"This book is concerned with the fiction and drama of the period, the poetry being the subject of a separate study in the series. It begins with an overview of the women's movement between 1880-1919, and examines the diversity of feminist and female identities and lifestyles, before considering the representation of the woman artist in the context of debates on literary value and its relationship to gender and genre. Text by a number of women writers are then examined, including novels and short stories, with a focus on the themes of motherhood, sexuality, eugenics, and imperialism. Finally the fin de siecle period is extended in order to look at suffrage and other drama, with a focus on the leading woman playwright of the Edwardian era, Elizabeth Robins. The dramatic expression of themes addressed previously is further explored here, especially motherhood and the emergence of women from sexual and domestic dependency."--BOOK JACKET.