Author: Rachel W.

The sexuality of Basil

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While in class we talked mostly about how the descriptions of Dorian and Lord Henry point to their homosexual desires, we did not speak as much about the descriptions of Basil who, is the mostly clearly homosexual character out of all the others.  He openly reveals his romantic desire when he tells Dorian in chapter 7: “I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling that a man usually gives to a friend. Somehow I have never loved a woman. I suppose I never had time” (70).  Dorian’s physical features as a boyish, his musical talent, characterize him as an invert, what men with same-sex attraction were called by sexologists, as well as his relationship to Lord Henry.  The relationship between Lord Henry and Dorian, older man as mentor and younger man as mentee, reflect the homosexual relationships of the Greek Dorians. Lord Henry Wotton’s voice is described as musical as well. They never reveal outright their feelings towards each other or towards other men, Basil is the only one that does so. Subtle hints are not needed to inform the reader of his sexuality.   It is in this passage on page 70 that Basil’s innermost thoughts and feelings are revealed to the reader and by John Addington Symonds standards he would be considered an “urning,” not just a man with same-sex desire, but a very feminine individual. Symonds writes,

The body of a male is visible to the eyes, is mensurable and ponderable, is clearly marked in its specific organs. But what we call his soul–his passions, inclinations, sensibilities, emotional characteristics, sexual desires–eludes the observation of the senses. . . . And when I find that the soul, this element of instinct and emotion and desire existing in a male, had been directed in its sexual appetite from earliest boyhood towards persons of the male sex, I have the right to qualify it with the attribute of femininity.”

The fact that Basil has such feelings for Dorian is enough to qualify him as a feminine man, or as having a feminine soul.

Bibliography

Symonds, John Addington. A Problem in Modern Ethics. 1896

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 1890. Ed. Michael Wilson. Watersgreen House Classics. 2015.

 

Prostitution in Victorian London

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Flora Tristan’s account of prostitution in London, published in 1840, is remarkably sympathetic, filled with concern and even compassion for the sex workers of London. Tristan calls sex work “the most hideous of the afflictions produced by the unequal division of the world’s goods” and is very concerned by the “physical tortures” a sex worker faces daily in her occupation. Tristan takes a close look at the causes of women turning to sex work and criticizes societal inequities between men and women:

…let this monstrosity be attributed to our social state and let woman be absolved from it! As long as she is subject to the yoke of man or of prejudice, as long as she receives no profession education, as long as she is deprived of civil rights, there cannot exist a moral law for her! As long as she cannot obtain property only by the influence she has over men’s passions, as long as she has gained through her work or been given by her father, as long as she can have property and liberty only by leading a single life, there can be no moral law for her! And it can be positively stated that until the emancipation of woman has been achieved, prostitution will continue to increase.

Tristan blames men for the societal position of sex workers as well as their poor conditions and short lives. She writes about how disgusting the patrons are for torturing women by getting them really drunk and then giving them a concoction to drink that “almost always gives her horrible convulsions, and the jerkings and contortions of the unfortunate thing provoke laughter and infinitely amuse the honorable society.”  Tristan targets the so-called classy English elite and criticizes them for their deplorable behavior and treatment of the women.  Tristan brings up the fact that sex workers do not live very long for they are always obligated to drink alcohol with their patrons and they usually come down with pneumonia or contract sexually transmitted infections.

In Amy Levy’s poem “Magdalen,” Levy also addressed the issue of illness, disease, and sex work, however it is from the point of view of the sex worker herself. While Tristan’s piece is very sympathetic and calls for the emancipation of women to end the suffering of sex workers, Levy’s poem is even more sympathetic because the reader is listening directly to the voice of a sex worker.  The woman is in a hospital designed for sex workers who have sexually transmitted infections to stay, locked away from the outside world in order to prevent the spread of disease, while the men, particularly the sailors, themselves were spreading disease. The speaker of the poem is shocked that she has contracted an illness from a man she slept with, the person to whom she is talking to throughout the poem. The hospital in which she is kept is miserable, where she hears other women cry at night:

At night, or when the daylight nears,
I hear the other women weep;
My own heart’s anguish lies too deep
For the soft rain and pain of tears.

The speaker of the poem also declares that she does not care to die because life has been so painful and death will finally be a time to rest.  Like Tristan’s piece, Levy is bringing to light the physical and emotional hardships that sex workers deal with, however Levy’s “Magdalen” has her own autonomy. At the end she concludes that although this man has given her the disease that will end her life, in the end he does not define what her life was: “That all is done, that I am free; /That you, through all eternity, / Have neither part nor lot in me.”

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and the Victorian Position of Governess

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The position of governess in Victorian society is an awkward one. The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” views the governess system as problematic for both governesses and the families they serve. The author writes:

Whether it be right or wrong, as a general rule, for mothers to delegate their most sacred trust to hired strangers, we are not here to discuss. The fact exists. Is the system carried out fairly for all parties? Is there any question astir as to its abuse? Philanthropic eyes are scanning many social evils. (570)

The author is particularly concerned with the plight of the governess. They are concerned that governesses are not paid enough, that they are not viewed as an equal to the mother of the children they govern, that they must deal with rambunctious and insolent children, and that they are going insane and living in asylums–a fact that is misleading, since, as the editor notes, many governesses without families and between positions would stay in asylums because it was a cheap and somewhat respectable place to stay (“Hints on the Modern Governess System” 571).

However good the author’s intentions may be, they come off as slightly patronizing when this article is juxtaposed with the text of Jane Eyre.  While the author believes that being a governess is mentally exhausting for a governess must deal with child intellect all day:

Hour after hour she has bent down her mind, and raised the children’s to given points, which, however interesting, are exhausting. A young thing, perhaps, still herself, ready to spring up again at one kindly touch. Do not even fond mothers, who teach their own children, feel that after the labors of the day they need some interchange of mind? (573)

this opinion is never expressed in Jane Eyre by Jane or any other character. On the contrary, Jane is very fond of teaching and caring for Adele. After Mr. Rochester speaks of Adele’s unfortunate and disgraceful family situation, Jane defends the orphan, “I have a regard for her, and now that I know she is, in a sense, parentless — forsaken by her mother and disowned by you, sir, — I shall cling closer to her than before” (Brontë 218).  Jane’s affection for Adele isn’t based solely on the orphan connection. Jane is fond of Adele’s character: “Still she [Adele] had her merits; and I was disposed to appreciate all that was good in her to the utmost” (218).

The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” takes issue with the lower class distinction that a governess holds. The author believes that there is no “greater anomaly than that which makes a woman responsible for children, and their exemplar in all things, whose mother treats her as if she were unfit to associate herself and her guests” (571). Brontë portrays this negative and classist view of governesses in Victorian society in the scenes where Mr. Rochester’s guests mock Jane right in front of her face. In one instance, Blanche Ingram says:

You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi – were they not mama? (254)

However, Brontë is making the case for governesses as being equals to their employers, as Mr. Rochester insists that Jane continue to be present when his guests are over (259). In this regard, the author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” and the author of Jane Eyre are in agreement.

Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. Print

“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine. 1844. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. 567-577. Print.

Votes for Women

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Upon first glance, I believed the article to be an actual documentation of a women’s suffrage meeting in Victorian London and was excited to read an authentic discussion between suffragists in that time.  It didn’t take too long for me to realize though that this was a highly satirical article that really made a mockery of the women fighting so hard to obtain a basic human right that should be bestowed upon every citizen. The first give away that this article is satirical was the name of the chairwoman, “Mrs. Shrieker.”  After that, I realized that the previous paragraph where the author writes

It being thought desirable to secure unnbiassed utterance, none of the male sex were permitted to be present. Husbands were, however, suffered to attend in an antechamber and, with the view to their comfort and consolement, notes of the proceedings were from time to time sent out to them.

the author is completely facetious. To the average Victorian male reader I assume that this would be quite hilarious and I actually found myself disappointed for several reasons. First, I was disappointed that this article was satirical because I had been excited to read a documentation of a women’s suffrage meeting. Second, I was disappointed because I had believed that having a women’s only meeting to discuss the vote was completely valid and justified. Third, I was disappointed because I realized that it is the view of the author that having a women’s only meeting is absolutely absurd.

The author of this article certainly does not take women as individual human beings seriously, particularly on an intellectual level.  This is especially evident in the names he has given the women in this mock account of a suffrage meeting. The women have names such as “Mrs. Snorter,” “Mrs. Scratcher,” “Mrs. Prettywoman,” and of course “Mrs. Shrieker.” The only woman with any semblance of a normal name is “Mrs. Smith” or “Mrs. Smyijthe” whose name the writer wasn’t even sure of.  Of course, satirical articles are meant to make jokes but I think the naming of the women reveals the misogynistic sentiment of the writer. Reducing women to unpleasant sounds like shrieking and snorting is really harsh and in the case of “Mrs. Prettywoman” where she has been reduced to her looks is total objectification.

Much of the article is focused on ridiculing the women’s behavior, for example there are many instances where the writer adds silly remarks of the women in attendence in parenthesis:

(Cries of “Dear no!” and loud cheering.) Englishwomen were alive and awake to what was wanted. Reform was what they wanted, and their husbands might rely on it that they would get no rest until Reform was granted. (Hear!) She (MRS. SNORTER) meant mischief, she could tell them. (Renewed cheering, and screams of “So do we!”) She perhaps was not possessed of so sharp a tongue as some people(Sensation, and cries of “Name: name!”) but MR. SNORTER might depend he’d not have a night’s peace, until she got her Right to Vote safe underneath her pillow!

As opposed to making an ideological argument through satirical means against women having the right to vote, the writer makes fun of the type of woman who demands the right to vote– although I suppose that this in itself shows the ideology of the writer. No argument needs to be made because the writer and presumably the male readers of this article already believe that women are inferior and do not deserve the right to vote.

Bibliography

“Great Reform Meeting.” Punch. 1859. Dictionary of Victorian London. Lee     Jackson. Web. 15 February 2016.

Introductions and Sermons

~ Rachel W. ~ 1 Comment

Hello everyone! My name is Rachel and I am a senior English major at SUNY New Paltz. My favorite novelist/short story writer is Franz Kafka although recently I’ve been getting into some of Roberto Bolaño’s novels as well as Carlos Fuentes’.  Among my favorite poets are Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith, Pablo Neruda, and T.S. Eliot. I like to read in Spanish as well as English.

Before I dive into the text of Pride and Prejudice and how it responds to James Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women, I just want to point the irony in the section titled “On the Importance of the Female Sex.”  Fordyce seems to lament that women in society are more highly scrutinized than men when he writes “The world, I know not how, overlooks in our sex a thousand irregularities, which it never forgives in yours; so that the honor and peace of a family are, in this view, much more dependent on the conduct of daughters than of sons…” (394).  However he has written two volumes worth of sermons telling young women how to conduct themselves and behave in society, only adding to the scrutiny.  I thought also there is much irony in the way he claims that women have so much influence over men because of their sexuality and therefore should act in certain ways.  It is incredibly sexist to want to control women’s behavior just because their sexuality, according to Fordyce, impacts men so much.

Elizabeth Bennet’s conduct in Pride and Prejudice completely undermines what Fordyce expects about how young women should act. Fordyce advises that women refrain from exercising wit and instead aim for piety.  For Fordyce, wit is something already to be frowned upon but it is “especially […] dreaded in women” (400).  Elizabeth on the other hand does not act very pious at all, in fact religion is scarcely mentioned except for when it is said that everyone attended church services.  Elizabeth engages in witty banter with Mr. Darcy and she is also highly sarcastic. When in the company of Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy one evening at Netherfield she makes sarcastic remarks makes fun of Darcy right to his face.  She says  to Miss Bingley, “Mr.  Darcy is not to be laughed at!” (92) and continues “That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would be a great loss to me to have many such acquaintance. I dearly love a laugh” (92). She sarcastically says straight to Darcy “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own and I laugh at them whenever I can.– But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without” (92).  Despite her mocking him, Darcy seems to enjoy their conversation and they continue back and forth, much to Miss Bingley’s dismay.  Fordyce advises women to speak with grace and to never be rude.  And yet while Elizabeth is mocking Darcy, they both are enjoying themselves.  It is evident in Pride and Prejudice that wit does not make for dreadful women, it makes for fun and interesting conversation, fun and interesting women.