The Regime of the Brother: After the Patriarchy

The Regime of the Brotheris one of the first attempts to challenge modernity on its own terms. Using the work of Lacan, Kristeva and Freud, Juliet MacCannell confronts the failure of modernity to bring about the social equality promised by the Enlightenment. On the verge of its destruction, the Patriarchy has reshaped itself into a new, and often more oppressive regime: that of the Brother.
Examining a range of literary and social texts - from Rousseau''sConfessionsto Richardson''sClarissaand from Stendhal''sDe L''Amourto James''sWhat Maisie Knewand Jean Rhys''sWide Sargasso Sea- MacCannell illustrates a history of the suppression of women, revealing the potential for a specifically feminine alternative.