Reading Boredom in Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, and Christina Rossetti
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 4-22-2015 12:00 AM Reading Boredom in Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, and Christina Rossetti Rebekah Ann Lamb The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. D.M.R. Bentley The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in English A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Rebekah Ann Lamb 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Art Practice Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Labor History Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Lamb, Rebekah Ann, "Reading Boredom in Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, and Christina Rossetti" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2835. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2835 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. READING BOREDOM IN TENNYSON, DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI, WILLIAM MORRIS, AND CHRISTINA ROSSETTI (Thesis format: Monograph) by Rebekah Ann Lamb Graduate Program in English A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Rebekah Ann Lamb 2015 ABSTRACT Focusing on the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, the poetry and paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the early poetry of William Morris, and the poetry and prose of Christina Rossetti, this thesis examines how boredom emerges in Victorian aesthetic culture. Drawing from writings in visual culture, gender studies, social history, and recent returns to new formalism in Victorian studies, this thesis attends to how renderings of boredom open up our understanding of the relationship between poetry, art, temporality, embodiment and explorations of everyday life and living in Victorian England. Chapter One of my thesis is an introductory explanation of boredom and the term an aesthetic of boredom—a concept that I use to explore the connections between poetry, art, the psycho-somatic phenomenon of being bored, and poetic developments in Victorian socio-political and artistic contexts. It also outlines the connections between boredom and various affects of discontent (such as acedia, melancholy, and idleness). Chapter Two considers how Tennyson’s understanding of boredom is shaped by complicated attitudes towards gender, sexuality, and work—as seen in his poems “Mariana,” “Mariana in the South,” “The Lady of Shalott,” “The Lotos Eaters,” and “Ulysses.” Chapter Three concentrates on how repetition and thwarted desire influence the multiple versions of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “The Blessed Damozel,” his paintings of women from the later 1850s, onwards, and aspects of The House of Life. Chapter Four considers how William Morris’s The Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems fleshes out an aesthetic of thwarted desire that links to his developing views on art, gender, and everyday life. Chapter Five discusses the ways in which Christina Rossetti understands boredom in an expressly moral, albeit paradoxically ambivalent, light: it is either a form ii of affective purgation or else a symptom of spiritual lukewarmness, as shown in Maude, “The Prince’s Progress,” and Commonplace. My thesis concludes with a Postscript that comments on how both Victorian art and poetry—and its ways of encoding time, playing with rhythm and rhyme, and exploring the dynamics of desire—provide us with a profound sense of the embodied nature of boredom, in its various forms, in Victorian England. Keywords: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, Aesthetics, Boredom, Chronotopes, Desire, Embodiment, Faith, Gender, Labour, Pre-Raphaelites, Temporality, Visual Culture, Victorian Poetry iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In thanking those who assisted me, in so many important ways, with my graduate work and the completion of this thesis, it is easy to begin but very difficult to know how and where to end—it is not possible to adequately thank everyone here, in full. But, as Christina Rossetti says, “Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun!” So, these acknowledgements are an attempt to begin to give thanks where it is due. My special thanks to my supervisor, Dr. David Bentley, for his guidance, generosity, support, and wisdom. In David I found a mentor whose love for his field, his care for his students, and his rigour in scholarship are truly inspiring and if I can strive to be half as generous and dedicated, as he is, in my own career then I will be very pleased. Also, my special thanks goes to Dr. Christopher Keep, my second reader, whose incisive and thoughtful comments on my Dante Gabriel Rossetti chapter, in particular, and on the over-arching methodological and theoretical approaches of my thesis were invaluable. Chris went far beyond the call of a second reader with his support, generosity, encouragement, and advice and it has been a great gift to benefit from his and David’s mentorship over the past few years. My thanks also to my thesis examining committee for providing me with a truly rich and thought-provoking series of considerations, insights, and questions—all of which will greatly assist me in the work I carry out in the upcoming years. At Western, I have been very fortunate in the professors who have supported me in my work and who have taught me so much, by example, about the art of teaching and research. I wish to especially mention: Joel Faflak, Manina Jones, J.D. Kneale, Mary- Helen McMurran, Russell Poole, Peggy Roffey, and Matthew Rowlinson. My special thanks, also, to the staff in Western’s English Department, Leanne Trask, Vivian Foglton, and Beth McIntosh, for their help in countless ways. Also, to my fellow Western graduate students, especially Madison Bettle, Marie Comisso, Tim DeJong, Jeff King, Pascale McCullough Manning, Emily Pez, and so many others, thank you for many wonderful conversations and support at various stages. Thank you to the province of Ontario for granting me two Ontario Graduate Scholarships during my time studying at Western; I am also grateful to Rev. Michael Wagenman for awarding me an Emerging Scholar Fellowship at the Kuyper Centre at Western. All three scholarships provided me with invaluable financial support and the Kuyper fellowship was a wonderful opportunity to share and develop both my faith and my academic research with other graduate students and faculty at Western. iv I wish to thank, in no particular order, those who have been, in various ways and stages, important mentors and friends in my personal and academic life: Gemma Myers, Anna-Maria Mendell, Adelaide Ventura, Finbar and Theresa Sullivan, Gina Gutierrez- Cortina, Kara Johnson, Michael Fox, Peter Sampo, Paul Connell, Stratford and Leonie Caldecott, Randy Boyagoda, Elizabeth Santolupo, Chris Wojtulewicz, Christine Oskirko, Alisha Gabriel, Maureen Cassidy, Sarah and Elliot Rossiter, Donnie Collins, Crystal Mason, Fr. Philip Cleevely, Fr. Joseph Hattie, OMI, Charlie and Therese Fox, Natalie Valle, Caitlin Putnam, Joanne Geiger, Claire Connell, Elizabeth Muenzberg, Beatrice Schaeken, Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, Lauren Gallagher, and Harry and Joyce Lamb (and especially my cousins Rachel and Cecelia Lamb). I would also like to thank the staff, students, and faculty of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom for their support as I began my first year as an Assistant Professor, here, whilst also finishing up my doctorate. Special mention should be made of the support given by Christine Schintgen, Jacob Ellens, Maria Reilander, the Cassidy family, and Michael O’Brien. My most especial thank-you goes to my family. To my “kindred spirits,” my sisters, Sarah, Christina, Hannah, and Jessica, and my brother, Benjamin, and my brother- in-law, Peter, and my nephews, Thomas and Lukas, thank you for your love and support. All of you cheered me on with your prayer, friendship, and encouragement. Thank you, Tina and Hannah, in particular, for reading through drafts of my work and, Hannie, for providing essential formatting assistance, at the eleventh hour, just before I submitted my thesis. Thanks Tina for always being there, without a second thought, to support me through the process of finishing. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to my parents, Thomas Slater (Requiescat in pace) and Jannie Lamb, who gifted me and my siblings with a home shaped by faith, love, friendship, and a passion for learning. This thesis is dedicated to my parents, with my love, gratitude and affection. v Table of Contents ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... VIII CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 1.1 “I