Publisher Description

A rebel against Victorian mores, Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) became one of the first women to hold a research fellowship at Cambridge. A friend of such distinguished figures as Gilbert Murray and Francis Cornford, she was renowned for her public lectures on Greek art, for her books on Greek religion and mythology, and for her unconventional and outspoken views.In her application of anthropology to classical studies, Harrisonstirred up controversy amongst her academic colleagues, while, at the same time, influencing many writers, including Yeats, D. H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf. Driven by the conviction that the study ofprimitive Greek culture was an intensely practical enterprise, addressing the fundamental emotional needs of all people, she set her academic research in the broader context of human life. Her work on Greek religion is really a critique of all religion.Although she was a powerful role model for academic women and addressed issues which were central to the women's movement, when it came to women's rights, her own views were not always in keeping with those of her suffragistcontemporaries. Harrison wrote not to champion any cause, but out of a passionate desire to share what she believed to be important and true. In so doing, she both opened up new possibilities foracademic women and made a considerable contribution to classical studies.

Table of Contents

Preface1: Origins; 1850-742: A Room of Her Own; Newnham College 1874-93: 'Salvationist for Greek Art': London 1879-864: Mythology and monuments: Greece and London, 1886-995: Women and Knowledge: Newnham 1898 - 19016: Ker and heiron: Jane Harrison and Gilbert Murray 1901-37: Prolegomena to the study of Greek religion: Newnham 1903-68: The Pillar and the Maiden: Newnham 1906-79: Crabbed age and youth: Cambridge 1908-910: Heresy and humanity; Cambridge 1907-1011: Unanimism and Conversion: Cambridge and Europe 1910-1412: Tout passe, tout casse, tout lasse: Cambridge and Paris 1914-1613: Via crucis, via lucis: Cambridge, France, Spain, and London 1916-28

Review

`... a tactful, competent, sympathetic and satisfactory life of Jane Ellen Harrison ... Robinson's research into the manuscript resources for the life and times of Jane Ellen Harrison deserves commendation.'P.G. Naiditch, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA

Promotional

The first substantial biographical study of Jane Ellen Harrison--England's first renowned woman scholar of classics

Long Description

A rebel against Victorian mores, Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) became one of the first women to hold a research fellowship at Cambridge. A friend of such distinguished figures as Gilbert Murray and Francis Cornford, she was renowned for her public lectures on Greek art, for her books on Greek religion and mythology, and for her unconventional and outspoken views.In her application of anthropology to classical studies, Harrison
stirred up controversy amongst her academic colleagues, while, at the same time, influencing many writers, including Yeats, D. H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf. Driven by the conviction that the study of primitive Greek culture was an intensely practical enterprise, addressing the fundamental emotional
needs of all people, she set her academic research in the broader context of human life. Her work on Greek religion is really a critique of all religion.Although she was a powerful role model for academic women and addressed issues which were central to the women's movement, when it came to women's rights, her own views were not always in keeping with those of her suffragist contemporaries. Harrison wrote not to champion any cause, but out of a passionate desire to share
what she believed to be important and true. In so doing, she both opened up new possibilities for academic women and made a considerable contribution to classical studies.

Review Text

`... a tactful, competent, sympathetic and satisfactory life of Jane Ellen Harrison ... Robinson's research into the manuscript resources for the life and times of Jane Ellen Harrison deserves commendation.'
P.G. Naiditch, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA

Review Quote

The Life and Work of Jane Ellen Harrison is a well-written and lively account of this pivotal figure, one that should interest classical scholars, historians of women , and intellectual historians alike.

Feature

The first substantial biographical study of Jane Ellen Harrison
Deals with the life and work of the first woman in modern England to make a name as a classical scholar
Charts Harrison's involvement in controversy throughout her life and her remarkable influence

Details