<p><br/>Most critics of southern novelist Eudora Welty have analyzed her work with a primary focus on her southern background. In <i>Serious Daring from Within</i>, Franziska Gygax instead uses a gender-specific approach to analyze Welty's novels, illustrating how Welty's narrative techniques establish female authority and frequently undermine patriarchal values.</p><p></p><p>From this unique perspective, Gygax examines <i>Delta Wedding</i>, <i>The Golden Apples</i>, <i>Losing Battles</i> and <i>The Optimist's Daughter</i>, and argues that Eudora Welty indirectly and subtly created a radical vision of a female world. The study applies feminist literary theory when considering the various narrative structures of each novel. Scholars of literary criticism, southern literary studies and/or women's studies will find <i>Serious Daring from Within</i> enlightening and rewarding.</p>