DOCSLIB.ORG

Traumatized Voices: the Transformation of Personal Trauma Into Public Writing During the Romantic Era

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English English, Department of Summer 5-21-2012 Traumatized Voices: The Transformation of Personal Trauma into Public Writing During the Romantic Era Karalyne S. Lowery University of Nebraska Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Lowery, Karalyne S., "Traumatized Voices: The Transformation of Personal Trauma into Public Writing During the Romantic Era" (2012). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English. 63. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss/63 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Traumatized Voices: The Transformation of Personal Trauma into Public Writing During the Romantic Era by Karalyne S. Lowery A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: English (Nineteenth Century Studies) Under the Supervision of Professor Stephen C. Behrendt Lincoln, Nebraska 21 May, 2012 Traumatized Voices: The Transformation of Personal Trauma into Public Writing During the Romantic Era Karalyne S. Lowery, Ph.D. University of Nebraska 2012 Advisor: Stephen C. Behrendt Beginning as early as the 1790s and continuing throughout the nineteenth century, it is possible to trace in British literature a distinctive line of fascination among authors with what we now understand to be trauma and its profound effects on the lives and behaviors of it victims/survivors. With today’s neurological proof of the changes that take place in the brains of traumatized individuals, it stands to reason that these changes have taken place in every century, not just the century in which we have had the technology to view it or the vocabulary to describe it. This means that psychological trauma is biologically and psychologically universal. Using Judith Herman’s Trauma and Recovery and empathetic readings, this study examines the personal traumas of several authors as related in their private writings and traces the transformation of that private trauma into the authors’ published works. The study examines traumatic grief, the results of an unsuccessful grieving process, and the possible traumatic captivity of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and how they manifest in “Rime of the Ancient Mariner;” traumatic loss combined with the dissociation cultivated by William Godwin as an abused child is discussed in conjunction with the writing of Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Mary Shelley’s many traumatic interpersonal relationships and the unique view they provided into the victimology of Frankenstein; and the role of empathy in creating healing relationships and in recovering from traumas in the lives of Charles and Mary Lamb along with the difference between sympathy and empathy in authors. Coleridge’s “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” is used as the example for sympathetic writing and Charles Lamb’s “Christ’s Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago” is used as the example of empathetic writing. As a whole, this study proposes that empathetic readings when combined with a trauma theory lens provide new insights into Romantic works. i Acknowledgements I would like to thank Stephen C. Behrendt, Laura M. White, Peter Capuano, Wendy J. Katz, and Robert Stock for their support and encouragement and for working within the very tight timelines this project required despite their own heavy workloads. In addition, I want to recognize the 18th- & 19th-Century British Literature Circle who were extremely helpful in allowing me to explore my topic and by providing feedback. I would also like to thank Beverly Rilett who was an incredible proofreader and Colonel Kathleen Harrington whose trust and sponsorship through the United States Air Force Academy made this entire process possible. The views expressed in this study are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. ii Table of Contents Abbreviated Titles………………………………………………………………………..iii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One Coleridge’s Overarching Childhood Trauma: Loss, Captivity, and the Nightmares They Produced…………………………………....20 Chapter Two Writing Through Grief Publicly and Privately: William Godwin’s Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman as Scriptotherapy………………………………....97 Chapter Three Victimizers and Victimization in Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s Transformation of Personal Trauma into Eternally Relevant Public Drama………………………………………………….168 Chapter Four Fractured Brilliance: Charles and Mary Lamb and the Importance of Empathy………………………………………………………...241 In Conclusion: What Does Trauma Theory Add to Readings?.......................................322 Notes……………………………………………………………………………………324 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….326 iii List of Abbreviated Titles Autobiography: Godwin, William. "Autobiographical Fragments." Collected Novels and Memoirs of William Godwin. Eds. Mark Philip, Pamela Clemit, and Maurice Hindle. The Pickering Masters ed. 1 Vol. London: William Pickering, 1992. 41-51. Print. CL: Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Volumes I-VI. Ed. Earl Leslie Griggs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956. Print. CN: The Notebooks of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Volumes 1-6. Ed. Kathleen Coburn. New York: Bollingen; Patheon, 1961. Print. Diary: "The Diary of William Godwin." William Godwin's Diary. 2010.Web. <http://godwindiary.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/nav/Diary.html>. DSM IV-TR: American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. American Psychiatric Association, 2000. Print. Fragment: Godwin, William. "Autobiographical Fragment Complete 1756- 1769." Lord Abinger's Shelley-Godwin Collection in Bodleian Library. Eds. Lewis Patton, et al. Reel 1, 1788. Microfilm. G&M: Wardle, Ralph M., ed. Godwin & Mary: Letters of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1977. Print. GL: Godwin, William, and Pamela Clemit. The Letters of William Godwin. Vol. 1, 1778-1797. Oxford (GB); New York; Auckland [etc.]: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Journal: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The Journals of Mary Shelley, 1814-1844. Eds. Paula R. Feldman and Diana Scott-Kilvert. Volumes 1 and 2. Oxford; New York: Clarendon; Oxford UP, 1987. Print. LCL: The Letters of Charles and Mary Anne Lamb. Volumes I-III. Ed. Edwin W. Mars, Jr. Ithica; London: Cornell UP, 1976. Print. Length: Godwin, William. "Analysis of Own Character Begun Sep 26, 1798." Collected Novels and Memoirs of William Godwin. Eds. Mark Philip, Pamela Clemit, and Maurice Hindle. The Pickering Masters ed. 1 Vol. London: William Pickering, 1992. 41-51. Print. iv Letters: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Edited Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Ed. Betty T. Bennett. 1 Vol. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1995. Print. Memoirs: Godwin, William. Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Pamela Clemit & Gina Luria Walker eds. Toronto: Broadview, 2001. Print. PBS Letters: Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Letters. Ed. Frederick L. Jones. 1 Vol. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964. Print. Works: The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb: Volume I. Miscellaneous Prose. Ed. E.V. Lucas. London: Methune & Co., 1903. Print. 1 Introduction By the end of the eighteenth century, medical science was emerging from a comparatively primitive and often superstitious view of both the human body and the human mind and was beginning to embrace a more sophisticated understanding that was rooted in eighteenth-century investigations not only of anatomy, physiology, and medicine but also of psychology and human behavior. Early Romantic writers like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, Anna Barbauld, and Charlotte Smith were among the first to incorporate into their works the new insights into human behavior that were emerging from the studies of scientists like David Hartley, Humphrey Davy, David Hume, and F.J. Gall. Richard Holmes, in The Age of Wonder, shows how involved authors like Wordsworth, Coleridge, and even Lord Byron were with prominent scientists Joseph Banks, William Hershel, and Humphrey Davy. Beginning as early as the 1790s and continuing throughout the nineteenth century, it is possible to trace in British literature a distinctive line of fascination among authors with what we now understand to be trauma and its profound effects on the lives and behaviors of it victims/survivors. The Implications of Individual Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Most literary scholars consider trauma studies relatively recent; however, Charles R. Figley, one of the leading researchers in the early days of traumatic stress studies, 2 traced the first mention of trauma and its connections to “hysterical reactions” to ancient Egypt. These physicians reported their findings in 1900 B.C.E. in Kunyus Papyrus, which is one of the earliest medical textbooks (xvii). Figley, who helped found The Journal of
Recommended publications
  • Mary Shelley: Teaching and Learning Through Frankenstein Theresa M

    Mary Shelley: Teaching and Learning Through Frankenstein Theresa M

    Forum on Public Policy Mary Shelley: Teaching and Learning through Frankenstein Theresa M. Girard, Adjunct Professor, Central Michigan University Abstract In the writing of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley was able to change the course of women’s learning, forever. Her life started from an elite standpoint as the child of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. As such, she was destined to grow to be a major influence in the world. Mary Shelley’s formative years were spent with her father and his many learned friends. Her adult years were spent with her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their literary friends. It was on the occasion of the Shelleys’ visit to Lord Byron at his summer home that Mary Shelley was to begin her novel which changed the course of women’s ideas about safety and the home. No longer were women to view staying in the home as a means to staying safe and secure. While women always knew that men could be unreliable, Mary Shelley openly acknowledged that fact and provided a forum from which it could be discussed. Furthermore, women learned that they were vulnerable and that, in order to insure their own safety, they could not entirely depend upon men to rescue them; in fact, in some cases, women needed to save themselves from the men in their lives, often with no one to turn to except themselves and other women. There are many instances where this is shown throughout Frankenstein, such as: Justine’s prosecution and execution and Elizabeth’s murder. Mary Shelley educated women in the most fundamental of ways and continues to do so through every reading of Frankenstein.
  • Psychology: an International 11

    Psychology: an International 11

    WOMEN'S STUDIES LIBRARIAN The University ofWisconsin System EMINIST ERIODICALS A CURRENT LISTING OF CONTENTS VOLUME 13, NUMBER 3 FALL 1993 Published by Phyllis Holman Weisbard Women's Studies Librarian University of Wisconsin System 430 Memorial Library / 728 State Street Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (608) 263-5754 EMINIST ERIODICALS A CURRENT LISTING OF CONTENTS Volume 13, Number 3 Fall 1993 Periodical literature is the cutting edge of women's scholarship, feminist theory, and much ofwomen'sculture. Feminist Periodicals: A Current Listing of Contents is published by the Office of the University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian on a quarterly basis with the intent of increasing pUblic awareness of feminist periodicals. It is our hope that Feminist Periodicals will serve several purposes: to keep the reader abreast of current topics in feminist literature; to increase readers' familiarity with a wide spectrum of feminist periodicals; and to provide the requisite bibliographic information should a reader wish to subscribe to ajournal or to obtain a particular article at her library or through interlibrary lOan. (Users will need to be aware of the limitations of the new copyright law with regard to photocopying of copyrighted materials.) Tabie of contents pages from current issues of majorfeminist journals are reproduced in each issue ofFeminist Periodicals, preceded by a comprehensive annotated listing of all journals we have selected. As pUblication schedules vary enormously, not every periodical will have table of contents pages reproduced in each issue of IT. The annotated listing provides the following information on each journal: 1. Year of first publication. 2. Frequency of pUblication.
  • To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books

    To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books

    To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books John-Erik Hansson Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, 23 November 2018 European University Institute Department of History and Civilization To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books John-Erik Hansson Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Examining Board Ann Thomson, EUI (Supervisor) Stéphane Van Damme, EUI Pamela Clemit, Queen Mary, University of London (External Advisor) Gregory Claeys, Royal Holloway, University of London © John-Erik Hansson, 2018 No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author Researcher declaration to accompany the submission of written work Department of History and Civilization - Doctoral Programme I John-Erik Hansson certify that I am the author of the work 'To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans?' I have presented for examination for the Ph.D. at the European University Institute. I also certify that this is solely my own original work, other than where I have clearly indicated, in this declaration and in the thesis, that it is the work of others. I warrant that I have obtained all the permissions required for using any material from other copyrighted publications. I certify that this work complies with the Code of Ethics in Academic Research issued by the European University Institute (IUE 332/2/10 (CA 297).
  • II. Hannah More: Concise Biography

    II. Hannah More: Concise Biography

    DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation HANNAH MORE: MORALIZING THE BRITISH NATION Verfasserin Mag. phil. Helga-Maria Kopecky angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) Wien, 2014 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 092 343 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreut von: o. Univ. Prof. Dr. Margarete Rubik 2 For Gerald ! 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my great appreciation to those who assisted me in various ways in this project: to my first supervisor, o. Professor Dr. Margarete Rubik, for guiding me patiently and with never ending encouragement and friendliness through a difficult matter with her expertise; to my second supervisor, ao. Professor Dr. Franz Wöhrer, for his valuable feedback; to the English and American Studies Library as well as the Inter-loan Department of the Library of the University of Vienna; the National Library of Australia; and last, but certainly not least, to my family. It was their much appreciated willingness to accept an absent wife, mother and grandmother over a long period, which ultimately made this work at all possible. Thank you so much! 4 Of all the principles that can operate upon the human mind, the most powerful is – Religion. John Bowles 5 Table of Contents page I. Introduction General remarks ……………………………………………………. 9 Research materials ………………………………………………... 12 Aims of this thesis ………………………………………………… 19 Arrangement of individual chapters ...…………………………... 22 II. Hannah More: Concise Biography Early Years in Bristol ……………………………………………….. 24 The London Experience and the Bluestockings ………………... 26 Return to Bristol and New Humanitarian Interests ................... 32 The Abolitionist .......................................................................... 34 Reforming the Higher Ranks ..................................................... 36 The Tribute to Patriotism ........................................................... 40 Teaching the Poor: Schools for the Mendips ............................
  • Enlightenment and Dissent No.29 Sept

    Enlightenment and Dissent No.29 Sept

    ENLIGHTENMENT AND DISSENT No.29 CONTENTS Articles 1 Lesser British Jacobin and Anti-Jacobin Writers during the French Revolution H T Dickinson 42 Concepts of modesty and humility: the eighteenth-century British discourses William Stafford 79 The Invention of Female Biography Gina Luria Walker Reviews 137 Scott Mandelbrote and Michael Ledger-Lomas eds., Dissent and the Bible in Britain, c. 1650-1950 David Bebbington 140 W A Speck, A Political Biography of Thomas Paine H T Dickinson 143 H B Nisbet, Gottfried Ephraim Lessing: His Life, Works & Thought J C Lees 147 Lisa Curtis-Wendlandt, Paul Gibbard and Karen Green eds., Political Ideas of Enlightenment Women Emma Macleod 150 Jon Parkin and Timothy Stanton eds., Natural Law and Toleration in the Early Enlightenment Alan P F Sell 155 Alan P F Sell, The Theological Education of the Ministry: Soundings in the British Reformed and Dissenting Traditions Leonard Smith 158 David Sekers, A Lady of Cotton. Hannah Greg, Mistress of Quarry Bank Mill Ruth Watts Short Notice 161 William Godwin. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice ed. with intro. Mark Philp Martin Fitzpatrick Documents 163 The Diary of Hannah Lightbody: errata and addenda David Sekers Lesser British Jacobin and Anti-Jacobin Writers during the French Revolution H T Dickinson In the late eighteenth century Britain possessed the freest, most wide-ranging and best circulating press in Europe. 1 A high proportion of the products of the press were concerned with domestic and foreign politics and with wars which directly involved Britain and affected her economy. Not surprisingly therefore the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary War, impacting as they did on British domestic politics, had a huge influence on what the British press produced in the years between 1789 and 1802.
  • The Last Man"

    The Last Man"

    W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 5-2016 Renegotiating the Apocalypse: Mary Shelley’s "The Last Man" Kathryn Joan Darling College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Darling, Kathryn Joan, "Renegotiating the Apocalypse: Mary Shelley’s "The Last Man"" (2016). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 908. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/908 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 The apocalypse has been written about as many times as it hasn’t taken place, and imagined ever since creation mythologies logically mandated destructive counterparts. Interest in the apocalypse never seems to fade, but what does change is what form that apocalypse is thought to take, and the ever-keen question of what comes after. The most classic Western version of the apocalypse, the millennial Judgement Day based on Revelation – an absolute event encompassing all of humankind – has given way in recent decades to speculation about political dystopias following catastrophic war or ecological disaster, and how the remnants of mankind claw tooth-and-nail for survival in the aftermath. Desolate landscapes populated by cannibals or supernatural creatures produce the awe that sublime imagery, like in the paintings of John Martin, once inspired. The Byronic hero reincarnates in an extreme version as the apocalyptic wanderer trapped in and traversing a ruined world, searching for some solace in the dust.
  • Discussion Questions for Frankenstein Written by Hailey Toporcer, Hiram College Class of 2019 Edited by Prof

    Discussion Questions for Frankenstein Written by Hailey Toporcer, Hiram College Class of 2019 Edited by Prof

    Discussion Questions for Frankenstein Written by Hailey Toporcer, Hiram College Class of 2019 Edited by Prof. Kirsten Parkinson As you read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, either on your own or with a group, we invite you to use these questions to add layers to your discussion or thinking about the novel. The first section includes questions for each chapter of the novel; you will find questions reflecting on the book as a whole at the end. We have not included specific pages numbers as various editions have different page numbers, but the quotations are based on the 1831 edition of the novel. Discussion Questions for Each Chapter Letters I through IV 1. Frankenstein begins and ends with letters written by Robert Walton. Why do you think that Mary Shelley chose to have him frame the novel? How would your opinions of Victor Frankenstein and his creation differ if their story was told directly by Victor Frankenstein himself? What if the story was told solely by the creation? 2. Walton yearns for a friend, much like Victor Frankenstein’s creature does. What does this tell you about human nature? Is it in our nature to want companionship, someone to confide in, and someone to care for? 3. In Letter IV, Walton writes, “Yesterday the stranger said to me, “You may easily perceive, Captain Walton, that I have suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes. I had determined at one time that the memory of these evils should die with me, but you have won me to alter my determination. You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.
  • Frankenstein As Educational Thought on the Modern Problem of Terror

    Frankenstein As Educational Thought on the Modern Problem of Terror

    UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE MONSTROUS MISEDUCATION: FRANKENSTEIN AS EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT ON THE MODERN PROBLEM OF TERROR A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By KRISTEN OGILVIE HOLZER Norman, Oklahoma 2016 MONSTROUS MISEDUCATION: FRANKENSTEIN AS EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT ON THE MODERN PROBLEM OF TERROR A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES BY _____________________________ Dr. Susan Laird, Chair _____________________________ Dr. John Covaleskie _____________________________ Dr. Angela Urick _____________________________ Dr. Michele Eodice _____________________________ Dr. Robert Con Davis-Undiano © Copyright by KRISTEN OGILVIE HOLZER 2016 All Rights Reserved. DEDICATION I dedicate this work to the children among whom I have had the privilege of learning, including my two children, Keely Pate Holzer and Liam Reed Holzer. My fondest hopes lie in their future and the possibility that this scholarship might contribute in some small way toward the “cultural wealth” they will inherit. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my mother, Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, who has supported and encouraged me as a scholar, a mentor, and a friend. Words are inadequate to account for the debt of gratitude this work, and all of my work, owes my mother. By her example and courage, my sister, Martha Kay Ogilvie, has always pushed me to realize my potential. My brother, William Woodworth Ogilvie, has never stopped teasing or believing in me and I thank him for his humor and faith. I am grateful to my spouse, Michael Reed Holzer, for the pride he has always taken in my little victories. That pride made me believe I could finish what I started.
  • Mary Shelley

    Mary Shelley

    Mary Shelley Early Life Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, the daughter of two prominent radical thinkers of the Enlightenment. Her mother was the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, best known for An Inquiry Concerning Political Justice. Unfortunately, Wollstonecraft died just ten days after her daughter’s birth. Mary was raised by her father and stepmother Mary Jane Clairmont. When she was 16 years old, Mary fell in love with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who visited her father’s house frequently. They eloped to France, as Shelley was already married. They eventually married after two years when Shelley’s wife Harriet committed suicide. The Writing of Frankenstein In the summer of 1816, the Shelleys rented a villa close to that of Lord Byron in Switzerland. The weather was bad (Mary Shelley described it as “wet, ungenial” in her 1831 introduction to Frankenstein), due to a 1815 eruption of a volcano in Indonesia that disrupted weather patterns around the world. Stuck inside much of the time, the company, including Byron, the Shelleys, Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont, and Byron’s personal physician John Polidori, entertained themselves with reading stories from Fantasmagoriana, a collection of German ghost stories. Inspired by the stories, the group challenged themselves to write their own ghost stories. The only two to complete their stories were Polidori, who published The Vampyre in 1819, and Mary Shelley, whose Frankenstein went on to become one of the most popular Gothic tales of all time.
  • Scroll Down the English Romantics

    Scroll Down the English Romantics

    Scroll Down ▼ ▼ ▼ Index To The English Romantics By Peter Landry ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ Index Aberdeen: 159; 167. Bailey, Benjamin (Friend of Abbotsford: 41. K’s): 130-2; fn#12-3, 227-8; Address to the Irish People (S’s fn#18, 228-9. work): 85. Ball, Sir Alexander (Governor Adonais (S’s work to the dead of Malta): 63. Keats): 98; 104; fn#51, 220. Barbados: 109-10. Aeschylus: 103; fn#37, 216. Basel, Switzerland: 180. Aids to Reflection (STC’s Bath: 70; 91; 93; 115; 145-6; 158; work): 76. fn#45, 219; fn#20, 236. Alastor (S’s work): 92; fn#23, 214. Bay of Spezzia: 99; 191; fn#19, 224. Albania: 166; fn#84, 248. Beaumount, Lady: 43. Alfoxden Days: 14-16; 56-8. Beaupuy, Michael (French mil- Ali Pasha: 166. itary officer befriended by Allan Bank: 21; WW moves to, WW in the early days): 6. 26-8; 69. Beddoes, Dr.: 62; 64. Allegra (A child of Claire’s & Bentham, Jeremy: 1; 67; fn#8, Lord B’s, Claire orig. called 222; fn#12, 223. her Alba, B renamed her to Beppo (Lord B’s work, 1817): 182. Allegra): 96-7; 100; 118; b., Berkeley, George (Philoso- 1817, 180-1; 190; d. at 5 yrs. pher): 68. of age, fn#24, 214; fn#33, 216; Biographia Literaria (STC’s fn#54, 242; fn#72, fn#74, 246. work): 65; 76; fn#17, 207-8; American Revolution: 110; 112. fn#19 & 22, 208; fn#26, 209; Amiens: Treaty of, 7; 24; fn#32, fn#14, 223. 201. Black Dwarf (Radical Paper of Ancient Mariner (STC’s work): the time): 112.
  • Frankenstein, Matilda, and the Legacies of Godwin and Wollstonecraft

    Frankenstein, Matilda, and the Legacies of Godwin and Wollstonecraft

    2 PAMELA CLEMIT Frankenstein, Matilda, and the legacies of Godwin and Wollstonecraft [My mother’s] greatness of soul & my father high talents have perpetually reminded me that I ought to degenerate as little as I could from those from whom I derived my being . my chief merit must always be derived, first from the glory these wonderful beings have shed [?around] me, & then for the enthusiasm I have for excellence & the ardent admiration I feel for those who sacrifice themselves for the public good. (L ii 4) In this letter of September 1827 to Frances Wright, the Scottish-born author and social reformer, Mary Shelley reveals just how much she felt her life and thought to be shaped by the social and political ideals of her parents, William Godwin, the leading radical philosopher of the 1790s, and his wife, the proto-feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft. The multiple liter- ary, political, and philosophical influences of Godwin and Wollstonecraft may be traced in all six of Mary Shelley’s full-length novels, as well as in her tales, biographies, essays, and other shorter writings. Yet while she con- sistently wrote within the framework established by her parents’ concerns, she was no mere imitator of their works. Writing with an awareness of how French revolutionary politics had unfolded through the Napoleonic era, Mary Shelley extends and reformulates the many-sided legacies of Godwin and Wollstonecraft in extreme, imaginatively arresting ways. Those legacies received their most searching reappraisal in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), Mary Shelley’s remarkable first novel, and were re- examined a year later in Matilda, a novella telling the story of incestuous love between father and daughter, which, though it remained unpublished until 1959, has now become one of her best-known works.
  • Ignorance and Marital Bliss: Women's Education in the English Novel, 1796-1895 Mary Tobin

    Ignorance and Marital Bliss: Women's Education in the English Novel, 1796-1895 Mary Tobin

    Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2006 Ignorance and Marital Bliss: Women's Education in the English Novel, 1796-1895 Mary Tobin Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Tobin, M. (2006). Ignorance and Marital Bliss: Women's Education in the English Novel, 1796-1895 (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1287 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ignorance and Marital Bliss: Women’s Education in the English Novel, 1796-1895 A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Department of English McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Mary Ann Tobin November 16, 2006 Copyright © 2006 Mary Ann Tobin Preface The germ of this study lies in my master’s thesis, “Naive Altruist to Jaded Cosmopolitan: Class-Consciousness in David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend,” with which I concluded my studies at Indiana State University. In it, I traced the evolution of Dickens’s ideal gentle Christian man, arguing that Dickens wanted his audience to reject a human valuation system based on birth and wealth and to set the standard for one’s social value upon the strength of one’s moral character. During my doctoral studies, I grew more interested in Dickens’s women characters and became intrigued by his contributions to what would become known as the Woman Question, and, more importantly, by what Dickens thought about women’s proper social functions and roles.