Novel Authority: Eliza Haywood and the Problem
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NOVEL AUTHORITY: ELIZA HAYWOOD AND THE PROBLEM OF JUDGMENT by Sally B. Demarest PhD ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY Department of EnglIsh and CreatIve WrItIng September 2016 DeclaratIons Word Count of thesis: 79,722 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Candidate name Sarah Demarest Signature: Date 29 January 2017 STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where *correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signature: Date 29 January 2017 [*this refers to the extent to which the text has been corrected by others] STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signature: Date 29 January 2017 II ABSTRACT ThIs thesIs dIsrupts competIng InterpretatIons about ElIza Haywood’s sexual attitudes and political alliances by focusing on the InnovatIve elements of her work that foster the multIguIty that leads to such debates. SpecIfIcally, thIs thesIs argues that, throughout her work, Haywood Is In dIalogue wIth the male- dominated sceptIcal tradItIon. Haywood, by employIng the narratIve elements of varIous genres that put pressure on the tensIons between sceptIcIsm and credulity—genres such as apparItIon narratIves, mock-history, travel narratives, and legal dIscourse—engages wIth debates about knowledge and judgment that troubled her contemporarIes and dominated prInt culture. By doIng so, she unsettles and challenges conventIonal understandIngs of sceptIcIsm that prIvIlege custom and tradItIon. Most studIes of eIghteenth-century sceptIcIsm and lIterature neglect work by women wrIters, including Haywood; therefore, this study also challenges conventional understandings of what constitutes sceptical literature in the eIghteenth century. As a woman wrIter, Haywood prIvIleges sceptIcIsm over credulIty even as she challenges custom and seeks to discover a reliable standard of judgment that Is functIonal In a lIberal socIety. To thIs end, Haywood fosters and develops the judgment and autonomy of her readers by eIther shIftIng authorIty onto them, or by offerIng model standards of judgment for them. ThIs thesIs examines four works from four genres across four decades of Haywood’s career: A Spy Upon the Conjurer (1724), The Adventures of Eovaai (1736), The Female Spectator (1744-1746), and The History of Jemmy and Jenny Jessamy (1753). The first two chapters dIscuss the nature and development of Haywood’s extreme sceptIcIsm In the 1720s and 1730s. Chapters three and four show how, In the III 1740s and 1750s, Haywood Introduces processes of socIable judgment that begIn to mitIgate the sceptIcIsm of her earlier work. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For this thesis, I owe a double debt of gratitude to Susan Gubar, whose anthology Introduced me to ElIza Haywood In 2007, and who, many years before that, shaped my Interest In lIterature and feminIst scholarshIp at IndIana UnIversIty. I must also thank my professors from CalIfornIa PolytechnIc State University, especially Linda Halisky, whose course in Renaissance literature shaped the beginning stages of this project. I would also lIke to thank Aberystwyth UnIversIty, especially the English Department, for allowIng me to pursue the PhD part-tIme, and for so often accommodatIng me at a dIstance. I owe Sarah Hutton specIal thanks for her helpful feedback on early chapter drafts, and I thank Louise Marshall for stepping in as a secondary supervIsor when Sarah Hutton left Aberystwyth. Most Importantly, I wIsh to thank Sarah Prescott, who helped me dIscover my argument and taught me how to present it clearly. She has been consistently supportive even though I was so far away and took such a long tIme. I could not have asked for a better scholar as a role model. I must also thank my colleagues at Cuesta College In San LuIs ObIspo, CalIfornIa, who have cheered me on throughout thIs entIre process. They have been especIally patient thIs past year as I consIstently have refused committee membershIps and saId ‘no’ to meetIngs. I could not have done this without the support of friends. My deep apprecIatIon goes to Anne-MarIe Strohman, who, for the past 20 years, has joIned me at coffee shops to study or grade papers. She has also read my drafts, lent me her house, and always understood my maIn poInts before I could sort them out myself. I am also grateful to CatherIne WaItInas, who helped me wIth early drafts v of these chapters, but even more Importantly, became my good frIend. I also wIsh to thank my family. FIrst to Flo and Gary Bartell, wIthout whom none of thIs would have been possIble, I wIll be forever grateful for all they have helped me to achIeve. I am also grateful to BIll Demarest, who, nIne years ago, naIvely agreed to let me do thIs. To hIs credIt and my fortune, he has only grown more supportIve every day. FInally, to my chIldren, BIlly and Reese, who cannot remember a tIme when Mommy was not ‘workIng on her PhD’, thank you for lovIng me anyway. vi DEDICATION To Billy and Reese, may you always find just the right balance of scepticism and belief, doubt and trust. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATIONS ............................................................................................................................ II ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. v DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ viI INTRODUCTION: ELIZA HAYWOOD AND THE SCEPTICAL TRADITION ............. 1 Haywood’s CrIsIs of Judgment and the SceptIc’s Epoché ........................................................... 3 SceptIcIsm In EIghteenth-Century Literature ............................................................................ 13 The Seeds of SceptIcIsm: Amatory FIctIon .................................................................................... 21 EstablIshIng AuthorIty ......................................................................................................................... 31 A Note on AttrIbutIon ........................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter Descriptions ............................................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER ONE: DOUBT AND DUNCAN CAMPBELL IN A SPY UPON THE CONJURER ............................................................................................................................ 40 Justicia and Doubt .................................................................................................................................. 43 The LImitatIons of Sensory PerceptIon ......................................................................................... 54 Campbell’s Deafness and Sensory PerceptIon ........................................................................... 62 WIllIam Bond’s AntI-SceptIcal Defence of Duncan Campbell .............................................. 65 AuthorIty and The UnrelIable Relator ........................................................................................... 74 Gendered SceptIcIsm ............................................................................................................................ 79 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 83 CHAPTER TWO: POLITICAL SCEPTICISM IN THE ADVENTURES OF EOVAAI ..................................................................................................................................... 87 The Problem of PolItIcs In Eovaai .................................................................................................... 90 The Problem of PerceptIon ................................................................................................................ 97 The Problem of TestImony .............................................................................................................. 104 The Problem of PartIalIty ................................................................................................................. 119 ImplIcatIons for Autonomy and Consent .................................................................................. 124 The Problem of Force ........................................................................................................................ 132 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 137 viii CHAPTER THREE: LYING AUTHORITY IN THE FEMALE SPECTATOR ............. 140 ReadIng Across the Books of The Female Spectator ............................................................. 147 BuIldIng AuthorIty In The Female Spectator .............................................................................. 151 DestabIlIzIng and