A study of the reflexive relationship between music and language in the 19th century, this book maintains a discrete historical focus while drawing on an aesthetic going back to problems of epic delivery in ancient Greece. Franz Liszt is the organizing figure in this detailed study of music in Heine and Baudelaire.
Revelations of Gender and Power in Victorian Literature and Culture
Examining the gendered power dynamics in Victorian confessional literature, Bernstein analyzes works by notable authors like Brontë and Hardy. She reveals how women's confessions to male figures often portray them as transgressors despite their victimization. By contextualizing these narratives within anti-Catholic literature, Bernstein critiques traditional theories of confession by Freud and Foucault. Her study combines cultural criticism, poststructuralism, and feminist theory, offering a fresh perspective on the implications of domestic confessions in the era's literature.