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C:\Documents and Settings\lproctor.ULL\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK36\Copyright - thesis.doc SCANDAL: GENDER, PUBLICITY, POLITICS 1789-1850 Kiera Chapman Ph.D University College London UMI Number: U591915 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591915 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract This thesis, an exercise in cultural history, puts forwards two main lines of argument. Firstly, I explore the way in which scandal was used by early nineteenth century reformers to argue for the inclusion of a wider range of individuals in political debate. I contrast the approaches of Rousseau and Bentham to publicity, exploring the manner in which the latter became especially useful to radicals after the 1790s, as the former became associated with dangerous Jacobinism. Chapters three and four discuss the interplay between these two ways of thinking about scandal in the Mary Ann Clarke affair (1809) and the Queen Caroline affair (1820-1). I show that while scandal allowed the case for reform to be dramatized in an especially vivid way, encouraging ordinary people to get involved in politics, its attention to particular details could also damage the radical cause by distracting attention away from abstract arguments for reform. The second strand of argument deals with the relationship between publicity and feminism. Scandal did not just entrench the sexual double standard; rather, debates about publicity provided a way for early feminists to demand recognition of woman’s legal and political identity. However, attitudes amongst women towards the balance to be struck between individual self-determination and social convention varied widely. Germaine de Stael and Geraldine Jewsbury reworked the ideas of Rousseau to argue that a woman’s ability to follow her feelings rather than moral conventions signalled her suitability for citizenship, and in the Caroline affair, many ordinary women claimed a right to engage in political debate on the grounds of their feelings of sympathy for the Queen. On the other hand, Maria Edgeworth argued for a rapprochement between reason and social duty, while Rosina Bulwer-Lytton used scandal against her husband in order to press for recognition of woman’s separate legal identity. 2 Table of Contents Title page 1 Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 List of Illustrations 4 Acknowledgements 5 Introduction 7 PART ONE 25 Chapter One: ‘Breaking The Irons of Opinion’: Social Transparency and Scandal in the Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Germaine De Stael Chapter Two: ‘Why should we hide ourselves if we do 79 not dread being seen?’: Publicity, Public Opinion and the Problem Of Scandal in Bentham And Edgeworth PART TWO Chapter Three: ‘A Bumper of Sedition’: Radicalism, 128 Jacobinism And Gender Ambivalence in the Mary Ann Clarke Scandal Chapter Four: ‘A Plot Improbable And Without Unity’: 184 Publicity, Politics and Narrative in The Queen Caroline Scandal Chapter Five: ‘Publicity is the Soul of Justice’: Scandal, 234 Entertainment and Feminism in the early Victorian era Conclusion 287 Appendices 291 Bibliography 309 3 List of Illustrations Figure 1. Jacques Louis David, The Intervention o f the Sabine Women (1799). Oil on canvas, 385 x 522 cm. Musee du Louvre, Paris. Reproduced from National University of Singapore, ‘USE 2206 Emerging Global Politics’, <http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/sep/use2206/index.php>. Accessed 15 July 2004. Figure 2. George Cruikshank, Frontispiece To A Frown From the Crown (1820). Engraving, 12 cm x 21 cm. The British Library. Figure 3. ‘A.S.H.’ Interior View o f The Judge and Jury Society in the Garrick’s Head Tavern, Bow Street (1841). Lithograph. Guildhall Library Print Room, Wakefield Collection, W.W.W2./BOW, no p5422585. Figure 4. Anonymous. Frontispiece to Extraordinary Narrative of An Outrageous Violation o f Liberty and Law in the Forcible Seizure and Incarceration of Lady Lytton Bulwer in the Gloomy Cell of a Madhouse!!! London: W James and Co, 1858. Woodcut. Reproduced from David Lytton Cobbold, A Blighted Marriage: The Life o f Rosina Bulwer-Lytton, Irish Beauty, Satirist and Tormented Wife. Knebworth: Knebworth House Education Trust 1999, p. 14. 4 Acknowledgements First of all, there are longstanding, deep-running debts to a number of individuals whose influence on my life has been pervasive. I have never done enough to acknowledge my gratitude to my mother, for her resilience and commonsense, and to my father, for his tremendous courage and patience. My sister, who has managed to avoid making the some of same mistakes as me, has always been a model of intelligence and authenticity, and has given me a good deal of hope. I owe great debts to three very special friends. For many years, David Higgins has been the best confidante a PhD student could wish for, and an unfailing source of stimulation, encouragement, and sound advice. He generously spent large amounts of time that he could ill afford reading large sections of this thesis, offering detailed feedback that has been unfailingly insightful and tremendously helpful. David Green rode like a knight in shining armour to London to sort out my various computer woes when I most needed his help. His cheerfulness and humour have meant more than he will ever know. To Martin Steward, very much the better craftsman, my sparring partner and comrade in arms, I owe an enormous debt. His searching critique of my ideas, combined with his tremendously supportive attitude, truly changed the course of this thesis. Alex Naylor and Neil Wallington, who made days at the British Library fun, also deserve special thanks. I have been incredibly fortunate in finding inspirational (and highly patient) teachers, who have patiently helped and supported me over the last decade. Without the remarkable enthusiasm and verve of Joan Carlyon, who introduced me to intellectual feminism at the age of fourteen, I would never have read for a degree in English. Then, as an undergraduate at the University of York, I was fortunate enough to be supervised by Dr Jack Donovan, a man whose elevated standard of scholarship is matched only by his warmheartedness and generosity of spirit. At UCL, my secondary supervisor, Professor Danny Karlin somehow found time amidst a myriad of official responsibilities to read large swathes of this thesis. His comments, always incisive yet encouraging, have contributed greatly to my understanding of nineteenth century literature in 5 general, and were a great deal of help in shaping this thesis. However, my greatest intellectual debt is undoubtedly to Dr Gregory Dart. His white-hot intellectualism, unfailing enthusiasm and sympathetic attitude have made the last four years exciting and challenging in ways that I never could have imagined. This thesis would never have been written without the financial support of the AHRB, who gave me a scholarship to fund three years of this research. I am also grateful to UCL English Department and to Laurel Brake and Louise Lambe at Birkbeck’s Faculty of Continuing Education, for providing me with valuable teaching experience, and to the London Library which provided me with discounted membership, enabling me to make use of their remarkable collections. However, the person to whom I owe the most is Alex Maisey. Since I started this project, he has been the epitome of faith, hope and charity, supporting me in every imaginable way. I owe him more than I can express. I found writing this thesis nightmarishly hard, and without him, I would never have made it to the end.