UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Dread: the Literary History
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Dread: The Literary History of a Political Affect, 1750-1900 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English by Samantha Ellen Morse 2020 © Copyright by Samantha Ellen Morse 2020 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Dread: The Literary History of a Political Affect, 1750-1900 by Samantha Ellen Morse Doctor of Philosophy in English University of California, Los Angeles 2020 Professor Sarah Tindal Kareem, Chair This dissertation analyzes the cultural urgency of dread—a profound feeling of fear about the future—in a range of canonical and popular British novels, poems, periodicals, and philosophical treatises. In our own time, we tend to think of dread as a negative, paralyzing affect. Yet I elucidate the many ways in which nineteenth-century authors, philosophers, political reformers, and theologians regarded this feeling as an impetus for bringing about a better future. The anticipatory qualities of dread served as a catalyst for ethical and political transformations in the Enlightenment all the way through the Victorian era. Beginning with David Hume and ending with H. G. Wells, I examine the ways in which dread entered into and shaped philosophical thought, popular culture, and political life, especially radicalism, through shifting literary forms, many of which stemmed from the Gothic mode. While numerous studies have investigated fearful affects such as terror, horror, and anxiety, my dissertation is the first ii sustained examination of dread, which reconceptualizes the Gothic’s literary and political significance. While it is a critical commonplace that Gothic fiction stages encounters with the past, I show how the Gothic stimulates dread in order to orient its readers toward future possibilities. Part I presents an intellectual and aesthetic genealogy of dread, disclosing how this feeling animated philosophical discussions and literary depictions of sympathy, the moral sentiments, and conscience from Adam Smith to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Victorian psychologist Alexander Bain. Part II explores shifting understandings of dread from early Gothic novels to Victorian penny dreadfuls, Bram Stoker’s fiction and journal articles, and Wells’s scientific romances and essays. These chapters show how the slow-paced and expansive nature of dread precipitated deep reflection for fictional characters and real-world thinkers alike. Because of its galvanizing properties, dread was instrumental in mobilizing thoughtful, non- violent, and progressive political reform during three pivotal historical moments. Gothic dread counteracted political alarmism during the revolutionary 1790s, united Chartists advocating for working-class enfranchisement in the 1840s, and informed critiques of settler-colonialism, including the Irish Home Rule movement, in the 1890s. A brief coda attempts to reconcile the historical sense of dread’s rousing and progressive potential with the dominant present-day belief that dread makes people passive, intolerant, or reactionary. Although this emotion is largely viewed in a negative light today, I explore several alternative artistic and political attempts to represent dread as a vital and productive aspect of the human condition. iii The dissertation of Samantha Ellen Morse is approved. Joseph E. Bristow Anahid Nersessian Sumangala Bhattacharya Sarah Tindal Kareem, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2020 iv In Memoriam S.J.M.—a loving mother and passionate educator. This dissertation is complete because you taught me how to persevere in the darkest of times. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………. vii Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………………….. viii Vita …………………………………………………………………………………………… x Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………1 Part I: Two Traditions Chapter One …………………………………………………………………………………. 36 Cultivating and Defusing Dread, 1710-1830 Chapter Two ………………………………………………………………………………… 71 Cultivating and Defusing Dread, 1830-1900 Part II: Dread Decades and their Fictional Modes Chapter Three ……………………………………………………………………………….. 136 Dread in the Age of Revolution: Gothic Alternatives to Alarmism in The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Monk Chapter Four ………………………………………………………………………………… 180 Dread and Democracy: Affective Ethics and Popular Politics in Sweeney Todd, The Mysteries of London, and the Mid-Victorian Penny Press Chapter Five ………………………………………………………………………………… 239 Dread and Spread: Affective Disruptions of Empire in The War of the Worlds, Dracula, and “Penny Dreadfuls” Coda …………………………………………………………………………………………. 319 Dread in the Twenty-First Century Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………… 330 vi LIST OF FIGURES Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia I, 1514…………………………………………………..……….. 125 The Mysteries of Udolpho, fifth edition, illustration of Emily and Montoni….………………. 149 The Mysteries of London, first edition, illustration of Eliza Sydney………………………….. 214 The Mysteries of London, first edition, illustration of Tony’s barn burning………………...….229 The Mysteries of London, first edition, illustration of murder scheme………………………... 230 Sir John Tenniel, “The Irish ‘Vampire,’” Punch, 24 October 1885…………………………... 290 Richard Barratt, “The English Vampire,” Pilot, 7 November 1885…………………………... 290 vii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would not have been able to realize this enormous undertaking without the efforts of my own “Crew of Light.” Sarah Kareem’s vast understanding of affect theory is matched by an ample degree of personal kindness, which has bolstered me through the ups and downs of this process. Joseph Bristow’s encyclopedic knowledge frequently led me to discover new aspects of the Victorians, and his tireless perusal of drafts transformed my ability to write. I am grateful to Anahid Nersessian for showing me the pleasure of difficulty and encouraging me to follow the rudder of my idiosyncrasies. I would not have arrived at this point without Sumangala Bhattacharya, my esteemed mentor since I was an undergraduate. Her attempts at dissuading me from pursuing a PhD in English only fortified my drive to do so. These committee members have been consistently generous, supportive, and enthusiastic—I deeply admire and appreciate them. Many other faculty from UCLA and beyond have encouraged my growth as a scholar. I am especially grateful to Jonathan Grossman for teaching me the importance of structure (and the necessity of having a giant white board in my office). I have Saree Makdisi to thank for my love of London. Another joy has been working with Chris Mott, who enthusiastically supported my growth as an educator. Thanks also to the amazing community of scholars in the International Gothic Association who warmly welcomed me at the first conference I attended in Mexico and have since shared invaluable knowledge and advice. Closer to home, I have been fortunate to share this graduate school experience with a brilliant, encouraging, and very fun group of students, including Jessica Cook, Timothy Fosbury, Elizabeth Crawford, Chelsea Kern, Yangjung Lee, Becky King, Joe Miranda, Comfort Udah, Abraham Encinas, Emma Spies, Lilly Lu, Mike Vignola, Ellen Truxaw, Crescent Rainwater, Cailey Hall, Ji Eun Lee and too many more to list here. viii Lastly, I would like to thank my husband, John Paul, and my close-knit family: Sandy and Carter, Sabrina, Austin, Rebecca, Katie, Buck and Barb, the Aroestys, the Johnsons, the Myers, and the Thielens. None of you doubted for a moment that I would succeed, and I constantly strived to make sure your faith was not misplaced. But regardless of the outcome, I always knew your love was unconditional, and that has made all the difference. *** Chapter 4 is a version of “Affective Ethics and Democratic Politics in Sweeney Todd and the Victorian Penny Press,” Journal of Victorian Culture 24, no. 1 (January 2019): 1-17. ix SAMANTHA ELLEN MORSE Curriculum Vitae EDUCATION 2019 Ph.D. Candidate, English, University of California, Los Angeles Dissertation Title: “Dread: The Literary History of a Political Affect, 1750-1900” Advisor: Professor Sarah Tindal Kareem 2017 M.A., English, UCLA 2014 B.A., English World Literature (with honors and distinction), Spanish Literature (with honors and distinction), Pitzer College PUBLICATIONS 2020 “Gothic-Punk Utopia in Laura Oldfield Ford’s Savage Messiah,” forthcoming in Cultural Critique. 2019 “Affective Ethics and Democratic Politics in Sweeney Todd and the Victorian Penny Press,” Journal of Victorian Culture 24:1 (January 2019), 1-17. 2018 “‘Her life is mine, to use as I see fit’: The Terror of Consent in Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan,” Studies in the Novel 50:4 (Winter 2018), 483-500. AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS 2019 Distinguished Teacher of UCLA 2019 Graduate Division Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA 2019 Grad Slam Finalist, UCLA 2018 Mellon Foundation Summer Professionalization Grant, UCLA 2017 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Distinction, UCLA 2017 Mellon-EPIC Fellow: Teaching Excellence in Writing, UCLA 2017 Graduate Student Summer Research Mentorship, UCLA 2017 International Gothic Association Postgraduate Student Bursary Award 2016 William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Digital Humanities Research Grant, UCLA INVITED TALK 2019 “Aesthetics and Politics of Dread in H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds,” UCLA Department of English Winter Athenaeum, February 26. SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 2019 “Colonial Stakes of the Vampiric Future,” Victorian Interdisciplinary Association of the Western United States (VISAWUS) Annual