MAN UP: A STUDY OF GENDERED EXPECTATIONS OF MASCULINITIES AT THE FIN DE SIÈCLE Morna Bowman Ramday A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2014 Full metadata for this thesis is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5551 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 Man Up: A Study of Gendered Expectations of Masculinities at the Fin de Siècle Morna Bowman Ramday This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews Date of Submission 24TH April 2014 i ABSTRACT The main themes of this thesis are masculinities, fluctuations in socially constructed gender roles at the fin de siècle and how a number of cathartic issues influenced these. The strongest of these issues was the New Woman Question which, while demanding developments for women, threatened the stability of Victorian gender norms. This forced both sexes to rethink and renegotiate their positions within society. Women sought options that would free them from the vagaries of the marriage market and looked to move into a more public sphere. Many saw this as a threat to the patriarchal status quo and the debates that ensued were many and vociferous. In response to this, men had to look within and question various modes of masculinity and manliness that they had previously taken for granted and that they now viewed as under threat. The fin de siècle was a time of major gender upheaval which, I propose, is reflected in its literature. I intend to explore the anxieties of both genders by examination of the selected texts which cover pertinent aspects of the similarities and contrasts in the way male and female authors negotiate masculinities in relation to social and gendered spaces. In this way, I hope to investigate the underlying themes which inform the novels. I aim to research reasons for disparity in approaches to gender issues, to highlight the importance of masculinities in relation to gendered positions in fin-de-siècle discourses and to show why relations between the sexes had to evolve. ii DECLARATION 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Morna Bowman Ramday, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in [month, year] and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in [September, 2008]; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between [2008] and [2014]. Date: 21st August 2014 signature of candidate: 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date: signature of supervisor: 3. Permission for electronic publication: (to be signed by both candidate and supervisor) In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access iii to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: (iii) Embargo on both all of printed copy and electronic copy for the same fixed period of 5 years on the following ground(s): publication would be commercially damaging to the researcher, or to the supervisor, or the University; publication would preclude future publication. Date : 21st August 2014 signature of candidate signature of supervisor A supporting statement for a request for an embargo must be included with the submission of the draft copy of the thesis. Where part of a thesis is to be embargoed, please specify the part and the reasons. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the following people without whom this work would not have materialised: Mr Phillip Mallett, for his invaluable help, advice and support from the beginning of this academic journey, at my very first Evening Degree lecture, to the completion of this thesis. I could not have done this without him. Dr Emma Sutton, for supervision above and beyond the call of duty and for always keeping my feet firmly on the ground. Dr Tom Jones, for excellent advice, support and help through each of my degrees. My long-suffering husband, Seroop, for his constant encouragement and for putting up with my reclusiveness and grumpiness throughout the process. Mrs Kitrhona Cerri, for major proof reading, advice and encouragement. Ms Sewant Ramday, for actually enjoying proof reading. Ms Alexandra Wallace for help in all things official and her constant cheerfulness as she does this. Ms Nicky Haxell, for starting me on this academic journey and giving me her advice and friendship along the way. The staff of the University of St Andrews Library for their help and understanding in making it easy to borrow and return books from a distance. The staff of the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archives for their enthusiasm and expert knowledge. The staff of the British Library Reading Room for their unfailing cheerfulness when searching for obscure or precise objects. Last, but not least, all members of the University of St Andrews School of English who always have time to give encouragement and advice in a way that makes it a very special place to study. v CONTENTS Introduction 1 Section 1: The Damaged Male Chapter I: The Cry for Change 30 Chapter II: Monstrous Masculinity 56 Chapter III: Homosocial Symbiosis 86 Section 2: Marriage Chapter IV: Vicarious Sacrifice 112 Chapter V: The Search for Marital Equilibrium 134 Chapter VI: Investigating Manipulations of Marriage 176 Section 3: Society Chapter VII: Resisting Acquiescence 198 Chapter VIII: The Crew of Light 228 Chapter IX: The Emergent Urban Warrior 262 Conclusion 287 Bibliography 291 vi ABBREVIATIONS The following abbreviations have been used throughout the text: A The Awakening. AO Adnam’s Orchard. D Dracula. DD The Daughters of Danaus. DG ‘Dracula’s Guest’. HT The Heavenly Twins. S.C.L.A. Shakespeare Centre Library and Archives. SS The Sorrows of Satan. T Trilby. WC The White Company. WV The Winged Victory. YW ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION Get up, stand up Stand up for your rights Get up, stand up Never give up the fight.1 The grooming of young men to have a feeling of entitlement by [...] parents breeds a sense of masculinity and male privilege. [...] Such an upbringing ill-prepares them for the modern world of independent, capable women. [...] When women do not cower or display their vulnerability, what follows is a sense of emasculation and grievance on the part of these men. [...] Female empowerment is totally unsettling to many men. It has shaken up their sense of entitlement and their response is [often] violent and volatile.2 This quotation could almost represent a summary of the thesis that follows here; however, this comment does not relate to the Victorian fin de siècle, but to modern India. What it does help to highlight is how relevant studies of historical literature are to modern thought and how, by studying and interpreting the information they hold, we can open discussions relating to current problematic gender issues. Michael Roper and John Tosh think that ‘the historical approach offers the best opportunity for exploring the meaning of gender as power: for seeing masculine and feminine identities not as distinct and separate constructs, but as part of a political field whose relations are characterised by domination, subordination, collusion and resistance.’3 By exploring historical gender concerns in this thesis, I will argue that gender relations are inseparable from social structures and that changes must be co-dependent between both genders and within society as a whole. The fin de siècle, in particular, was a time of increasing self-consciousness regarding changes to the fundamental tenets of society, especially those pertaining to marriage, sex and 1 Bob Marley, ‘Get up, Stand up’ (Jamaica: April, 1973), copyright, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. 2 Francis Elliott, The Times (Friday 21st December 2012), p. 35. 3 Michael Roper and John Tosh, eds., Manful Assertions: Masculinities in Britain since 1800 (London: Routledge, 1991), p. 8. Introduction 2 gender matters. Political changes in the mid-nineteenth century had led to security and opportunities that, as in modern India, had hitherto been unthinkable for women.