Kranidis's study is motivated by questions concerning notions of aesthetics and literary value as defined in the context of Late Victorian culture. By first refiguring the prominence of the feminist political agenda and the cultural construction of the 'New Woman', it seeks to examine how feminist, politically motivated authors sought to intrude upon and challenge aesthetic proscriptions that impacted on gender. The aesthetic/literary and social/political realms intersect consistently in the literature of the period, and this study points to the instances and ramifications of these intersections.