Frances Theresa Elizabeth Peet Russell (May 18, 1873 – February 15, 1936) was an American writer and professor. She wrote three books about English literature. Her book ''Satire in the Victorian Novel'' may have been the first work to analyze satire in

Victorian literature Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era tha ...

Personal life and career

Frances Theresa Elizabeth Peet was born May 18, 1873, in

Jones County, Iowa Jones County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census the population was 20,646. The county seat is Anamosa. The county was founded in 1837 and named after George Wallace Jones, a United States senator and member of Congres ...

, to Emily Jane (née Perkins) and Adelbert Carleton Peet. Often known as Theresa, she was educated in

Anamosa, Iowa Anamosa is a city in Jones County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,450 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jones County. History What is now Anamosa was founded as the settlement of Buffalo Forks in 1838 and incorporated as ...

, and attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1895. From 1895 to 1900, she was a teacher in Iowa, excluding from 1898 to 1899 when she was at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

to complete graduate work. On June 30, 1900 she married Harvard anthropologist Frank Russell. They moved to Arizona shortly afterwards, and over several years together surveyed for archaeological sites. Frank died in November 1903, and in 1906 Theresa chronicled their travels in a 12-part series in '' Out West'' magazine. She attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

as an assistant philosophy professor in 1906 and she later attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, receiving a Ph.D. in 1920. In 1933, Russell was a poetry judge at a Stanford University competition. A few years before her death, Russell became a full Professor. She died from cancer on February 15, 1936.

Works

Russell wrote ''Satire in the Victorian Novel'' and it was published by

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

in 1920. The book is about

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

in English novels that were published in the 1800s. She chronicled thirteen authors in relation to their differences in the use of satire. Russell described satire as "humorous criticism of human foibles and faults, or of life itself, directed especially against deception, and expressed with sufficient art to be accounted as literature". The book goes further by examining

irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

and sarcasm. The '' Christian Advocate'' wrote that satire in

was either little written about or not at all until Russell wrote her book. The book ''The Significance of Anthony Trollope'' said that ''Satire in the Victorian Novel'' is "particularly noteworthy" and mentions page 117 in which Russell states of

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

that he is "the real Victorian Shakespeare in the matter of women". Russell's book about

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

titled ''One Word More On Browning'' was published in 1927. She also wrote ''Touring Utopia'' which was published by

Dial Press The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh. The Dial Press shared a building with ''The Dial'' and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Bu ...

in 1932. The book is about

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

s in literature. She listed 300 works about utopias and also wrote about actual attempts at creating a utopia.

Personal life and career

Works

Notes

References

Further reading