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Petticoat Government: Female Rule in British Fiction, 1870-1890 By Petticoat Government: Female Rule in British Fiction, 1870-1890 By Gretchen Lynn Quiring B.A., University of British Columbia, 1991 M.A., University of British Columbia, 1994 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of English We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard Dr. L.A. Surridge, Supervisor (Department of English) Dr. M .S. L oÆ s , D /p^m ^tal Member (Department o f English) Dr. fl.I. Mitchell, Departmental Member (Department of English) Dr. L. Bownmn, Outside Member (Department of Greek and Roman Studies) Dr: S. Hamilton, External Examiner (Department of English, University of Alberta) © Gretchen Lynn Quiring, 2002 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without the permission of the author. 11 Supervisor; Dr. Lisa Surridge ABSTRACT This thesis analyzes constructions of women holding political power in British fiction from 1870-1890. It focuses in particular on four speculative fictions that depict women ruling: Edward Bulwer-Lytton's The Coming Race (1871), Walter Besant's The Revolt of Man (1882), H. Rider Haggard's She (1887), and Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett's New Amazonia (1889). These texts not only manifest their authors' particular socio­ political contexts, but also reveal a pervasive construction of female rule as sexual, unnatural, and destabilizing—a construction that is particularly significant in a period when women were making persistent and successful assaults on male power monopolies, and a woman also happened to be on the British throne. As speculative fictions, these texts also reveal Victorian emotional reactions to changing power dynamics. The four texts here studied intersect with late-Victorian feminism and the reactions against it—the highly complex variety of disparate and intersecting political, legal, occupational, intellectual, religious, and scientific movements for and against women’s empowerment. Bulwer-Lytton’s wish-fulfillment vision of the subjection of dominant women presents a fantasy of female rule as an impossibility, since the biological clocks of his large and intelligent amazons drive them to ‘naturally’ submit to men. Besant’s speculative fiction essentially serves as a cathartic nightmare fantasy—a safe medium through which to face, ridicule, and dispel Victorian fears of women’s increasing political power. Female biology on one hand and male divine authority on the other hand dispel the nightmare of female rule. In Haggard’s fantasy, female rule is characterized as illegitimate, tyrannical, and amoral, but also strong and competent. His Ill depiction indicates a cultural shift towards growing acceptance of women’s political power. Finally, Corbett (the sole feminist author studied here) presents an image of a progessive state ruled by women in order to contest male supremacy and validate women’s inclusion in politics. Although few of these texts are extensively studied today, they all have considerable value as speculative fictions that reveal Victorian emotional and political reactions to the concept of women in government. Examiners Dr. L.A. Sumdge, Supervisor (Department of English) Dr. M.Kf LouiiwDepartmeiptal Member (Department of English) Dr. J.ï.iM ï^ell, Departmental Member (Department of English) Dr. L. Bowman, Outside Member (Department of Greek and Roman Studies) amilton. External Examiner (Department of English, University of Alberta) IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT_________________________________________________________________ii TABLE OF CONTENTS_____________________________________________________iv LIST OF FIGURES__________________________________________________________vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS__________________________________________________ vii INTRODUCTION___________________________________________________________1 CHAPTER I _________________________________________________________________9 CONTEXTUALIZING FEMALE RULE: WOMEN'S POWER IN BRITAIN,_______9 1870-1890 __________________________________________________________________ 9 Introduction ________________________________________________________________9 Political Power: Public Women, Suffrage, and Queen Victoria ______________________10 Victorian Women in Public: The Rise of Political Involvement _______________________________ 11 "Petticoat Government": The Suffrage Debate _______________________________________________ 14 The Queen and the Reality of Female Rule: Strategies and Fears______________________________ 22 Domestic Power: The Quest for Legal and Occupational Emancipation ______________30 Legal Landmarks: Property and Divorce ___________________________________________________ 30 "Redundant" Women and the Expansion of Women's Employment Options _____________________ 36 Intellectual and Spiritual Power: Mental Achievements and Moral Domination ________44 Educational Equality: The Movement and Reactions __________________________________________44 Angelic Crusaders: Feminism and Victorian Stereotypes of Female Morality____________________ 49 Physical Power: Strength and Violence_________________________________________54 The Health and Exercise Movements______________________________________________________ 55 The Ultimate Paradox: The Angel as Killer_________________________________________________ 58 Controlling Female Power: Biology, Reproduction, and Sexuality ___________________62 Victorian Biology: The Science of Defining Female Inferiority _______________________________ 62 Fears of Extinction: The Birth Rate/Birth Control Conflict ___________________________________ 67 The Angel and the Prostitute: Victorian Female Sexuality______________________________________69 Conclusion ________________________________________________________________72 CHAPTER 2 _______________________________________________________________ 76 AMAZONIAN ABDICATION: THE COMING RACE__________________________ 76 Sexuality and Rule inThe Coming Race ________________________________________82 Authority and Rule in The Coming Race ________________________________________91 Gendered Spheres and Rule in The Coming Race ________________________________105 Conclusion _______________________________________________________________112 CHAPTERS_______________________________________________________________113 ‘MISS’RULE: THE REVOLT OF M AN ______________________________________113 Sexuality and Rule inThe Revolt of Man _______________________________________121 Authority and Rule in Revolt of Man __________________________________________126 Gendered Spheres and Rule in Revolt of Man ___________________________________145 Conclusion _______________________________________________________________151 CHAPTER 4______________________________________________________________ 153 “SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED’’: HAGGARD’S IMPERIAL QUEEN_________ 153 Sexuality and Rule in Sftc___________________________________________________162 Authority and Rule in S h e__________________________________________________173 Gendered Spheres and Rule in She___________________________________________181 Conclusion _______________________________________________________________185 CHAPTER 5______________________________________________________________ 188 IDEALIZING FEMALE GOVERNMENT: CORBETT'S NEW AMAZONIA 188 Sexuality and Rule inNew Amazonia__________________________________________195 Authority and Female Rule in New Amazonia___________________________________205 Gendered Spheres and Rule in New Amazonia__________________________________216 Conclusion _______________________________________________________________222 CONCLUSION____________________________________________________________224 BIBLIOGRAPHY__________________________________________________________231 VI LIST OF FIGURES Figure I. "An Ugly Rush"_____________________________________________________________________ 19 Figure 2. "The Angel in 'the House'"____________________________________________________________ 20 Figure 3. “The Parliamentary Female " _________________________________________________________ 2 / Figure 4. Albert Wears the Crown _____________________________________________________________ 25 Figure 5. "John Brown Exercising the Queen "___________________________________________________ 26 Figure 6. "A Hint to Wales" ___________________________________________________________________ 27 Figure 7. The Family Queen___________________________________________________________________ 29 Figure 8. Telegraph O jfice____________________________________________________________________ 41 Figure 9. Policewomen_______________________________________________________________________ 43 Figure 10. "The Original English Lady Cricketeers" _____________________________________________ 57 Figure II. “Mysteries of Heredity" ____________________________________________________________ 65 Figure 12. "One of the delights ofBloomerism - The ladies will pop the question"_____________________ 72 Figure 13. Size Matters_______________________________________________________________________ 94 Figure 14. Woman Surgeon___________________________________________________________________ 109 vil ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people provided exceptional support and guidance to me in researching and writing this dissertation. My supervisor. Dr. Lisa Surridge, gave me constant encouragement and invaluable research guidance and feedback, as did my other departmental committee members. Dr. Margot Louis and Dr. Judith
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