Download or read book Passionate Discontent written by Patricia Mathews and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Art historian Patricia Mathews examines the artistic, social, and scientific discourses of fin-de-siecle France. Along the way, she illuminates the Symbolist construction of a feminized aesthetic that nonetheless excluded female artists from its realm. She analyzes contemporary cultural assumptions as well as theories such as social Darwinism, biological determinism, and degeneracy."--BOOK JACKET.