Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Rebecca West
-
Standard Name: West, Rebecca
Birth Name: Cicily Isabel Fairfield
Nickname: Cissie
Nickname: Anne
Nickname: Panther
Nickname: Rac
Pseudonym: Rebecca West
Married Name: Cicily Isabel Andrews
Used Form: R*b*cc* W*st
Rebecca West
rose to fame early (before the First World War) through her witty, acerbic journalism. In addition to numerous essays and reviews, she wrote about a dozen novels, short stories, political analyses, a classic travel book, and works of literary criticism. Her journalism remains an important commentary on the contemporary women's movement, offering both strong intellectual support and trenchant satire. She is known for her pungency of phrase; on occasion she was more eager for a phrase to strike shockingly home than for it to withstand criticism.
Lowndes, Marie Belloc. Diaries and Letters of Marie Belloc Lowndes, 1911-1947. Editor Marques, Susan Lowndes, Chatto and Windus, 1971.
217
article on the death of Virginia Woolf
, Hugh Walpole
accused literary ladies of acting like priestesses engaged in throwing fragrant incense on their own altars. The first name he mentions...
The story reflects Nietzsche
's belief that the artist must show mastery over women. Rebecca West
gave it a favourable review.
Oldsey, Bernard Stanley, editor. Dictionary of Literary Biography 15. Gale Research, 1983, 2 vols.
310
Textual Features
Dora Marsden
A marked difference separating The New Freewoman from its predecessor was its increased literary content, at first secured mainly by Rebecca West
. West recruited Ezra Pound
to The New Freewoman after meeting him at...
Textual Features
Ali Smith
The volume features 101 different women writers, each publication emblematic of the year for which its author is featured. Its contents range from the title-inspiring Miles Franklin
's My Brilliant Career (1901) through Edith Wharton
Textual Features
Una Troubridge
UT
wrote much of her 1914 diary in Italian. After 1915, her diaries document her relationship with Radclyffe Hall
, touching on the two women's health, families, travels, and social activities. She also writes about...
Textual Features
Daphne Du Maurier
The working title had been The Return of the Soldier; this, however was also the name of a book by Rebecca West
published during World War I.
Plans were afoot to relaunch The Freewoman shortly after it collapsed in its first form. When Marsden retreated to Southport for health reasons, Rebecca West
acted as liaison between her and supporters in the Freewoman Discussion Circle
Textual Production
Dora Marsden
Its editorial team consisted of DM
(editor), Rebecca West
(assistant editor), and Grace Jardine
(sub-editor and editorial assistant).
Garner, Les. A Brave and Beautiful Spirit: Dora Marsden, 1882-1960. Avebury, 1990.
99
Textual Production
Henrik Ibsen
This play was first published in Norwegian in 1886 and translated into English in 1889.
McFarlane, James, editor. The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
xxv
Florence Farr
played Rebecca in the first English staging of play; Rebecca West
took her pseudonym from the play's...
Textual Production
Dora Marsden
Formerly stored in a wicker trunk at the home of her niece Elaine Dyson Bate, DM
's papers are now at Princeton University
. Her collection contains manuscripts, papers, and letters to and from Rebecca West
Textual Production
Rose Macaulay
Over the years, RM
published several dozen literary articles in a wide range of magazines, newspapers, and commemorative volumes. She wrote on past and contemporary literary figures, including Leslie Stephen
, Stella Benson
, Rebecca West
Textual Production
Flora Macdonald Mayor
This novel sold reasonably well and FMM
was again lauded by several contemporary critics, including E. M. Forster
, G. B. Stern
, and Rebecca West
.
Williams, Merryn. Six Women Novelists, Macmillan, 1987.
45
Keith, Rhonda. British Novelists 1890-1929: Modernists. Editor Staley, Thomas F., Gale Research Company, 1985, pp. 169-71.
