters, ineffective dialogue, and poor writing, ultimately arguing that the novel seems half-developed and heavily reliant on fashionable themes rather than genuine artistic motivation or depth.
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Pressed Men
(summary)
In the following essay, Zahir Jamal commends Gail Godwin's novel Violet Clay for its ironic depth and unsentimental style, highlighting how the protagonist’s journey towards artistic authenticity is portrayed through crisp prose and insightful character development.
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Adventures in Self-Discovery
(summary)
In the following essay, Roberta Rubenstein analyzes Gail Godwin's novel Violet Clay, highlighting how Godwin explores the complex dynamics between independence and talent, self-discovery, and the tension between security and risk in pursuit of artistic and personal growth.
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'Beauty and the Beast' in Gail Godwin's 'Glass People'
(summary)
In the following essay, Karen C. Gaston examines Gail Godwin's use of "Beauty and the Beast" as a framework in Glass People, highlighting how Godwin adapts the fairy tale elements to critique traditional gender roles and explore themes of self-perception and identity within contemporary sexual politics.
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The New Female Literary Culture
(summary)
In the following essay, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese argues that Gail Godwin skillfully examines the challenges faced by independent women, interweaving themes of female autonomy and cultural constraints while maintaining a balance between "popular" and "high" culture in novels like Violet Clay, where economic independence is tied to Gothic literary production.
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The Perfectionists
(summary)
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Godwin, Gail (Vol. 125)
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Gail Godwin's The Odd Woman: Literature and the Retreat from Life
(summary)
In the following essay, Lorsch examines the significance of literature and imaginative thought for the female protagonist of The Odd Woman. According to Lorsch, "The Odd Woman centers on the relation between literature and life, especially on the effect that literature—and the lies it often tells—has on those who believe it."
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The Role of the South in the Novels of Gail Godwin
(summary)
In the following essay, Smith discusses the influence of Southern culture and values on the protagonists of Godwin's fiction. According to Smith, "Beyond family ties and soft accents, the most significant positive trait is the willingness to dream, which Godwin seems to attribute to Southerners."
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Romance Turned Upside Down
(summary)
In the following review, Gray offers praise for A Mother and Two Daughters. The story is decidedly cheerful, but its heroines struggle to escape the old-fashioned notion of living happily ever after, leading to a romance turned upside down.
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With Men and Without
(summary)
In the following review, Schwartz offers positive assessment of A Mother and Two Daughters. Historically, novels by and about women have been taken less seriously than novels by men. This pattern is changing, however, as publishers seek to capitalize on the feminist market. A good many feminist writers deserve this new attention, and it is no longer possible to count on the bones of a single corset the women who write fiction of quality about women. Gail Godwin is one such writer, and in A Mother and Two Daughters she continues to explore the concept of independence from men, the theme of her previous novels.
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Narrating the Self: The Autonomous Heroine in Gail Godwin's Violet Clay
(summary)
In the following essay, Frye examines the relationship between narrative design and self-creation in Violet Clay. "By granting Violet the power of the narrative process to explore possibilities and to assess patterns," writes Frye, "Godwin has given her heroine the capacity to be 'the subject of her own destiny,' a destiny created and renewed with each new choice."
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Gail Godwin and the Ideal of Southern Womanhood
(summary)
In the following essay, Rhodes explores Godwin's treatment of Southern values concerning motherhood and female duty in her novels. According to Rhodes, "Godwin's writings dissect the conservative feminine myth of the South not just to expose its debilitating central demand for a selflessness that precludes self-discovery, but also to present remedies."
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Deliberate Speed, Stunning Effect
(summary)
In the following review; Gray asserts that The Finishing School is Godwin's "most artful and accomplished novel and an old-fashioned, irresistible page turner."
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The Finishing School
(summary)
In the following review, Mitchell offers qualified praise for The Finishing School, while pointing out some of the novel's technical flaws.
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Maiden Voyage
(summary)
In the following review, Pritchard offers praise for The Finishing School, which he concludes is Godwin's 'best novel.'
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Polite Forms of Aggression
(summary)
In the following review, Gray asserts that in A Southern Family, "Gail Godwin again displays the narrative verve and generosity that won critical praise for her early works…"
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Time and the Single Girl
(summary)
In the following review, Brookner offers positive evaluation of A Southern Family.
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The Odd Woman and Literary Feminism
(summary)
In the following essay, Brownstein explores literary feminist themes in The Odd Woman and Godwin's opposition to "feminist categorization" among contemporary critics. According to Brownstein, "The Odd Woman suggests that real, interesting women must imagine and construct their identities in the terms of traditional fiction, so as to revise them."
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Father Melancholy's Daughter
(summary)
In the following review, Koenig offers negative assessment of Father Melancholy's Daughter, describing it as an upbeat novel about depression that enters strange territory for mainstream fiction, but does so with the old paraphernalia of women's fiction.
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The Secrets of St. Cuthbert's
(summary)
In the following review, Armstrong lauds Godwin's Father Melancholy's Daughter, focusing on the complex interactions within a family during a dinner scene.
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Dismantling Stereotypes: Interracial Friendships in Meridian and A Mother and Two Daughters
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Jones examines Godwin's presentation of an interracial friendship and Southern racial dynamics in A Mother and Two Daughters. "Stereotypical thinking exists in Gail Godwin's world," writes Jones, "but not between blacks and whites who know each other personally."
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Visions and Versions of Self: The Other/Women in A Mother and Two Daughters
(summary)
In the following essay, Pelzer examines the quest for self-identity among the female protagonists of A Mother and Two Daughters. According to Pelzer, "Visions and versions of other women, other selves, always, inevitably, and necessarily lie behind the identities of Godwin's heroines, for as A Mother and Two Daughters attests, women become and are in relation to each other."
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The Wife Every Woman Wants
(summary)
In the following review, Maitland complains that Godwin's The Good Husband "is overloaded with attempts to make it a larger scale book that it is."
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Facing a Grim Future
(summary)
In the following review, Fleming offers unfavorable assessment of The Good Husband. Gail Godwin's ninth novel, set in an imaginary college in upstate New York, is a meditation on paths not taken: on early death, vocations abandoned, careers not realized, marriages fractured, a child strangled in the womb. Its melancholy sweetness results from the fact that each of its four protagonists learns to abandon his or her early certainties and aspirations in favour of a grimmer, sternly tentative future.
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A Servant or a Saint
(summary)
In the following review, Brookner offers positive evaluation of The Good Husband, describing it as a capacious and substantial novel which will impress its readers as either extremely moving or extremely sentimental.
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A Modern Death
(summary)
In the following review, Bush offers tempered criticism of The Good Husband. Deathbed scenes were a staple of novels in the 19th century, when writers could only hint at sex. In this century, as the novel has dealt more and more explicitly with sex, death has been the taboo. But recently some authors have again considered the process of dying as a fit subject for literature. In Gail Godwin's novel, the main character attempts to order her life and to find the meaning of that life as she prepares for death.
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Gail Godwin, the South, and the Canons
(summary)
In the following essay, Wimsatt examines Godwin's critical reception and elements of autobiography, Southern culture, and feminism in her fiction. According to Wimsatt, "Any suspicions that Godwin's popularity has diminished her artistic achievement may by silenced … by a glance at her skill in various literary modes and her persistent experimentation with technique."
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Gail Godwin's The Odd Woman: Literature and the Retreat from Life
(summary)
- Further Reading