Beth Newman

Beth Newman is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on Victorian literature, feminist theory, and secularity studies, particularly exploring Jewish identity in 19th-century contexts. She holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University. Newman teaches courses on Victorian gender and sexuality, poetry, fiction, and literary realism. Her publications include Subjects on Display (2004), which examines Victorian femininity through psychoanalytic lenses, and recent works on secular messianism and Victorian Jewish representation. She has also edited influential teaching editions of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

Her research interests span Victorian poetry and prose, with particular attention to language, class, and metrical theory. Recent scholarly articles engage with Robert Elsmere’s racial and religious themes, Alice Meynell’s poetic influence, and Swinburne’s hexameter techniques. Newman’s work bridges literary analysis with broader cultural and social critiques of 19th-century society.