Sound, Gender, Individual Will, and the Body in Nineteenth-Century British Literature

Sound, Gender, Individual Will, and the Body in Nineteenth-Century British Literature A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Jennifer Baltzer-Lovato IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Advised by Andrew Elfenbein May 2017 © Jennifer Baltzer-Lovato, 2017 i Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge my adviser Andrew Elfenbein for his patience, encouragement, persistence in pushing me forward when I was more inclined to slowly obsess over each obstacle, and most of all, for his willingness to share his exhaustive knowledge and expertise. I am also thankful to the other members of my committee; to Brian Goldberg for his supportive, but always candid feedback, as well as his helpful suggestions, always administered with a much-needed dose of humor; to John Watkins, for encouraging me to explore new areas of inquiry, and for his willingness to help me talk through problem issues, from teaching to writing and research; and to Elaine Auyoung for her readiness to give advice and assistance in the late stages of my project. I also want to thank Gordon Hirsch for his patience and wisdom, and his good- natured support even when I was disposed to panic. Thank you also to Joe Hughes, Richard Leppert, Anna Clark, Michael Hancher, and all the members of the University of Minnesota 18th and 19th Century Subfield, for their assistance and advice as I developed material for this dissertation. Thank you also to the British Women Writers Conference, for their stimulating support of adventurous scholarly pursuits, and for all of the helpful comments and advice at the conferences I was fortunate enough to participate in with them. I am also grateful to my old opera director, Jon Linford, for meeting with me to act as a much looked-for sounding board for my troublesome last chapter, and for his advice, inspiration, and wealth of knowledge and experience with all things Gilbert and Sullivan. I joyfully thank to my many friends and colleagues, who have helped me figure out the many puzzles and pitfalls of academic life. My thanks to Pat Baehler, for listening to my rantings and ravings, and always offering clear-headed, advice to move forward, but most of all, for her emotional support and encouraging shoulder to lean on. Thanks also to Jennifer Kang for the study and writing support, and willingness to listen to me babble on about Gilbert and Sullivan without complaint. Thank you to Anne- Marie Lawless, Michelle Livingston, Ben Utter, Adam Lindberg, , Eunha Na, Jewon Woo, and Heather McNeff for their friendship, generosity, and willingness to lend an ear (and a hand) for discussion of teaching problems and dissertation woes. I would not have been able to undertake this without the constant, loving support of my family. Thank you to my mom and dad, for always being there to help, and always believing in me and my ability to see this through, even when I didn’t believe it myself. I appreciate all of the late-night talks, family dinners, help with the kids so I could have time to write, and invaluable emotional support you have provided, but also for the inspiration and encouragement that you have given me through the years, letting ii me read whatever I wanted to , and pushing me to dream big, and work to accomplish anything that I wanted to do. Finally, thank you to Luis, my husband and best-friend. Your tireless support and faith in me has given me the solace and encouragement that I needed through all the struggles of the last nine years—you always have my back, and I do not take that for granted. Your willingness to explore and read new things along with me was always helpful, as was your inquisitiveness and constant inclination to challenge things that I take for granted, pressing me to expand my understanding by defending it. And I can’t neglect to mention my children, Matthew and Brianna, for their understanding, love, and encouragement, for inspiring me and keeping me grounded, and motivating me to succeed. Most of all, thank you for making me take breaks for things like eating, talking about your day, and much-needed general silliness. I couldn’t have done it without all of you! iii To Luis, Matthew, and Brianna, for being the people they are, and loving me for the person I am iv Abstract This dissertation focuses on portrayals of music in 19th century British literature and culture, and the way that it reveals expectations and assumptions regarding gender roles and behavior. Through this study of accounts of musical performance, in sources such as fictional representations, performance reviews in periodicals, as well as diaries and letters, I bring out a series of paradoxical conflicts between certain problematic aspects of gender and social expectations, centering around the figure of the diva as celebrated emblem of transportative, ethereal beauty, and simultaneously reviled as an object of uncomfortably revealing physical display, inspiring fear and paranoia. This diva focus brings to the fore questions of uncertainty regarding the balance of power in gendered relations, as well as the “naturalness” of gendered behavior. I consider the way that the dynamic, commanding presence of the diva that gained prominence late in the 18th century radically changes in the Victorian era. Drawing inspiration from Keats and the Romantic poets, who use the nightingale to symbolize the artistic ideal, Victorian prima donnas end up becoming this nightingale. Jenny Lind’s reputation (and wild success) as the “Swedish Nightingale” is the most direct application of this development. Discomforts with the realities that the traditional diva’s presence brings into view end up leaking out into other areas, echoing the questions raised by her ghostly absence. The chapters of this work focus on four specific areas where this rift is tangible. I consider Shelley’s poetry about music from early in the century, as it attempts to erase the body from music entirely, and gender difference along with it in the first chapter. Shelley writes at roughly the same time as the Jane Austen, though Austen’s works illuminate the function of music in a somewhat more practical manner. Austen repeatedly pinpoints a curious phenomenon surrounding musical drawing room performance for women, in which otherwise invisible women, often of reduced means, are able to exert a sort of power by physically claiming the space in which they move through music. This often parlays into positions of further control in society, which develops into a much more high-profile manipulation of control in novelistic depictions further into the century. The third chapter considers the development of perceived danger of women in musically inflated positions of power. I consider the situations of Clara Schumann’s long career, and DuMaurier’s fin-de-siècle heroine Trilby; in both of these cases outside forces are believed to control the power inherent in these women’s musical performance. The final chapter moves on to the late century musical comedies of Gilbert and Sullivan, in which the low voice characters in particular question conceptions of the naturalness of gender and the way that separation of spheres functions in late Victorian society. v Table of Contents List of Figures……………………………………………………..…………………vi Introduction ……………………………………………………..…………...……… 1 Chapter One …………………………………………..…………..…………………20 Chapter Two …………………..…………………………………..…………………55 Chapter Three ……………………………………………………..…………………92 Chapter Four ……………………………………………………..…………………133 Conclusion ……………………………………………………..………………..…202 Bibliography……………………………………………………..…………………206 vi List of Figures Figure Page Figure 2.1 Engraving, “The Progress of Female Dissipation,” Cosway, 1803………85 Figure 3.1 Google Doodle Honoring Clara Schumann’s 193rd Birthday, 2012..…….102 Figure 3.2 Illustration from Trilby “Twin Grey Eyes,” 1894…………………….…..127 Figure 3.3 Illustration from Trilby “The 'Rosamund' of Schubert,” 1894……………127 Figure 4.1 Photo, Rosina Brandram as Little Buttercup, H. M. S. Pinafore, 1899…...151 Figure 4.2 Illustration from Bab Ballads, “The Bumboat Woman’s Story,” 1891….151 Figure 4.3 Illustration from Bab Ballads, “Captain Reece,” 1891……………….…..151 Figure 4.4 Photo, Alice Barnett as Ruth, Pirates of Penzance, 1880………...………157 Figure 4.5 Photo, Bessie Armytage as Ruth, Pirates of Penzance ,1882 …..……….157 Figure 4.6 Photo, Rosina Brandham as Ruth, Pirates of Penzance, 1900……….…..158 Figure 4.7 Photo, Kate Santley as Princess Toro, Princess Toro, 1876 ……………..158 Figure 4.8 Illustration from program insert for Pirates of Penzance, 1925 …………159 vii Figure 4.8 Illustrations of costume designs for Pirates of Penzance, 1929…….….159 Figure 4.9 Photo, Rosina Brandram as Katisha in The Mikado, 1885………...….....184 Figure 4.10 Photo, Elise Cameron as Katisha in The Mikado, 1885……..…....……184 Figure 4.11 Photo, Mrs. Hanford as Katisha in The Mikado, 1899…………….…...185 Figure 4.12 Illustration from program for The Mikado, 1885…………….……..…185 Figure 4.13 Photo, Sybil Grey as Peep-Bo, Leonora Braham as Yum-Yum and Jessie Bond as Pitti Sing in The Mikado, 1855 …………………………….185 Figure 4.14 Photo, Sybil Grey as Peep-Bo, Leonora Braham as Yum-Yum and Jessie Bond as Pitti Sing in The Mikado, 1855 …………………………….185 1 Sound, Gender, Individual Will and the Body in Nineteenth-Century Britain Overview Music is a curious art form, functioning in the abstract and material, sounding notes that can function as undefined loose signifiers and deeply entrenched signals, social cues, and cultural markers. The slippery resistance to definition (and thus control) inherent in the nature of music is part of what makes it so fascinating, and often frightening at the same time. Through examination of this most difficult of all art forms to pin down, this project traces changes in gender roles and musical performance, probing the disconnect between perception, pre-conception, and physicality. In a scope that spans the greater part of the Nineteenth Century, I study the use of music, and the shorthand that accompanies it, to glimpse beneath the surface of commonplaces and cultural assumptions.

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