Super Short Summary

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, a foundational work in feminist literary criticism, explores the lives and works of 19th-century female writers such as Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson, emphasizing their struggles within Victorian patriarchy and themes of confinement and escape reflected in their literature. This scholarly text, rich in analysis, includes references to later writers like Virginia Woolf and integrates male voices like Sigmund Freud to enhance its discussion. Some essays address distressing themes related to women's historical oppression.