Material Ambitions: Self-Help and Victorian Literature.

"Material Ambitions: Self-Help and Victorian Literature" by Rebecca Richardson explores the disciplined work habits of Victorian writers and the influence of the self-help movement on Victorian literature. The book uncovers the darker side of self-help, revealing its connection to ableism, colonialism, and environmental harm. Richardson argues that ambition, reframed as the noble quality of self-help, often drives the plot in Victorian novels. The book also examines the role of disability in narratives of self-help and ambition, as well as the gendered aspects of self-help in settler literature. Richardson's work incorporates multiple critical lenses, including disability studies, ecocriticism, and Indigenous and decolonial studies, to provide a comprehensive analysis of the cultural discourse around self-help in the Victorian era. [Extracted from the article]

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