French, Marilyn (1929–)

views updated

French, Marilyn (1929–)

American novelist and social critic. Born Marilyn Edwards, 1929, in Brooklyn, NY; dau. of E. Charles Edwards (engineer) and Isabel (Hazz) Edwards; Hofstra University, MA; Harvard University, PhD, 1972; m. Robert M. French, Jr., 1950 (div. 1967); children: Jamie and Robert.

Taught at Hofstra for 4 years; was an assistant professor at Holy Cross College (1972–76), and Mellon fellow in English at Harvard (1976–77); published the bestselling The Women's Room (1977), now considered one of the most influential works of the modern feminist movement; also wrote The Bleeding Heart (1980), Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals (1986), Her Mother's Daughter (1987), Our Father (1995) and Season in Hell (1998), as well as works of literary criticism, The Book as World: James Joyce's Ulysses (1976) and Shakespeare's Division of Experience (1981).

More From encyclopedia.com